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Football: Were Arsenal in shock against Birmingham, or are they feeling the pressure?
So Arsenal slipped up yesterday, drawing 2-2 in their Premier League fixture against Birmingham City.Was this related to the obvious shock among the team at seeing Eduardo's leg break, or is it a more general sign that they are starting to feel the pressure?
OK, so you could argue that Birmingham shouldn't have had their free kick or their penalty, but it was still an unconvincing display by the Gunners, who have been playing great football for much of the season.
I was intrigued by the behaviour of William Gallas, who took a hissy fit and kicked the hoardings, rather than contributing to attempts to defend the penalty (or any resulting open play). That's certainly not leadership, and will we see other cracks appearing as Manchester United (as we might expect) ratchet up the pressure in the coming weeks?
Rob Robson
Sport and Business Psychologist, WarwickshireSpotlight on Sports and Fitness Professionals: The Nutritionists
Do you need nutritional advice or help? Well, here's an introduction to some of the nutritionists or professionals and students that are into nutrition, who are currently on iStadia.Why not connect with them - or if you are one of them, with each other.....? After all, we could all do with a nutritionist in our network these days.
Joji Chan is one of our longest standing members. She joined in May of last year. Goodness, it feels longer than that. Joji writes nice, concise articles on nutrition, and what she doesn't post here she puts on her own nutrition site, nutrition bits and bytes.
Say hello to Hannah Fox. She's actually a journalist with a magazine called Healthy Magazine. Hopefully it does what it says on the tin!
Sharon Martin is an Editor. Of what, I'm not sure. But I wonder if she and Hanna Know each other? Perhaps they should...
Ryan Irving is an Entrepreneur, based in Bali (Indonesia). His profile doesn't say what he's up to, but his primary interest is listed as nutrition. So, hello Ryan. Any surfers out there? Hook up with Ryan and he might invite you out to stay ;)
Mischa Wykerz is a student from London. Tom Birch is also a student from the UK (the Midlands). As they think about their next steps, maybe you are someone that could help them?
Last but not least, one of our more active posters, Ben Wilson. He's a personal trainer from London, and keen on metabolic typing (whatever that is - why not ask him?). He's also a pretty experienced networker and uses the web a lot, so he might be helpful to talk to for anyone interested in developing their online presence.
Check these iStadia members out. Connect with them. Encourage them to put more information in their profile. Say hello. Share your connections with them. Whatever you like, really.
If you are a nutritionist, or any other type of sports or fitness professional (or student) why not join them and sign up today?
Rob Robson
Sport and Business PsychologistCo-founder, iStadia.com
Making a better networking and internet marketing platform for YOU
We have already announced that in a few weeks time we will be introducing paid memberships. But of course, we don't expect people simply to pay for what they already have. Rather, we are working on a number of enhancements that will be made available to those taking a premium memberships.iStadia is already proving to be an effective platform for creating a "buzz" for products or services, or enhancing online reputation. This is done both on and off the site. Active members are seeing not only excellent search engine placements for articles, blogs and their profiles but also improved placements for their own websites (when they use their content effectively by linking to their own site).
I can speak from my own experience: Since I've actively linked my activity on iStadia to my own site I have started creating a regular stream of enquiries for my sport psychology services. Not only has this benefited me but, as others will testify (and a look at the forums will tell you) I am passing on referrals to other members too. iStadia has taught me some valuable lessons which we are now applying to make premium membership a highly effective, low-cost platform for marketing your sports business or consultancy - or simply enhancing your personal brand.
The improvements that are coming are designed to give premium members greater control over the presentation of their profile and other content, particularly with a view to search engine optimisation and creation of business leads.
These include:
1) Turning your profile into a more personalised 'mini site', with additional elements to elevate your own brand and optimise it for search engines.
This should help to attract more visitors to your profile, so the first improvement is
- The ability for potential customers to contact you directly from your profile, to your email inbox,
without them having to log in.
Improvements designed to create additional visitors include
- Personalised title. The title is known to be particularly important to search engines, so we will allow
you to create your own, which can include your most important key words.
- A short 'elevator pitch' or summary, which gives human visitors an instant understanding of what
you can offer, and search engines more focused, keyword-rich text to pick up and display.
- A list of your own articles and blogs, rather than simply a link to 'your blog' and 'your articles'. Again,
this will create a more focused, rich page to attract visitors.
- The ability to add a feed. So, if you have a blog elsewhere, you can show it on your profile page.
- More control over the layout of your profile - a choice of tabs or a single page.
2) A business or consultant finder - which will be more prominent, potentially benefitting all, but in which premium members will be given prioritised listings.
3) Personalised blogs, articles and news. So, if you want to make your brand/business name more prominent, or make your keywords more prominent to help your business you can.
4) Adding a summary to your articles, to give people and search engines the opportunity to quickly see what your article is about.
5) Giving paid members their own 'space' (based on a club) to which visitors can subscribe, giving you the opportunity to communicate directly with them - rather like an interactive newsletter.
Those of you who are serious about using the web to increase business will see that these enhancements, on their own, are worth paying (what will be a modest annual subscription) for. However, to sweeten the deal further we will be adding a package of discounts (e.g. on the marketplace, for future events).
As we have already said, we will continue to welcome non-paying members and most of the benefits that can currently be gained from membership will be available, at least to some degree, to you all.
Please drop me or Keith a line with any queries. I'm on 07739 411383. Keith can normally be found in the office, on +441491574938.
Regards,
Rob
Rob Robson
Sport and Business Psychologist, WarwickshireOnce a cheat, always a cheat?
An interesting addendum to the whole debate on Dwain Chambers right now is that many of the current objections to him representing Great Britain are based on the argument that he is a cheat. For example:"It doesn't put us in a good light allowing a cheat, who has admitted he's a cheat, to represent us." (Dame Kelly Holmes)
That raises an interesting, and potentially important, debate. Is Dwain Chambers a cheat?
There's no doubt at all that he has cheated. He's admitted it.
But is he a cheat?
Any form of cheating is a behaviour. It is not a core element of personality. The behaviour itself, in Dwain's case, would appear to have been a response (albeit inappropriate) to his belief that he could not win a major championships if he didn't take performance enhancing drugs.
Now that he has been out of the sport for a while, if he no longer holds that belief, or if the medals are no longer the only thing that matter to him, then he might choose not to cheat.
Ergo, he is no longer a cheat. No behaviour, no label.
Let's be clear: I believe that a lifetime ban from competition is appropriate for using banned drugs.
However, that is a single punishment, handed out once and finally. There's no way back, but it doesn't give us a right to vilify that person for the rest of their lifetime. Indeed, for them to contribute positively, perhaps becoming a spokesperson against taking drugs (as Robert Miller, the cyclist, has done), they need to be shown compassion and empathy.
There must be a philosophical (or ethical) debate lurking behind all of this, but I think it is important that we look at the behaviour as the problem, and not the person. Dwain Chambers is not a necessarily a bad man because he did a bad thing. I think that to continue to label him a cheat is dangerous, and indeed if I were him I would consider whether it was libelous or slanderous.
Not being a lawyer, I don't know the answer to that....
Rob Robson
Sport and Business Psychologist, WarwickshireDwain Chambers - Should the "drugs cheat" be selected?
I'm all for lifetime bans for drug cheats, but they don't yet exist so I can't see how UK Athletics have any right to stop Dwain Chambers from competing in a GB vest.
I don't buy the point of view that he had "retired". If he has, he's clearly "unretired". Every athlete who has let their involvement in the sport lapse cannot be expected to continue to be tested "just in case" they return to the sport.
If athletics and other sports implemented lifetime bans my view would be that the rules state that he can't compete. But the rules state that he can. I can't help feeling that UKA are making it up as they go along, and that's not fair - just like cheating isn't.
Give the guy a break. He made a big mistake and really blew a promising career. He didn't even run fast when he was on drugs. He just bulked right up and looked silly. What better lesson to others than for him to run faster clean than dirty?
Rob Robson
Sport and Business Psychologist, WarwickshireAn emotional day in Manchester, but did United fail to get their game heads on?
I listened to the Manchester derby on the radio today, and was as surprised by the result as most would have been. Less surprisingly, there's been much talk of the emotional nature of the occasion, which marked the 50th anniversary of the Munich air crash and whether that affected the team today.
It isn't easy to tell without being able to talk to the players whether the players got caught up in the emotion of it all. Ryan Giggs post-match comment didn't shed any light on it either. He stated that it wasn't an excuse. Just because he didn't want to make excuses doesn't mean that it wasn't a factor.
I think there are a number of interesting angles worth exploring.
First, the specific emotional nature of the day (and indeed the week). The ceremony was intended (naturally) to create sympathy for those that died, their families and loved ones. Competitive sport, by definition, isn't associated with sympathy, but mastery. Mastery of skills and of opponents. You can't be in mastery and sympathy states at the same time (Reversal Theory tells us), so perhaps some Manchester United players did get caught up in the emotion of it all, and didn't get back into a competitive mindset.
Second, the players did not prepare as they normally would for a home game. It is quite possible that this, in itself (and not the specific emotional nature of the event) affected their performance.
This, however, was also true for Manchester City.
It might even have had nothing to with the anniversary of the Munich air crash.
Carlos Quieroz, United's Assistant Manager blamed this week's international fixtures. Of course, Manchester City have international players too, though not as many as United.
Then there's Wayne Rooney, or the lack of him. He was suspended today and is obviously important to Manchester United. United have lost four games with season. Rooney missed them all. Despite the formidable talent available, Rooney's presence may lift the performance of those around them - the 'X Factor'.
So it may or may not have been something to do with the commemoration. Whatever it was, Manchester City still had to make the most of their opportunity, and clearly did.
Rob Robson
Sport and Business Psychologist, WarwickshireWhat have Sam Kotadia, MIke Garth and Victor Thompson got in common?
Well, all three are members of iStadia. They are also sport psychologists. But that's not what I'm driving at.They are now easier to find. All three have recently been active on iStadia, and as a result all have front page listings on Google.
That's right. Adding content to iStadia helps you get found - by potential customers.
Sam Kotadia's #1 ranking, for sport psychology seminars, came from his news item, posted only two days previously.
Mike Garth's #1 ranking, for motor sport psychology came from his article Motor Sport Psychology - Why Did That Happen? Notice that after adding links to his articles and profile his own site also ranks 2nd. Does he really need to pay for his listing to the right??
Finally, Victor Thompson's article When a sports psychologist with training might be able to help got him to #3 (and his iStadia profile to #4) for the search term clinical sport psychologist.
If you want to do more business via the web, the benefits of creating content on iStadia are clear. It doesn't matter whether you blog, share news or create articles: Well written content will help you to get noticed on Google and other search engines.
What's stopping you? If you need help getting started, drop me a sitemail, or give me a call. All three of these guys did....
Rob Robson
Sport and Business Psychologist, WarwickshirePositive Thinking or Dealing in Delusions?
I was reminded the other day of an athlete (a grown man, but young) I once met. He'd contacted me looking for some mental skills training, and claimed to be a part-time professional footballer.
It turned out that he was indeed training with a part-time professional club, at his own request, and wasn't playing for the team. Indeed, he'd never played a competitive game of football.
Despite this, he believed that he had the perfect game and was contacting Premier Leage clubs for trials. Unfortunately, the perfect game was only in his head. We used performance profiling to bring out the attributes of this 'vision' that he had of how he would play the game, and it turned out that the most important attribute was pace. By his own assessment, he wasn't quick - I think he gave himself 3/10 for pace. Of course by this stage I had long recognised that something wasn't right and was thinking how to let this guy down gently, and also how I should advise him. He was clearly delusional, but how much of a problem was it? Should I suggest that he should talk to his doctor, or find a clinical psychologist?
In the end after we talked about the possibility that his lack of pace and inexperience of competitive football might prove to be barriers to him being the complete professional footballer, I suggested that he should have his current coach assess him very honestly on the attributes we'd put into the performance profile. I then suggested that unless his coach thought otherwise, he would be best served by finding a level of football where he could play regularly and enjoy it, even if that was just playing 5-a-sides with friends.
Anyway, I worried about whether I'd done the right thing or not but a week or so later got an email from him. In it he thanked my for my honesty, and saying that no-one had ever forced him to confront how realistic he was being. Any time in the past that he'd shared his 'vision' with others they had encouraged him. Other professionals (fitness trainers) had taken his money (I didn't take anything for our single meeting), taking advantage of this guy's unrealistic hopes and dreams.
I don't think I'll ever forget him. But on a more serious note, is there a tendency in society, perhaps fuelled by some kind of 'Oprah' mentality that if you believe it enough it will happen, for us only to look at the positives, and has some realism gone out of the window? I see thousands of people queuing up for auditions for X Factor and the like, and many of them seem to be deluding themselves that they have any kind of a talent. Is this a growing problem or is it that programmes like this seem to bring them out of the woodwork?
