ANDY DOES IT BY THE BOOK
Tykes star in reading frenzy
ANDY YIADOM has revealed how reading for three hours a day turned him into a Championship star.
The Barnsley bookworm has emerged as an up-and-coming defensive star in the division after joining from Barnet last summer.
Now Yiadom, 25, who earned a trip to the recent Africa Cup of Nations with Ghana, has revealed how energising his mind with self-help guides is bringing the best out of him.
He said: “For the past year and a half I’ve liked to learn. I went on a trip to Thailand and that was a real eye opener.
“I’ve been reading ‘The Power of Now’ which is about living in the moment and living now. As a footballer you focus so much on what is going to happen next and I don’t think that’s good for me.
“I live away from home and by myself so that is why I’ve started to read and learn these things.
“Everything is different up north and I want to read rather than watch Sky Sports News.
“I’m reading ‘Rich Lad, Poor Lad’ which is about money and finance. Footballers earn a lot of money and can be reckless but reading books like that certainly help me to manage things.
Fear
“Another one, ‘Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway’ has helped me. I wasn’t nervous but it was a big jump from League Two to the Championship.
“Sometimes you have that doubt whether you are good enough for the level and that fear factor comes in.
“That book suggests you need to embrace that fear and go with it. Fear is made up. You need to see what happens. That helped massively.
“Psychology is something I’m into. I’m 25 but if some other younger players read about these things it would help them massively. They definitely help with football.”
Yiadom also believes Barnsley will feel the benefits of his month in Africa as they look to secure a top-half finish.
Ahead of today’s trip to Norwich, he said: “It was good to have such a great experience at the Africa Cup of Nations, it’s a different culture of football.
“Players like Andre Ayew, Christian Atsu and Daniel Amartey play in the Premier League so to train and play alongside them day in day out was a great experience.
“Coming back to Barnsley I had a spring in my step. We won’t go down, we just have to improve and learn now.”