I’m a fierce fan of Jose Mourinho, admits Bulfin

SEOIRSE BULFIN lectures in sports psychology at LIT and declares himself a ‘fierce fan of (Jose) Mourinho (left)’. The mental approach to coaching intrigues him, citing England rugby boss Eddie Jones as an engaging voice on the High Performance podcast.

‘My Masters is in sport and exercise psychology,’ he explains. ‘I’m currently doing a PhD. How elite GAA players cope with retirement, stuff like that. When I started doing this nine or 10 years ago, I got a couple of calls: “Will you come in and talk to us on Thursday night?” I said, “Okay, have you a game coming up?”

‘“Yes, we’re playing our big game on Saturday. Very important we win”.

‘I said, “C’mon. Would you bring in an S&C coach for one night before a relegation game?”.

‘My supervisor, John Perry, worked

with a lot of Premier League teams. I brought him in to Wexford. He’s phenomenal.

‘He works with the Real Madrid Academy, the Houston Astros. Goes all over the world doing talks.

‘The guys who worked a lot with him won All-Stars. Psychology is one of those things that can really aid performance.’