MAVERICK NEEDS BIT OF LOVE
Sometimes you just need to show a player some love – and they will repay that in spades.
Yesterday Livingston signed Anthony Stokes on a one-year deal to bring him back to Scotland again.
As a manager you know he’s someone who can make a difference to your team.
Yes, some would say the former Hibs and Celtic star comes with baggage.
But now he needs some affection, an appreciation of his personality – and, as a manager, you need to find out just what makes him tick.
We had a pair of twins at Norwich called Josh and Jacob Murphy, wingers who came through the academy, who fell into that category. Lads who wanted to prove something and be involved in the action all the time.
You could see immediately in their body language when they were struggling, not impacting things or having a bad game.
They had to be managed differently.
It’s that old adage of needing to put an arm round their shoulder and make them feel as though they were valued.
These maverick players need to be cajoled and treated in a different way from the average player. Players with special talents can be on cloud nine when things are going well – but there are also huge dips when things are not going their way.
That’s part and parcel of fitting them into the side – just take Paul Gascoigne as the classic example.
Boys who fly and play by the seat of their pants, risk takers, may require that bit more psychological nursing through games. They appear to be world beaters – but there can be deep-seated insecurity within them as well.
That is quite often the trade off and you need to identify that and work with them to get them operating at their highest levels.
They are the ones who can win you a game out of nothing but are also the players most likely to become frustrated if it’s not going their way.
If they are not creating or scoring, you have to intervene and help as when these players thrive, your team does too.
It can be complex, dealing with players who beat themselves up more when they analyse their own contribution to the success or failure of a team performance.
James McFadden was the maverick talent when I played for Scotland but he was a more resolute and confident example.
We’d give him the ball and he’d create something out of nothing so mavericks don’t necessarily have to be difficult to work with.
Faddy and his type can be uncoachable at times and they’d do things which you don’t find in any training manual.
Darren Huckerby at Norwich was so often our match-winner.
But in one game, when we beat Preston 1-0, he was apologetic after the match because he hadn’t played so well.
Preston had doubled up on him but that created space for others to use and score.
He was the ultimate team player. For him it was always about the collective and he understood that afternoon it wasn’t about him.
Wes Hoolahan was another huge talent and totally unique.
He was one of the top stars in the English Championship for a decade but would also become frustrated – you had to show him the bigger picture.
A team structure isn’t about one man. Stokes is a massive talent, a maverick and as many of his managers would tell you, he can be a challenge so it’s always about showing the love.