I write this post as another great example of poor leadership within sport.
On saturday the club I have always supported, Leeds United, were beaten 1-6 at home against a team that were below them in the league.
Whilst getting beaten is all part of the game, and although unpleasant, its not the end of the world.
But what really struck me was the comments of the Leeds United Manager after the game.
Leeds manager, Neil Warnock, admitted he lost interest in the 6-1 home defeat to Watford after seeing midfielder Rodolph Austin suffer a suspected broken leg.
Whats interesting is that Austin suffered the injury at the start of the second half, and at this point Leeds United were losing 0-1, but were also down to 10 man as they had had a player sent off.
So Leeds were only losing 0-1 when the manager lost interest, after which the team then went on to lose 1-6.
It was sad the player breaks his leg, but that doesn’t mean that Manager should lose interest.
What about the rest of the team, the other 9 players out on the field who are struggling and are 0-1 down. Do they not warrant the interest of the manager. Do they not deserve some leadership in what was a difficult time for them?
Where is the leadership in that?
How should his players respond to this, not only to the fact that he lost interest, but that he also stated this in the press after the game.
How will he react if the next time the team suffer adversity, the players say, “it was difficult and we just lost interest”.
There is a saying, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going”.
What they do not do, is lose interest.
Apologies for this rant, but it is my team, I am passionate about them, I don’t like it when they get beaten, but this absentee leadership is just too much to accept.
In my opinion, the manager should resign with immediate effect.
He has lost the support and respect of the supporters, and he will no doubt lose the support and respect of the players when they read his comments in the paper.
The problem with Neil’s attitude is that is exposes his view that he had a one-player-team. He obviously has so much invested in Rodolph and not so much in his other players. His star player is out, and he’s lost all hope that anyone else can step up or that the team can survive without their star player. He’s lost all self control and leaked negative emotion into the dressing room and the press. The effect of this on his team’s motivation and morale must be devastating, and long lasting. If only he’d been able to control his panic and disappointment the result could have been so much different – not just for this game but for the future.
There’s so much he’s done wrong, I agree. Whatever Neil does in the next 4-6 weeks will probably be the biggest test of his leadership skills and whether he can retain his job.
But we can all make mistakes from time to time. How can he recover? What would you do? Hire in a replacement, promote within the ranks, restructure the team?
Good question, what would i do if I were Neil Warnock.
Firstly, I would apologise to the players. I let them down both during the game and also with the post match comments. I might even fine myself two weeks wages – which is standard when players bring the game/club into disrepute.
I would tell that that is the first, and last time, that will ever happen. I wouldn’t try to justify it, just admit and look to move on.
I would also take the blame for the result too, tell them it was my fault not their, then I would look to rebuild their confidence.
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