I have stated on many, many occasions that football is a simple game. Indeed I have reiterated on those occasions that all the best things in life are invariably based on simplicity. Music, painting and all aspects of the arts, no matter how grand or ebullient they may sound or appear, usually have at heart an innate simplicity that beguiles the ear and the eye and captures the imagination of the receiver.
But the ability to produce simplicity sometimes, perhaps most times, requires a journey along a lonely and tortuous road. Many of the best exponents of the art of simplicity were induced to harbour grave doubts about themselves and their place in the world.
Ludwig Von Beethoven for example, was a complex individual but a master of simplicity. He was eminently capable of taking music to an extreme level of intricacy but always maintained a core that displayed his love for unpretentious quality.
The contradiction contained within the essence of simplicity is that observers, be they critics or rivals, generally assume that the tag of greatness necessitates the ability to produce adornment at all time. Adornment however, is often a prelude to artificiality. This is where the writer or the painter for example, can begin to question himself and his talent.
This lonely road is invariably paved by the behaviour of self-indulgent people who, through their pompous lack of understanding of the genius for simplicity, attempt to railroad the creator into producing material that seeks the approval of the charlatan.
Sport is full of self-important and self-opinionated people. Now more than ever, our newspapers, radios and televisions are populated with some who would wish us believe they, and their opinions, are more important than the performer and his art. But you already know this. The fact that you peruse this erudite website offers strong suggestion that you are aware of the existence of the charlatan, or as he, or she, is better known in Ireland, the chancer.
But there are professional chancers over and above those who ply their trade in the media. Within sport, and especially professional sport, there can exist the worst type of chancer. This particular individual works inside the profession and may even hold a position of some responsibility.
To become a coach in professional football one has to gain qualification through the relevant Football Association, and generally those who pass these exams have a fine understanding and feel for the game of football. But this is not always the case and there are some, and a surprisingly large some at that, who, while they have a penchant for the game, do not possess the same feeling and understanding for the performers within the game. This is another contradiction in football that I find frustrating. Obtaining a Coaching Diploma proves you can coach but it doesn't mean you understand the simple truth that football is a people’s game.
For example, the game in England has many chancers plying their trade at various levels in positions of responsibility. The 'Old Boy'" network and other elements of favouritism that still exist mean that players are often subjected to less than professional codes of behaviour. The complicated environment thus created causes confusion and disillusionment and stunts individual development.
Many talented Irish players playing in the eircom League that failed to succeed in this environment found themselves isolated and had to have their careers realigned. The utter simplicity of professional football was lost in a mire of complexity based on a callous and even deceitful system.
Unfortunately I am of the opinion that our system here is in some ways moving down a similar path.
Beethoven was a complex individual because, like many true artists, he found it difficult to deal with people. But he was not a football coach. He did not need people skills. However, show me a football coach who fails to understand people and I will show you a football coach who, irrespective of his qualifications, does not understand football.
D Richardson
