It is my belief that each one of us has a purpose in life - a particular gift or a unique talent, which when nurtured properly can add greatly to the world around us.
The key and essential points are to ensure that the talent is recognised, cultivated in an atmosphere of confidence and that it is indeed channelled for the greater good.
The unfortunate and consistent area of failure in this respect is that the talents of too many are undervalued and primarily focused on short-term gains.
This lack of understanding or curtailed imagination - call it what you will - afflicts many areas of life from school to business life and it helps explain why so many of us disliked the confined parameters of our education and suggests strongly at the reasons so many institutions fail to properly utilise the talents of their employees, which in turn breeds frustration and all too often failure.
It is one of the great dissatisfactions of life to know that your great strength as an individual never stood in the full light of the sun. Like every sport, professional football can offer clear illustrations of this theory.
Probably because it was so long ago, I really do try to resist the temptation to talk about my era as a player, but the game, like the life around it, was much less complicated during the time I first supported and then played for Shamrock Rovers.
There was no coaching and most of the information gleaned was on the back of one’s own personal experiences and the odd nugget of advice from the manager or experienced player.
This process encouraged one to think independently and I do believe that this is hugely important in the development of the individual and his talent, which will, if professionally assimilated into the group, produce confident individuals placing their unique abilities at the disposal of the team.
This crucial feature of developing the individual first and the team second is contrary to the modern idiom that states there is no ‘I’ in team. My proposal to you is that the best teams comprise of eleven ‘I’s.
For this principle to come to fruition, the manager would have to have full understanding and knowledge of each individual personality and the indigenous talents contained therein and an immense confidence in himself and his players. But then isn’t this what being the best should always be about?
There is no doubt that modern coaching can sometimes induce in managers a tendency to develop team tactics that hinge too much on the limitations rather than the potential of the individuals concerned.
The real problem with this mentality is that if you search for, and work with, your limitations; they will remain an integral part of you for a very long time.
It was doing the co-commentary with Stephen Alkin in Dundalk last Sunday that this instance of inner contemplation emerged.
If you are willing to open your mind a game of football assumes a far greater significance than just a game of football. There are lessons in every action, every word and even between the words.
The two teams in action last Sunday are in the early stage of their development. This was emphasised by the interviews Tony O’Donoghue conducted with the respective managers during the game.
With Drogheda United two goals up in the second half, the Dundalk manager Ian Foster found words hard to come by.
The normally loquacious Foster was in something of a pickle. He has a small squad, no experience on the bench and he had to at least give the impression to his players on the park that he had faith in them even though two down at home. What could he say? He knew that he was in the lap of the gods and needed a minor miracle.
The Drogs manager Alan Mathews knew the game at that stage was his to lose. While happy with the lead, he did not have full confidence that his team would be able to see the game out.
Hence, he sought areas of relief. His defence although untroubled, was dropping deeper as his midfield was being probed and tested by the home team.
The referee became the ire in his talk with TOD. Mathews wanted certainty from his players and the referee and he was fearful that he might not be granted either and his words masked the uncertainty of his confidence in his players at this early stage of the season.
It was Michael Daly who provided the turning point of the game. Daly is a young player with enormous potential. He has athleticism and an attacking instinct that should take him far in the game. But he is inexperienced and his lack of concentration in kicking the ball away hastened the miracle Ian Foster was praying for.
I accept that there were contentious decisions and I fully understand a manager being on tenterhooks, but in the end it was not the referee who changed the game; it was the indiscipline of a Drogheda player.
As the season progresses I am sure that Foster and Mathews will be able to have greater confidence in their players. The knowledge of how to win, how to chase a game and how to protect a lead are all things that must be generated by each player in his own mind with perceptive guidance from the manager.
The bond that links the successful teams is not just based on collective effort or mutual ambition, but more on the acceptance of the responsibility for one’s own talent and respect for the talents of those around you.
