Out of the box

Martin Kelner

• Last Updated: October 16. 2009 7:49PM UAE / October 16. 2009 3:49PM GMT

Leeds coach Brian McClennan, left, inspired his side with a DVD of an expedition to Antarctica. Clive Mason / Getty Images

The late great comedian Peter Cook once created a wickedly funny character loosely based on Brian Clough, a football manager called Alan Latchford, whose mantra for winning matches was the three m’s – motivation, motivation, motivation.

This is not a million miles from the truth of the matter. Real life coaches are, like Cook’s fictitious one, always looking for the way of getting inside the mind of their charges that will provide the psychological push over the finish line.

Latchford’s way of firing up his players was to kidnap their wives and girlfriends, so that they were full of fury, ready to kick lumps out of whoever got in their way. Clearly, that is not a technique open to the modern manager, but the thought of coming up with a new motivational technique is one that occupies coaches’ minds pretty well every waking moment.

Brian McLennan, of Leeds Rhinos, who won last week’s Super League Grand Final in the United Kingdom, came up with an interesting ploy in advance of the play-offs, inspiring his team with a DVD of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s successful 1914 expedition crossing the Antarctic continent.

At first sight this does not seem entirely relevant to the task in hand. It does sometimes get cold at Old Trafford, but to the best of my knowledge ice floes have never been sighted. What it does impress on the team, though, is the importance of unity.

A crew of 27 joined Shackleton when he set sail for the last unclaimed prize in exploration. Within 85 miles of the Antarctic continent, disaster struck when their vessel was trapped and slowly crushed by ice.

With no communication to the outside world their ordeal would last 20 months. Miraculously, not one man was lost.

Shackleton’s inspiring leadership took much of the credit, but what McLennan stressed to his players was the explorers’ remarkable esprit de corps.

Every member of the expedition played a vital part, including people like the physician Leonard Hussey, who was able to keep spirits up, having had the foresight to equip himself for his feat of endurance with a banjo.

The joker or entertainer in the pack is often a vital team bonding device. Though a coach wants his players to approach their task seriously, a lightness of touch can help too.

One man who recognised this was the late Joe Mercer, manager of Manchester City in the 1970s. On one memorable occasion, when City found themselves 3-0 down at half-time, he strolled into the dressing room and instead of giving the team the roasting they were expecting, simply said: “You got yourselves into this mess, now you get yourselves out of it,” and walked away. City won 4-3.

What Mercer did in that sentence was reinforce the idea that the players were all in it together, that the responsibility was a collective one.

Had he analysed individual errors he risked undermining the team ethic. Also, of course, the element of humour in his team talk prevented the players being too tense and uptight in the second half.

Vince Lombardi of the Green Bay Packers in American football talked of “individual commitment to a group effort – that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work”.

It is certainly what coaches in sport strive to achieve, so if you are part of a team, be prepared to watch inspirational films, listen to unorthodox speeches and remember to keep an eye on your wife or girlfriend.

Davis Cup in trouble

How much longer, I wonder, can Davis Cup tennis continue? The demands on the top tennis professionals are such these days that the international competition seems to belong to another less pressured era.

With the season now lasting for 11 months of the year, and Rafael Nadal adding his voice to that of Andy Roddick, fearing burn out for the busiest players, something, it seems, will have to give in the tennis world. Certainly few in the UK would mourn its passing, especially since Andy Murray aggravated his wrist injury playing in the tournament four days after the US Open.

In these circumstances, it is good news for Abu Dhabi that Roger Federer and Nadal will play in the Capitala World Championship exhibition tournament over the New Year.

It is only right that the sponsors and fans who shell out the money get to see the top players in person, and that will only happen if they do not have to take to the court quite so often.

Lomu better off in rugby

So now we know. Hard lines to softball, squash and karate: golf and rugby sevens will be the two new sports in the 2016 Olympics in Rio. Rugby’s case was helped by a personal appearance from Kiwi icon Jonah Lomu, who, I learn to my surprise, has
become a body builder.

Body building has never struck me as an activity for sportsmen. In fact, it has never struck me as much of a sport at all: more sort of sculpture, with the human body as raw material.

In fairness to Lomu, he is relaunching his rugby career as well at the age of 34. Next month he joins French second division side Marseilles Vitrolle.

Thank goodness for that. I would hate to think of the unstoppable winger of the 1995 World Cup taking the world of oiled muscles and posing pouches too seriously.

mkelner@thenational.ae