Stephen Bradley has revealed how a sports psychologist is giving Shamrock Rovers’ players and staff an extra edge on and off the pitch.
And he insists hiring Mary Larkin has been one of his best signings in football, with his players happier in themselves after getting issues off their chest.
Larkin came on board with Rovers during their group stage run in last season’s Europa Conference League, but it was kept under wraps during a trial period.
She travelled on all of the European trips and, with the arrangement now set in stone, will do so again this year as Rovers return to the continental stage tonight.
They host Breidablik of Iceland in the first qualifying round, first–leg of the Champions League, with the second-leg to come in Kópavogur next Tuesday.
Rovers know that victory over the two legs will open all sorts of doors along the ‘champions path’ through the various European competitions.
But fresh from a scouting visit to Iceland, Bradley has also warned of the threat that tonight’s little-known opponents pose.
Stefán Ingi Sigurðarson, the top scorer in the Icelandic league this season, won’t feature in Tallaght having joined a Belgian second tier side over the weekend.
But Bradley cautioned: “I would say they are (on a par) with the teams we played in the group stages last year.
“They’re a possession-based team, real runners, athleticism in the team and very dangerous in transition.”
But going into the tie, Bradley has hailed his players for embracing the addition of a sports psychologist to the Hoops coaching ticket.
And he revealed how he too has benefited from speaking to psychologists at various stages in his career and personal life.
When he was at Arsenal, Bradley was attacked at home in his London flat following a break-in, a story he has recounted in the past.
Yesterday, he said: “When I got stabbed when I was younger, I was lucky enough that I learned how to speak to people like that and how it can help you.
“As young men, sometimes we can have a barrier up against that. But the young men now who play the game and are in dressing rooms, they embrace it and they want it.
“They understand how important it is. In our environment we feel that having someone like Mary Larkin, and being open to talking and being vulnerable, is really important.
“Mary allows us the opportunity to do that, and she has been incredible for the group. When we analysed last year, we felt it was one area we could improve on.
“We have always touched on it but this year she has been full-time with us and the players see her as much as possible and she really helps us as a group.”
Bradley continued: “I listened to an interview with Arsene Wenger a few years ago and he was talking about Cristiano Ronaldo and the likes of Thierry Henry.
“He was saying how they had reached their peak in football in terms of the physical aspect of the human, how high they can jump, how quick they can run, how they look.
“The next frontier was the mind, the brain and psychology and how important it is. I thought it was very interesting.
“We did our homework on it and I've seen Mary myself personally for some time, first of all as a person with stuff that happened personally in my own family.
“But as it goes, she's helping you as a manager and a coach as she's helping you as a person.
“(With the players) you're seeing a happier person, a more open player, a person more relaxed in their environment and little things on the pitch.”
Factoring the cost of a full-time sports psychologist into an annual budget won't be top of every manager's to-do list.
But Bradley insists he will make it a priority from here on in, with Larkin working with players on an almost daily basis, either individually or as a group.
“It's very hard to put a points tally or a figure on it but we know it has been invaluable for us and it's something we will only use more and more,” he said.
“It's going to become bigger and bigger in sport and especially with young men as that barrier has been broken down in terms of being vulnerable and open to talk.
“It's something we feel we couldn't do without now and the players feel that.”
