Wu - try Champ Manager 96-97!! 😉

SA - spot on Sir

Wu - interesting article on First Nation issues and one community that found a solution [Link] if you like that sort of thing. It's not a simple, quick fix, but an interesting template, possibly.

Yorkshire Womble has a professional opinion on players that he has seen with his own eyes. The rest of us have our own opinions from what we see. Neither one is any more or less valid as that is all an opinion is, one's personal viewpoint. I haven't seen (or can't remember seeing) John McLaughlin play, so If we do sign him, I shall save my opinion on him until I have seen him play eight to ten games. He may be less Ryan Clarke or he may not be. Time will tell.

New Zealand have more skilful players. It's really that simple

New Zealand is like Wales. Full of sheep, rugby and everythig is written in two languages

Hang on, YW's just booting up his 2014 copy of Football Manager.

So Yorkshire with all your 'contacts' who would you be signing as our new keeper

And in Canada: [Link]

Isn't there a difference between fear of failure, which may well be inhibiting, and hatred of failure, which is a spur forwards?

It's taken 50 years of failure to get there, LD.

The trouble is there is very little fear of failure for England footballers. After the embarrassment of Iceland there was a few days of negative media coverage for the players to endure and vague suggestions of changing things that never happen before the PL coverage took over. The players could then concentrate on their model WAGs, earning 6 figure a week salaries and being treated like heroes by their club fans.

TGG -thanks, I'd already read that. As I said, the high rates in indigenous populations only partly explain the trend. There is clearly a broader issue across NZ with seeking help and admitting weakness. Suicide rates among young men in the Welsh valleys are similarly high.

Fear of failure abounds in driven individuals, although it's a rather poor long term plan for success. In sport it may spur one to practice harder, but if carried over into the white heat of competion it's universally acknowledged to impair performance.

Anyway, on that happy note, it's time to finish the mopping and head to the pub.

Found it. [Link]

The rate in indigenous youngers was significantly higher than the colonials but the colonials rate was still disturbingly high. More prevalent in men in NZ, whereas I seem to remember it was higher in young indigenous women in Canada.

I know. I was really surprised when he said it. I don't know if he was talking about it on an institutionalised level or a personal level. Not completely unheard of, though. I have read or listened to a few things where people - in various spheres - have said that a fear of failure is their main (although not exclusive, obvs.) motivating force. Wanting to prove someone else wrong (teacher/parent/bully) is also quite common. Been reading Oliver Burkman (I think) in the Guardian every Saturday for years and it crops up surprisingly often in some format or another.

The youth suicide rate in New Zealand is at least partly driven by high rates in Maori and Pacific Islanders. There's clearly an issue with cultural identity/poverty/impact of colonisation etc etc as Canada are also struggling with a rash of suicides in their aboriginal community.

I think that NZ chap was really talking about using the enormity of the All Blacks history and expectation to spur them on, taking ownership of it. England rugby tried to emulate this under the previous management.

Absolutely unprecedented model if the NZ rugby success if built on fear. Seems unlikely to me. Any sports psychologist in the world would tell you that is fear is one of the first things they seek to inhibit. If fear of failure worked, England would be the best footballing nation in the world.

GG - thousands of kids dreaming of earning £10,000s a week and playing Xbox in their Maserati is hardly a glowing endorsement for national pride and dedication.

NZ play a different version of the rules. And when the pressure gets too much (e.g. on blatant throwing the ball forwards) the IRB change the rules, or interpretation thereof. Complete disinterest in that bunch of cheats tbh.

Football is a truly global game though TGG. Let's be honest, rugby is largely a Commonwealth/British Empire game. And in New Zealand there's much less of an 'officer class' thing going on. It's THE game

Kentish - yeah, and football is our national game.