This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…
At least he’s had a long time to think about it.
Having put an end to a bit of a bad run of form against Middlesbrough before the international break, it has given parts of the Blues squad the chance to reflect on how things have been going so far this season.
Blues stopper Lee Camp has been talking about the adjustments that the players have had to make under new management and how the team have been adjusting to all the changes:
“The Club’s obviously in a period of transition, the owners and the board want to play a different way and there are different demands on the team this year. There are going to be teething problems and a little bit of uncertainty when you are trying to change a style of play and it all takes time and practise and repetition.”
Later on, he spoke about the victory against Boro and what gave them the motivation to pull out the win:
“We were told it was one of the only games in the world being shown live so all eyes would be watching and at home you want to put in a performance and make the place as much as a fortress as possible.”
One thing that should be a concern about his words is the fact that he mentions the eyes of the world is enough to motivate them to put in an extra performance. Surely they shouldn’t need that sort of motivation to perform just because they are on TV.
If that is the only thing that is getting Birmingham players motivated and willing to perform, the fact that they don’t want to find themselves shown up on TV as it were, then there is a serious problem off the pitch that really needs to be addressed.
In the grand scheme of things, something as little as that shouldn’t have such a big say on the mentality of a player.
It’s also interesting to note that at no time during the interview did he speak about his own errors in the games against Derby County and Wigan Athletic.
As we have noted before on Football FanCast, they have started to creep into his game and he needs to sort them out before he can really start talking about the rest of his teammates.
In theory, Camp should be motivated by his mistakes alone. If we consider the goalkeeper in isolation, that should be enough to make him improve, not the mere presence of a TV camera.
It’s a classic mantra that some players often perform better when they’re on television but it’s perhaps a questionable statement from the ‘keeper.
