Most players prefer to be self motivated rather than motivated by external measures. Indeed it is each player's own responsibility to be 100% committed to each football match.

Obviously, not everybody has the same level of innate courage. A coach always likes to have naturally courageous players who play courageously all the time. Nevertheless players who do not have the same level of natural courage but who work hard to do courageous things are worthy of great admiration.

Sessions with a sports psychologist are very helpful but do not achieve everything. The individual needs to continually reinforce the lessons learnt and work on his own problem areas e.g. consistency, lack of confidence etc.

Fear of losing ("Wouldn't it be terrible if….") restrains many players from getting involved in the commitment to winning a Premiership. The pleasure of winning anything is directly related to the degree of fear of losing, i.e. fear of losing should be seen as a good thing because the pleasure of victory is then exaggerated. In any case, to aim for the top and come second is tolerable, whereas to aim for nothing is boring.

Rather than focusing on yourself all the time (e.g. "I'm not good enough for this level'", ask yourself "What is my responsibility to the team?" and "What is my responsibility to the coach?".

Ask yourself "What is the most courageous thing that I could do in this match?" Remember, guts is only 50% bravery. The other 50% is pushing the legs to move.

Ask yourself "What is the most team-oriented thing that I could do in this match?"

Life is boring if you do not "go for it" in some areas. Many people have never really pushed themselves to their limits on any single occasion and therefore do not have that sense of self-awareness. Whether it is sprinting up a hill on a training track or covering an extra 50 metres to pick up a loose player, or continuing to run hard in the last quarter of a close game even though you're tired, you'll be able to look back on those occasions when you're old (like me) with gratitude.

"If only" phrases annoy me intensely, "if only I hadn't missed that goal", "If only the umpire…", "If only I hadn't hit the piss the night before". We are not "passive pawns of destiny" but we create our own destiny.