By Richard Lee - 08/05/2008

Sticky Labels

I recently did my little bit for Sport Relief by going in goal for a school penalty shootout in an effort to raise money; 50p a go and, for most, the opportunity to tell their mates that they’d comfortably scored against the Watford keeper!

As I was signing a couple of autographs one of the lads was initially being quite kind in his opinion about me but, as he walked away, he made the comment "Shame your kicking isn’t a bit better". At first I thought of giving him a good kick and seeing whether he still doubted my ability but, after I’d calmed down, this got me thinking about how we label people not just in football but in life.

I’m sure we all have a mate that we refer to as a bit of a clown, someone who’s a bit boring or maybe even someone who is untrustworthy etc. The thought it gave me was how can someone shift another’s opinion? Especially one that has been ingrained quite deeply.

For instance, if you have the belief that a certain friend is hilarious then as they are about to speak you are almost on the verge of laughing before a word has left their mouth and the exact opposite is true when someone you find very uninteresting is about to tell the world’s funniest joke!

This is also known in the world of psychology as a ‘scotoma’ - a blind spot someone will have regarding another person. Once an opinion has been formed the mind will search for ways to back up the belief about the chosen individual. Maybe there’s someone in your life who this may apply to? Or maybe not...

Relating this back to football, a couple of players jump straight to mind. The first being David James, an ex-Watford keeper and a keeper I’ve always rated highly. Physically as fit as they come and with ability to match, yet he was quite early on given the tag of ‘Calamity James’, a name which seems to creep up whenever he makes an error.

The thing that gets me is that this is a guy who’s played most of his career in the top-flight and has almost always been the number one keeper wherever he’s been. He produces saves that only someone of his incredible physique could make, kicks the ball further than most and has played many games for England. Yet if you were to ask your ordinary guy on the street what are your thoughts on David James, firstly I’m sure they’d have an opinion and secondly it’d probably be something along the lines of  "good keeper but prone to a mistake".

Couldn’t you say that about every keeper though? I can’t think of a keeper who isn’t prone to the odd mistake. Peter Schmeichel springs to mind when I say that. He's widely thought of as a Man United legend (and rightly so) yet he was prone to many an error. What makes our thoughts on Peter Schmeichel different to that of David James or anyone who has such a label?

So back to my original story and the label I feel I’ve developed. I’m the first to admit then when I originally made my debut for Watford and the season I played under Ray Lewington, my kicking wasn’t as good as I knew it could’ve been.

Since then most people know that I’ve work very hard on my kicking and this season, in particular, I can’t think of many kicking games I’ve had where i’ve felt it’s been a hindrance to the team. I’ve worked incredibly hard on my technique and my distance has improved with that.

So I ask myself what do I need to do to shift this label? And after much thought I came to the conclusion that sometimes you can’t and that’s okay. You can strive your whole life to be the very best at whatever your chosen pursuit is and you’ll always get those who will question your ability but that’s fine.

The world is full of opinions, but it’s important to remember that their opinions are purely based on behaviours that you perform and how they’ve ‘perceived’ it, it doesn’t in any way diminish you on a personal level unless you allow it to.

In a perfect world we would all absorb criticism and take the positive intentions from where it derived; it is more often than not, meant in a constructive way and we are all able to look for that if we choose to.

To finish, I will continue putting as much effort as I do into this area of my game, along with all other areas and I will continue to improve. If, in time, if I manage to shift the opinions of a few on the standard of my kicking then great, but if I don’t that’s okay, I won’t take it personally.