I have a debate going on with myself at the moment. Is my analysis of a first half or of a game or of a player’s performance becoming a product of over-thinking? 
The reason the question arises is that I find myself consistently questioning and commenting on the areas of play or technique where we consistently come up short and I’m beginning to find, if I’m honest, that it’s getting quite tiresome. 
This isn’t a new thing to me. As a player, I always tried my best to push myself to do better and so, after a game, I was often looking at the areas where I had made mistakes or that weren’t quite up to the standard that I expected. 
It didn’t matter that I had played well or scored a few goals. That would go to the back of my mind. I would focus on the chance that I missed or the opponent that I allowed to get away from me at a corner or my failure to execute a simple pass. Had I lost concentration? Was it poor technique? But maybe more importantly, how could I make sure that it didn’t happen again?
Although I see the value in analysis, there was numerous times after a game that it would drive crazy as I wasn’t able to switch off. After a victory, it was never too bad but my reaction to a defeat was always particularly bad and I could spend my weekend despairingly picking through the bones of the corpse. As an individual, this was just something that I had to come to accept as being par for the course for the “privilege” of being me. 
Although it still drives me crazy to this day, I do have a grudging envy for those players who have the ability to have forgotten about the game as soon as they enter the shower. If I had a pound coin for every time that I lifted my head to give an angry stare or expletive filled rant towards the joviality in the showers whilst I sat brassed off in my full strip then I’d be a millionaire. All of my ex-teammates to a man will be able to attest to my Victor Meldrew-esque personality in the dressing room.
The quandary that is bouncing around my head though is that although I thought this way as a player, should I still maintain this approach as a manager?
The main discussion point for me here is that, as a player, I only had my own performance to think about. As a manager, I think about every player’s individual performance but still only have the same amount of time in the week to mull them over. The result is that I end up spending way too much time with a ball bouncing around in my head during the week. There’s always the added bonus when things aren’t going so well of having a number of unhappy players chapping at my door and needing a cuddle in one form or another which is always a joy.
Maybe every manager has the same analysis issues. Or maybe they don’t. Either way, it matters not a jot. Only my situation affects me and so as I tell the players all the time, take responsibility for yourself and don’t worry what’s happening with anyone else.
So what is the answer in respect of the Slavin approach vs the maintenance of sanity? Being the Largs Thistle manager on a full time basis would be one answer. Then I would have plenty of time and wouldn’t need to trade man-management for mental stability. But in the absence of that impossible cure and to fit the time constraints, I reckon that the answer might lie somewhere around focusing my energy on the team approach as whole and making sure that the players understand the role of their position within the team. That way, I might not need to focus so much on each individual and it would shift the onus on to them to fit their position on the pitch.
As I’ve said before, the judgement on all of this will be the league table at the end of the season so it won’t be hard to tell whether I’ve chosen correctly. At this point in our twenty six step season, I’m reminded of a relevant quote from a famous twelve step program which states
“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
Amen to that!