As you will have noticed by reading the last few weeks, I’m very interested in the mental approach to football. I’m a huge believer that it creates the difference between winning and losing in players but is still vastly under-rated in terms of its importance in the wider game. Whilst a lot of professional teams now have some engagement with sports science and the huge advantages that it can bring in terms of affecting player performance, there is still very little progress in terms of player psychology and this is very much left to the player to manage.

The reason I have such an interest goes back to my playing days. I used to wonder that when faced with the exact same scenario at different times, what it was that made me do one thing at one time and then do a completely different thing other time. I eventually worked out that it was down to my mindset.

For example, when I was an attacking right winger (many years ago) there would be games I would play against a full back and I would get the ball, drive at him confidently, go past him and put a cross in.

But a couple of times after that, he would maybe get a tackle in and doubt would creep into my mind about my ability. The doubt was essentially a fear of failure. Thereafter, I would tentatively approach the defender with the ball and invariably my chances of success became much less.

Another example was when I played at Greenock Morton with ex-Motherwell and Rangers goalkeeper, Ally Maxwell. Late on in one match, Ally came out for a cross which he dropped and the striker stuck it away. For the next few games after that, Ally struggled with his handling at crosses when he had never struggled before. It got to the point where he ended up staying on his line and letting the defenders deal with the crosses. It amazed me at the time how someone with so much experience and ability could quite suddenly have doubted himself. This scenario with Ally Maxwell showed me that nobody is immune from doubts and that if he was feeling what I had felt before, then all players must experience it.

Now that I’m a good bit older and wiser, the lesson i've learned is that if every player has the ability to experience doubts and the fear of failure then why not force your opponent into the situation rather than yourself. This very much ties into one of my thoughts a few weeks ago when I wrote that dominating your opponent first and foremost by whatever means, was a sure fire way to getting the better of them. If you can erode their confidence then conversely you will increase your own.

The science behind it all ties into the brain. The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is the part of the brain involved in individual behaviour and decision-making and is crudely speaking, the most newly evolved part of the brain. This vital region of the brain regulates thought in terms of both short-term and long-term decision making. It allows humans to plan ahead and create strategies, and also to adjust actions or reactions in changing situations. Additionally, the PFC helps to focus thoughts, which enables people to pay attention, learn, and concentrate on goals.

The problem with this incredibly important part of the brain though is that when we are under stress this conscious-thought part of the brain is taken over by the unconscious responses created in the limbic system, specifically the part called the amygdala.

The amygdala responds to a variety of emotional stimuli, but mostly those related to fear and anxiety. This is the reason why when you feel that fear of failure creeping upon you, there is suddenly a need to put the brakes on and carry out a new action to avoid the fear. In essence, it is a survival mechanism which developed in the earliest human beings in their attempts to avoid being killed and eaten by wild animals.

The beauty of all of this though is that when we have the awareness of this unconscious response built in to our brains then we can take steps to overcome this. This is what is called metacognition and in basic terms is thinking about thinking. This means that we create strategy, problem solve, evaluate and modify which stops us from unconsciously responding negatively in times of stress and fear.

I know that is all rather scientific however I have always been a great believer that understanding a problem, allows me to go and fix it and this is a great example of that.

In terms of Largs Thistle, I think there was undoubtedly a fear of failure amongst the playing squad when me and Arnie took over. We were definitely giving our opponents way too much respect and standing off them which gave them space to play and a chance to hurt us. By standing off teams and sitting deeper in an attempt to protect our goal, conversely we only succeed in allowing them to grow in confidence and get closer to our goal. Once the squad finally learned to transfer that fear to their opponents by getting close to them and putting them under a lot of pressure, then we ended up playing more in the other team's half of the park and a certain level of success was achieved.

Although I’ve related all this to a football setting, it all applies to life in general and though I’m far from being a master of metacognition, my awareness of it helps me in my work and personal life also. My fiancée Jennifer will tell you that I experience chronic procrastination at times so any little bit of help that I can get to work this brain is more than welcome!