×
NewsDay

AMH is an independent media house free from political ties or outside influence. We have four newspapers: The Zimbabwe Independent, a business weekly published every Friday, The Standard, a weekly published every Sunday, and Southern and NewsDay, our daily newspapers. Each has an online edition.

No substitution for discipline

Sport
No matter how good a player can be, without discipline, it is always a worry for the coach, club and even teammates.

No matter how good a player can be, without discipline, it is always a worry for the coach, club and even teammates.

Football on Saturday,Backlyfield Chivenga

Italian football star Mario Balotelli ignores the press ups session during training
Italian football star Mario Balotelli ignores the press ups session during training

It is a prerequisite for a football player at any level in their career path to be disciplined.

We have seen players failing to get long-term contracts and at times, having their contracts terminated due to bad behaviour.

Discipline starts with a player as an individual and this is what makes a good or bad player.

You would find that some players come late for training and have a reason every day for it.

A player who is serious about their career, is not, normally pushed to do things by the coach simply because they know the value of being the best.

There are a lot of talented players who have not seen success due to indiscipline.

Being late for a training session or a match is one such issue that has to be improved on by the players because it is the foundation for all that happens on match day.

Training time is important because it is what is used by the coach to select a team for a match.

If you come late for training, it means that you will lose out on what you are expected to be doing by the coach.

Depending on the coach, some will punish and not allow you to train on that day, while others will give you a warning, yet let you train.

As for serious professional clubs, a coach would turn you back home, lay charges that would see your allowance deducted or worse cases, would get you suspended and fined heavily.

You end up losing your position to the next player, not because you are less talented, but due to indiscipline alone. And this will make a coach ignore you and work on improving the next player.

Coaches always say an average disciplined player is a joy to work with compared to a talented mischievous player. If the rules of the club stipulate that you all use the team bus, then it is your duty to be at the pick-up point on time and go to either the training or match venue.

You would see others giving excuses so that they can use their personal vehicles.

This compromises monitoring, team spirit and also allows for loose behaviour in other cases where you see alcohol and drugs being concealed in these vehicles.

Mobile phone usage has to be stopped during training and more focus should be put on the work at hand.

Relatives and friends should be told not to show up for no apparent reason at training because it distracts attention and is a sign of disrespect.

Work time is valued by you, the player, and it should be utilised fully on work.

During training, there are a lot of things that happen and players are expected to do as the coaches require.

Players are not supposed to be rude to the coaches and must maintain a high level of discipline so that there is progress.

Others walk out of training or become emotional and start rudely answering back to coaches, which at most times leaves a coach with no choice, but to drop you from the squad.

Indiscipline has a negative impact on the club.

The majority of the bad boys in the game are yellow or red-carded during play and the team suffers due to an individual’s bad behaviour.

This has an impact on the results and at times, you risk losing fans and sponsors may see it as bad business, resulting in them pulling out.

The image of the club is tarnished and the club loses money by paying fines.

Players are role models in society and kids emulate them on and off the field of play.

For the individual player, indiscipline would make you miss out on awards because you would have acquired many cards during the season.

There is gross indiscipline among players and most of the bookings in matches nowadays are cases of indiscipline.

It’s high time players turn professional and respect their work and what comes with it.

Discipline is what each and every player should thrive to have and achieve their goal.

Many are rejected by teams abroad and get contracts terminated due to lack of discipline.

There is my famous saying that I always tell youngsters, that the manufacturing of genuine reasons will see you achieve nothing as a player, but a seat in the audience when the rest are honoured.