If you can remember the illusionist, magician or mind control guru – whatever you want to call him – Derren Brown, you’ll remember a man seemingly capable of the impossible, of persuading individuals and groups to perform his will and it all stems from neuro-linguistic programming (NLP).
NLP – very roughly speaking – is the ability to make people think that they are determining their own actions when, in reality, you have planted the seeds at the back of their head, but “what does this have to do with Rangers game against Union Saint-Gilloise?”, I hear you cry.
The Belgian outfit’s manager, Karel Geraerts was speaking as part of the pre-match build up and there were a few phrases that suggested they aren’t as confident as you might think, as reported by The Rangers Review:
“We don’t have the team to defend. Of course, there will be big pressure from Rangers and from everyone but when we have the ball we have to play football because if we don’t do that, it will be very hard for us.
“It’s a new experience for everyone in this team. It will be strange. It will be something to discover and when you discover things it can be magic.
“If you have good mental strength and good physical ability, if you are ready to play this game in your mind tomorrow is a big moment to take pleasure on the field in this magical, legendary stadium with this public.
“We need to take positive energy from that instead of choking.”
That Geraerts alludes to “big pressure”, it being “very hard” for them and “choking” suggests that these thoughts are already creeping into their mindset, focussing on avoiding the negative rather than the positive can have a hugely detrimental effect on performance.
It’s also interesting that he doesn’t back his team to just be able to hold onto their two goal lead, hardly the confidence booster that your team would be looking for ahead of such a big game.
What Rangers – and their fans – have to do is play their part, create the pressure, never let it lift, suffocate them to the extent that they feel like they can’t breathe and can’t get out of their own half. Force them into mistakes.
The thought of failure is already at the back of their heads, let’s make it a reality and turn their dream into a nightmare.