A coach's word at the right time In the spotlight: If even Alex Ferguson can cop it from the critics, what chance do other coaches have? Coaching is not an occupation for people who need constant reassurance and universal approval. Your ability to handle scrutiny and inevitable criticism will often decide how successful your tenure will be. You can try to ignore it, but to do this would require enormous discipline and the ability to suppress any natural inquisitive instincts you may have on how the world measures you. Every coach will deal with it in their own way, but the issue needs to be dealt with even if the decision is to ignore it. My own way of dealing with criticism, particularly from the media, has been shaped by two unique experiences that were both enlightening and educational. It's fair to say that, when I first started coaching, my view was slightly different. In my first three years, I enjoyed great success and it was easy to be seduced by the praise and encouragement that came my way. Of course, if you stay in coaching long enough, you will eventually see the other side of the coin. And, so it happened with me at the end of my time as national youth team coach, when the praise was replaced by strong criticism. If you listen to the praise, you can't ignore the criticism and, while I didn't like or appreciate it at the time, I now realise that it was my own actions that allowed both to affect me rather than the words said or written. My enlightening experience came when I worked in Greece for a year. Observing the media at work there and the way they equally worshipped or vilified coaches, sometimes within the same week, made me appreciate that in Australia we enjoy a far more lenient environment. Of course, it was not easy to adjust to and for a while I made the mistake of not accepting I was in a different culture. The city I was in had four daily papers, three local TV stations and three local radio stations, and they all reported daily on the team I was in charge of. Everything was reported on, from how we trained to who trained well, what drills we were doing and with which players and even to the point where it was reported where I had dinner the night before. I realised that privacy and team confidentiality were no longer possible and the best I could hope for were that the stories were at least fact - but even that was by no means certain. If I applied local standards to that reporting, then I would be suing for defamation and privacy invasion every day, not to mention the psychological damage it would have done to my state of mind. Instead I dealt with it like the locals did and came to appreciate that most of it was born from passion rather than vindictiveness and ultimately the general public were still able to form their opinion on the work I was doing based on the team's performance rather than on how it was reported. In a nutshell, I became less precious. My educational experience was when I came back to Australia and was lucky enough to be offered a job at Fox Sports. I realised that working in the media had its own responsibilities and pressures and that an opinion was the one essential that you were required to offer every time you spoke. That was difficult for me as I like to have all the information before forming an opinion. But the reality is that you are always working on assumptions and, because sitting on the fence is not an option, you can sometimes be wrong in your summation. That was difficult to deal with as you know that people will be affected by something you may have got wrong. It is why, now that I am on the other side of the fence, I am not as offended if someone wrongly criticises me or my club. All this has made me realise that in a public occupation, some form of perspective is a strong asset. Both criticism and praise can distract you from the job at hand, so neither should be drivers of your destiny. That is easier said than done because of the effect it can have on your loved ones and your environment. But as a coach and leader, the alternative would ensure a roller-coaster existence driven by external forces. In a week where the great Sir Alex Ferguson has faced criticism, there is a realisation that as coach you should wear such scrutiny as a badge of honour as it signifies you are at least engaged in the battle.