They're All Just Headphones!

Chris Waddle's rant was not a lonely one. Today's footballers are aided by an army of player liaison officers, sports scientists and psychologists, with tech on top. Do they have the stomach for a scrap?

It’s a sweltering day in late July and a squad of teenage footballers runs wearily through the Lake District, each member carrying a log above their head. At the end of a muddied trail, the group dives into a river and swims downstream.

The players must rely on their own acumen and the support of their team-mates to overcome each challenge. There are no player liaison officers on hand to solve their problems, nor any sports psychologists present to massage bruised egos.

For three days, contact with the outside world is limited. All electrical devices – mobile phones, iPads and laptops – are banned, with players made to fill their free time by listening to some motivational speakers at mental resilience workshops.

Sheffield Wednesday’s under-18 side are undergoing a punishing boot camp. It is designed to build characters capable of overcoming adversity on the pitch and reverse a worrying trend threatening to spread through English football.

A month earlier, the national team’s humiliating 2-1 defeat to Iceland saw them exit Euro 2016 in the last 16. Critics argued that the team’s pampered millennials were mentally weak and incapable of dealing with difficult situations.

One verbal gem from an exasperated Chris Waddle saw the former England winger lash out at a perceived lack of character. “They’re all just headphones,” he wailed, while wearing a pair for commentary duties as a BBC Radio 5 Live pundit.

But he may have had a point. Wednesday’s under-18 coach, Danny Cadamarteri, tells FourFourTwo: “On my first day at the club, all of the youth-team players were just sat in silence inside the changing room with their headphones on, scrolling through Facebook, Instagram and Twitter on their mobile phones.”