'Players have built satellites': why football clubs might need organisational psychologists

Norway's performance psychology consultant Martin Langagergaard on how top teams can cope with the growing number of backroom staff

At the biggest clubs, it seems like the players have built satellites where they have their own team, dedicated to nutrition, physical training and therapy, media relations, security, logistics and commercial arrangements, for example…because the number of (backroom) staff is growing, you might need an organisational psychologist…to share knowledge, spar with the manager and his staff and facilitate internal cooperation….it's going to be extremely necessary.

The words of performance psychology consultant Martin Langagergaard, whose journey - from training Nordic counter-terrorism units to supporting the Norweigan national football team - I told last week.

There’s been a really positive reaction to the piece, which you can find via the link below, so I thought I’d follow up with some additional quotes from the interview, outlining Langagergaard’s view of how top clubs might manage their backroom operations and the approach he’s taken to integrating himself within Norway’s setup.

Before that, a last chance to submit questions for this month’s Q&A. There are no strict parameters for putting forward queries: it can be anything on what’s going on in the sport psychology industry, requests for help with a professional problem or another challenge you’re looking for help with.

To submit a question, just email mindroomenquiries@gmail.com or leave a comment via the button below.