Inside Sheffield Wednesday’s game-changing sports psychology work with Darren Moore eager to end frustrating hoodoos

So much has been said about Wednesday’s mentality in recent years, with talk of a ‘soft underbelly’ and complaints regarding certain cultures that existed within the ranks.

Darren Moore oversaw a squad overhaul in the summer, bringing in a host of new players to replace several long-serving players who left after relegation to the Championship, but it was clearly felt that some problems ran deeper than just individual footballers.

Enter Tom Bates.

The popular sports psychologist has worked with the likes of Aston Villa and Brentford, has helped out with the FA, and assisted Olympians and numerous individual footballers in their attempts to improve their mindset and reach new heights.

Bates – who has his UEFA A licence and has 14 years of experience in performance psychology – was brought in last year, with Moore desperate for his side to cut out aspects of the game that were holding them back.

“It’s about driving standards, and individual excellence,” Moore told The Star when asked about Bates. “What does it look like? How is it achieved? How do you maintain it?

“That’s the sort of thing that’s been implemented and continues to be driven here. Consistency and excellence is something you have to work on day in, day out, and it’s something you can always work towards.”

Wednesday have had issues dealing with adversity of late - battling to fight back from losing positions and dropping points when put under pressure whilst leading – but also struggled with concentration levels, conceding numerous goals during critical phases such as the last 10 minutes of games and right after scoring themselves.

Barry Bannan, who has been a key component of the Owls’ Play-Off push this season, has seen serious highs and lows at Hillsborough, and he says he’ll do anything to give him that little bit of an advantage.

“I’ve used him a lot, we’re really close,” he explained. “The way I see it, if it’s going to give you even that one extra percent then you may as well try it. I’ve been using him for leadership and things like that, and he’s been brilliant.

“Earlier on in the season when we were conceding late a lot, or conceding from set plays or straight after we scored a goal, we spoke a lot about those sorts of things and how we could be better. We also spoke about using little trigger words after conceding or scoring in order to get us together – and it’s helped.”

And while a Covid outbreak at the club meant that they went through a spell of not seeing Bates as regularly, he was back in with the team this week and he’s been working with people individually even during his absence.

Jack Hunt explained that players have been able to ‘speak to him on an individual basis’ after his initial group sessions were started in order to ‘make everybody feel comfortable’, with the in-form defender explaining recently that they are now at a stage when players will use him one-on-one in order to try and improve their own game.

Fixing mindsets isn’t something that happens overnight, but since Bates’ arrival at Wednesday the club have managed to cut down on the amount of late goals conceded, and also managed to pick up 10 points from losing positions – which is more than the last two seasons combined and already their best return since 2016/17 (15).

The come-from-behind win over Doncaster Rovers last month was their first reversal away from home in over six years, and while there is still clearly an Achilles heel with set pieces – and the late equaliser from Accrington Stanley showed there’s more work to be done on critical phases – Bates’ arrival and the upturn in mentality can’t be a coincidence.

“I alluded to us before about our football club having somebody of his expertise to share his thoughts,” Moore went on to say. “And he’s on the same page as where we are.

“I speak to him regularly and he knows my thoughts, and he applies those thoughts to the players. He challenges them in terms of where they’re at - both individually and collectively - and creates thought-provoking moments for them to think about and consider. He drives high standards, and that’s what we want.

“The players have bought into him this season, and we certainly feel that part of the solid performances we’ve had is down to Tom getting things right in terms of challenging the players on a day-to-day basis.”

And you have to feel that Bates’ recent return is well-timed as the Owls head into the business end of the season with the carrot of promotion still dangling in front of them – mindset and mentality will be key if they’re to get over the line and back into the Championship.

Dominic Iorfa said this week that missing out on promotion would be a disaster for the Owls this season, and if Bates’ input can help them do that then he’ll have been worth every penny and more.

“He’s been really good, the boys buy into what he says, and we enjoy it,” the defender told The Star. “You go into it and there’s a lot to take in, but it changes your way of thinking and he has been really helpful.

“It’s been about mindset - the mindset of going into games, and training preparation. He touches on togetherness as well.

“He’s worked with various other teams - and in different sports - so when you hear those stories you can take away from them. You can say, ‘Right, that’s somebody at the top level in their field, that’s what they do’ and then you can take bits of that and bring it into your game as well.”

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