[Ryan Coke]

-Gio referenced in his interview last night that the team plays like they are scared to make a mistake, that mistakes happen and the team has to cover for each other. I am admittedly reading into things, but it sounded like a veiled criticism of GG. I can imagine the pre game speech being about safe, defence, avoid risks, don’t make mistakes. Very contrary to the ‘safe is death’ mentality, and very much what I would expect from GG based on his comments, temperament, and history.

-GG said that the team plays nervous in big games, and they have to address it. So for those that don’t believe a coach has a role in preparation, then there is nothing he can do with that. Of course there is, seeing as how even a calm tactical delivery has its own effect on the players mindset and emotional level.

Calm can be a good thing, but if players tend to play nervous, the coach has to find ways to alter the mood of the group. He even admitted that he can tell ahead of time when they are in that state.

If he can see that, he has to find ways to change the collective emotional state. He may not have the personality for it unfortunately, which causes an issue with getting the potential out of this team.