by muirinho »
20 Jun 2017 10:29
From Despair To Where? SCIAG CountryRoyal Kuhl never had an "attitude problem". The only thing he said that he'd been ravaged by injuries and became somewhat disillusioned with the game at times even at one stage contemplating giving it up completely to pursue other career interests.
This sounds much more plausible than him transforming into billy big bollocks. From what little I've seen and heard of Kuhl, he's very down to earth but has had a drop in interest in the game lately. He used to play with such joy but in his few appearances lately he's looked within himself and hesitant. I don't think he adapted very well to Dundee and it was all downhill from there.
Despite his talent, maybe the footballer's life just wasn't for him.
If he's not showing the desired commitment, from a coach's perspective, that could quite reasonably be construed as developing a bad attitude.
Agree with the above. Not having the right attitude to succeed as a pro-footballer does not necessarily equate to "billy big bollocks". And there may have been no falling out with coaches either, just a "this isn't really working out for either of us"
Everybody develops at a different pace. It can be difficult for early developers, who are head and shoulders above their age group at a younger age, but then plateau.
From my experience, college and university students can also suffer from suddenly hitting a wall in terms of development, and getting discouraged by people they used to be better than, now overtaking them. Some accept the new landscape and adjust their targets (i.e., solid 2.1 rather than starred first), others battle through the wall, and then improve again, but there will be some who can't cope with the struggle, they haven't developed the resilience they need now, as everything previously has come relatively easily. Often this last group drop out of university completely. I can certainly imagine that you'd get similar stories in football academies.
For Kuhl's sake, if this is what has happened, I hope he battles through the wall - and maybe a new environment is exactly what he needs to kick start that.