Sam Hawkins

Coaches…your tactical instructions land in a human environment. But how much attention do you give to that environment? Steven Pressley discusses his priorities at Dundee in this video. As a younger manager, he placed greater emphasis on tactical detail. Experience has helped him recognise the importance of communication, belonging, relationships, and respect. The tactics still matter - he makes that clear. But players need to understand them, buy into them, and feel able to execute them. And for me, this is where culture connects directly to performance psychology. Think about the player who makes a mistake. What happens around them next? A teammate offers an option or turns away. A coach gives a useful cue or expresses frustration. The player stays involved or becomes preoccupied with getting something wrong again. Culture…Environment…Mindset… Those everyday interactions help shape where a player directs their attention, how they manage their mental intensity, and whether they approach the next action, the next session, the next day, and the next game with intent. Culture is visible through behaviour. Who keeps communicating when you concede? Who offers for the ball after losing it? Who helps a struggling teammate stay in the game? And how consistently do coaches model the responses they ask for? Pressley makes another important point: winning makes it easier to build belief. Losing tests the culture you’re trying to create. It tests whether respect survives frustration…whether support continues when someone is struggling…whether accountability helps people improve…whether your standards hold when the results offer little encouragement. Alongside “How do we want to play?”, every coach needs to ask: “How do we want to treat each other when playing well becomes difficult?”