Irish Football coach receives backlash after post-game conference

After a harrowing defeat by England on Tuesday, the Northern Ireland female football team’s chances of gaining a spot in the 2023 Women’s World Cup were relinquished. In a post-game interview, manager Kenny Shield made a controversial comment regarding the loss and the reason his team conceded five goals, four of which were scored in a matter of 27 minutes.

In front of almost 16,000 spectators and press, Shields stated that women often give up more goals in a shorter amount of time because they are “more emotional than men”.  The following day, the manager felt obliged to apologize for the comments he made after receiving backlash from individuals on twitter and complaints about the commentary surrounding females emotional levels compared to those of men.

 One former arsenal footballer Ian Wright tweeted two photos of him crying on the field commenting about how ludicrous the managers statement was. Surprisingly, a few days after the original article was published, multiple statements were made public by the women on the team that they “stand by their manager” and praised his character stating he was man who cares deeply for the team like they are “family”. Countless articles and opinion pieces have been published recently regarding his comments, most taking the side that Shields should feel embarrassed by these so-called “bizarre” statements. But what is so strange about a coach, who knows his team better than anyone else, making observations about what he has seen and experienced from a coaching perspective?

 As a previous Division I athlete and a current member of two female football teams, I can say that emotions do certainly run high in a match, and even more so right after your team concedes a goal. The immediate reaction is often an overwhelming defeat. It’s the thought of “will we recover from that?” or “what happens if we lose”?

 These questions are not specific to one gender or course, but I argue that the immediate response a female has when conceding a goal compared to her male counterparts is different and often a much more emotional experience. And if that is not the case, if the males experience the same if not greater emotions than the females, why do the statistics and analytics not prove to be the same? What do we attribute more goals to? It’s only obvious that females and males display emotions differently, that’s not to say they are more emotional, as studies have proved that this isn’t true.

Perhaps the bigger issue here is the issue of semantics; it seems that Shields meant that the female’s response following conceding a goal are stronger, and more emotional. If Shields had presented it that way, being more meticulous and thoughtful about word choice, the audience might have been less enraged and more willing to consider what he was saying, because he has a point.

Anyone with a coach (particularly a male coach) who is aware of the fluctuating emotional state that is unavoidable as a female athlete should feel blessed and lucky. One should consider that behind that comment was something honorable; the coach was commenting on the fact that the loss of the game can be attributed to the players emotional response rather than their technical inability or lack of talent to merely win. That is not an offensive comment, but rather a recognition that behind the female side exists a heavy emotional battle that must be won as well.

 A coach knows his players, certainly not better than they know themselves, but better than a male athlete on twitter raging about his own emotional responses he has had on the football pitch. A coach knows his player’s game; he sees patterns and learns through years of experience and countless hours of time with them how they will react to game scenarios. Forgive the man for stating in front of an audience what he has probably seen happen repeatedly. Shields also spent years managing and coaching men, and therefore has a platform to speak from, making his comment even more merited. If the players themselves weren’t even offended, it seems almost strange that random twitter uses and media channels are.