Yes, in baseball when the team stinks, you fire the manager. But you don't fire him because it rains. And you don't let the opposing team choose a new manager for you. And you don't fire him between innings. And replace him with a Viennese weightlifter.
During practice sessions I try and bring every inch of my experience to show the players what to expect, what can happen, what to avoid so that the team can focus on what they have learnt during training sessions.
I was 16 and went straight into the reserves. I had to adapt to the language, adapt to a new country, adapt to a style of play, all with new team-mates. All those kind of things were in my head and it was very hard.
I do try to stay involved in training and keep that routine as much as I can. I just feel I need to do it for myself, not because the manager demands it, but because you get to a stage where you have to manage yourself - what suits you; what doesn't.
There are things you can do in training like learn from the manager and talk with team-mates, but it's the game that tests you.
If you are young and you don't get rewarded with game-time, or don't come into games, it is difficult to try to still be hungry in the training sessions.
Fitness is important, but the most important thing is how you adapt and the way you feel physically. To adapt to a new position. To try to change your game.
If you know my kind of football, you will know I'm about training sessions, working on habits. If you have the chance to do that, okay. If you don't though, it's not so easy to change something about the team.
I try to see each new season as a new challenge because I have a new team to work with, new opponents to encounter, and often new ideas and theories to try
I try to work to improve myself every day and I try to do on the pitch what I do during the training sessions.
I'm somebody that really locks in to play, and it's not easy to say hello to all the ushers and all the people who work around the team and then try to execute the game plan and beat the other team.
I work out in the morning before I join group training sessions with the team.
Living in a jungle is not something easy; it's not something that you just adapt yourself to. And I think that in my case, I didn't want to adapt.
My standard training week, there's a lot of training in there. I have a high-performance coach who manages these spreadsheets of mine, manages my sessions and my loads. It's a very complicated process, and he puts me through about 22 sessions a week.
Training to be a tough tackler isn't easy - you don't want to injure yourself or team-mates so it's crucial that you have self-belief in your abilities and strength.
The job of arguing with the umpire belongs to the manager, because it won't hurt the team if he gets thrown out of the game.