Having just watched my beloved Spurs get hammered 6-0 by Manchester City and then to see Ireland leading NZ by 19-0 and then losing 24-22 it made me think. Why does one team or one individual win and another loses?. Well certainly preparation, planning, belief, skill and implementation of tactics are just some of the tools needed to succeed. Ireland had a psychological hurdle to get over because they had never beaten the All Blacks in an international competition before. And the longer that hoodoo goes on the more difficult it will be for the Irish team to overcome it.

When I watched Ireland I did notice when they were leading 22-10 they started to get defensive and let the All Blacks dictate the play. In this situation when you lead by this margin you should continue to attack and carry on the tactics you used or be able to change the tactics and strategy if your opponent begins to understand your plan and make a counter attack. NZ believed more and were able to up the level in the 2nd half. This is part of the All Blacks dominance and it only comes from hard work and working individually to help the team win. Ireland will need to go back to training ground and work on the self belief and work harder on what they achieved in the 19-0 lead in the first half.

Spurs on the other hand have bought players from the Bale money in the summer and the players have turned out to mediocre type individuals. Soldado has been very disappointing and Paulinho is hit and miss and Eriksen has just got injured and will not be available for a few weeks. With Spurs I feel the management are not cutting the mustard. When Redknapp took charge of Spurs the team spirit was positive and under AVB it appears to be non existent.

Its easy to lose and harder to win. Work hard to win!

JB

English Table Tennis Player Liam Pitchford has just beaten Kenta Matsudaira (Jpn) at the German Open. This is another scalp for Pitchford who has already had wins against Samsonov (BLR) and Christian Suss (GER) at earlier events. He started playing table tennis at 8 years of age and started to show promise soon after. If he continues to show this advanced ability to beat the world's best then there is no reason why he can challenge at the European and World Championships and even RIO in 2016.

Past English Table Tennis stars such as Des Douglas, Carl Prean, Matt Syed and Alan Cooke will now have another special player to add to that list. Liam is certainly a player to watch out for at the big events in 2014 and beyond.

John B

After watching Roger Federer's demise over the last couple of years it got me thinking ''When is the right time to quit''? Snooker star Stephen Hendry called it a day recently after he said he couldn't make those long shots anymore where as Steve Davis decided to play on into his fifties and lose matches he would have won in the eighties.
In 2009 I remember starting to feel less enthusiastic about going out to practice and less inclined to go to Marlay Park to run and train. On the table I began to lose the aggression and speed I once had in abundance.
These were all factors in my decision to quit competitive table tennis in Ireland and abroad. I began losing to players I once would have beaten and that started to destroy my confidence so I decided to call it a day.Table Tennis is not a team sport as such as most of the matches you play are single events. You can't be an ageing striker or midfielder and hide amongst your team. Its like boxing, and your out there in the ring face to face with your opponent and you need the speed and agility to perform on the big stage and any weaknesses will soon become clear to not just your opponent but to you and the crowd. Roger Federer on Monday night lost to Tommy Robredo, a player he had beaten 10 times before. Federer is 32 and still shows signs of the days he was untouchable but its less and less now and the ageing meister is looking fragile out on the court and every top 50 player believes they can take him out now. So the Question is ''When should you quit''? The day will come when you have to answer this question. Some are stubborn and others are honest. What will you be?JB