What gets said at half-time?

[An Laoch]

There have been a number of games this season, and I suppose every season where one team is in the ascendancy at the interval but is then completely over run in the second half.

This of course leads to much predictable insight from analysts and commentators along the lines of "Whatever was said in that dressing room at half time certainly worked..." and so forth. Postmatch, the pitchside reporter invariably quizzes a member of the winning team or the manager himself as to ''what was said''. The replies are so predictable that any one postmatch interview could replace another without anyone even noticing.

Now if we're all to believe how hard inter county teams are grafting in training, and the supreme levels of motivation and drive that they have, one has to ask just how effective it is that a manager bangs a few tables and chairs and says ''it's just not good enough''.....or even does the inches speech from Any Given Sunday. We're talking about grown men, athletes at a near professional level, I find it hard to believe that a few strong words at the interval can alter the performance of a team to such a magnitude.

That being said, I've never played at any appreciable level of the game. I'm sure many here have. So what's the deal? For the most recent example did Conor Counihan do something special to inspire a team that played like a bewildered and shapeless junior side in the first half to turn them in to All-Ireland contenders in the second?

Surely players don't need to be told what's on the line in these games. And if there are problems on the pitch, surely the players recognize this and react to it - they don't need to be told by management to get tighter to someone who's just scored 3 from play in 10 minutes? They don't need to be told to stop hitting hail mary balls in to the full forward if he's getting cleaned out by the full back?

Anyone got any theories or practical experience in this regard?   

[North Longford]

I sometimes think but could be wrong is that what happens to the team in the ascendancy has as much to do with it as anything else.
I think no matter how hard lads try when they sit in a dressing room 8 pts up they start to believe they have it won. It only takes the performance to drop a couple of % and you are in trouble. If half time didn't come they would just keep playing but having to stop, think about where they are and start again can make them a little lax.
At the same time the opposition are obviously going to have a go at the start of the second half and suddenly they get a bit of success, the team in front start to think oh shit and it can sometimes be hard to turn it around.
Thats why I would say the first 10 in the second half is crucial. If Kerry had to kick a couple of points ad keep the gap for 10 or 15 into the second half then they would probably have cruised to the end.
Could be completely wrong and I'd also say a gale force wind can have a lot to do with it too!!!

[Hardy]

There's a lot in that NL. You nearly always see the team with the momentum winning it. When you lose momentum it seems to be almost impossible to regain it.

[AbbeySider]

Its a strange one indeed. Many teams sit back on a cushion lead and drop the concentration for the second half.
If we have a big lead at half time we have often been warned that the opposing team will throw everything at us in the second half and they will try and come back. That they will try and hit a purple patch.
But if the team in the lead at half time can collectively give it everything and get the first few scores in the 2nd half often the heads will drop for the team thats behind.
Maybe a defensive tactical switch could be in order. Like crowding midfield to make sure you win primary possession or dropping someone back in front of the full back line. Its negative but I have seen it work.

[thebandit]

The first 10 mins of the 2nd half is absolutely crucial. I'd much prefer to be 3 down at half time and kick 3 unanswered to pull level than be 4 up at half time and concede 3 to be 1 in front after 10 mins of the 2nd half

[Main Street]

There's a lot in that NL. You nearly always see the team with the momentum winning it. When you lose momentum it seems to be almost impossible to regain it.

Looking at Cork in the second half.
You could see that even with a man just sent off and still a huge deficit to overcome and playing against a top team like Kerry, that they had that momentum already ingrained in their psyche.
Something changed at 1/2 time and it wasn't just the substitution.
The momentum wasn't just something that developed as they clawed back the lead.
They looked like an unstoppable force.

[screenexile]

It's hard to put your finger on it. Cork always had a siege mentality about them with the 'Peoples Republic' crap and all. Add to that getting a tanking by their fiercest rivals and having one of their best and most experienced players sent off it really doesn't get any lower than that.

When teams are back into a corner they like to come out fighting and this is what happened. Allied to that a bit of luck and a team that just don't seem as hungry for it anymore and you get that result. Almost the exact same thing happened Derry in 1995 when we should have beat a fourteen man Tyrone team after being 4 up at half time and cruising.

As for saying things at half time well it has its place. How much of an effect can it have on players it's hard to know but I always like to keep it in Reserve for the really big matches. If my team plays badly during the year I will tend to be disappointed and not really raise my voice at all. Yet if we have a big championship game and things are going wrong I find that a shouting match at half time can really rally the troops and you can see when they aren't expecting it on their faces that the players know they need to do something to change it.

As people say it's all about momentum. How often do we see teams come from behind in GAA matches. The team that can turn it on towards the end of a game will invariably win it and that's why I would always put a bigger emphasis on the 2nd half than the first.

[SLIGONIAN]

At Half time in our match against mayo I think the sligo players and management knocked on the mayo dressing room door and SAID "we couldnt be arsed trying to win today heres the nestor cup" and gently handed it back to them .

[Sligoper]

Well your a fuckin idiot then Sligonian.

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

"You have this game in the bag lads, sit back there now a take it easy for a bit...", as the Kerry folk might say Pat O'Shea said to the lads in the Derry and Cork games 

[neilthemac]

If the team thats ahead drops their workrate and effort all around the pitch by even 10% in the first 10 minutes of a second half they are fcuked. very hard to raise it again once the pressure comes on

[bingobus]

Kerry dressing room, HT on Sunday:

Dara: "Who took the sauce, my chips are getting cold"

Cooper: "Ah Jaysus lads, these Buds are luke warm"

Pat O'Shea: "Shut it lads, I'm trying to listen to Brolly on the telly"

Cork dressing room, HT on Sunday:

Cork County Board official: "Lads, finish out the game, Teddy Holland will be taking the sessions from here on in."

[SLIGONIAN]

Well your a fuckin idiot then Sligonian.

I sent you a PM. Im not going to react on here to that.

[haranguerer]

If there is a decent line, then it will be clear where the problems are being caused in the first half. If the team is lucky, there will be changes made, and they will work, so its like a completely new game.
However, the team in the ascendancy going into half time, doesnt have the chance to react to these changes. While there can be switches made from the line, its not the same as at HT, when tactics can be outlined to the entire team so everyone knows whats going on.
Mentally, a team coming back out in a comfortable lead will have lost that bite they had at the start of the match, whereas a team coming out who believe they have just seen the foundations laid for a comeback (and also the freedom of feck all being expected) will be chomping at the bit. From there on in its like a rollercoaster, players start to believe, the crowd start to believe, and hey presto; Another Great Championship Comeback^TM
I was actually thinking the other day, that if there were time-outs allowed (yes i know it would be ridiculous, its hypothetical) there would be far fewer comebacks.

However, the HT talks I mainly see consist of either a psycho manager trying to pick fights with the team, or the junior manager: affects baffled, wounded look, shakes the head and says 'I dunno lads, I just dunno', followed by approx 2 min of silence, broken by suppressed laughter, and then around 8 min chatting about that nights entertainment.

[DUBSFORSAM1]

We had a simple philosophy when doing well or well ahead at half time - we were told that there would be substitutes going on after 5/10 mins of the 2nd half and whoever finished the game would start the next one....