Maybe I'm naive, but I subscribe to the idea that nobody is actually making strategic decisions about their career. Trying to do that would be like playing three-card monte on Canal Street.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
But it is not conscious strategy to go for unconventional roles.
I just feel that no matter what comes in a career - and mine has been all over the map - you must stay at the table, pick up the cards you're dealt and play them.
If I were a strategically minded person, I think I would have a far different career.
What I would pay much more attention to are the few points where the player can inadvertently make a career decision. Most players end up back-tracking, though some actually enjoy this.
We need to have a better balance between a deliberate strategy and staying open. Because in the end, most of us end up being successful in a career that we never imagined we would be in at the beginning.
There's a touch of the gambler in anybody really competitive and somebody that's willing to concede that to succeed, sometimes you need to cut corners and to make bold choices.
Choosing a role is very difficult. There's no way to have a strategy.
I don't have a career plan. I'm not strategic enough.
I have to make a lot of decisions that aren't in the best interests of individuals, whether they be owners, club executives, players.
Strategy is about making choices, trade-offs; it's about deliberately choosing to be different.