Work can be 'moving' experience
I’ve recently moved house and what a traumatic experience that can be.
I hadn’t realised just how much trivia, or rubbish as my wife refers to it, you can accumulate over the years.
I found myself moving boxes of old memorabilia that I put in the loft for safe keeping the last time we moved ... 11 years ago!
So what's my domestic life got to do with football?
Well it struck me the other day just how often professional footballers have to move house during their careers to pursue the occupation that they love.
Many a manager has been accused of wasting good money on a player who doesn't perform and cannot settle with his new team.
Not only has that player got the pressure of joining a new club, playing with different players in possibly a different role, but the strain on him and his family moving to different parts of the country must take its toll.
Fans get frustrated when a new player doesn’t settle as well and as quickly as is hoped, and it is often the case that transferred players get ‘transferred’ again in a short space of time.
Managers are in a similar position. Instant success seems to be the order of the day. It is no surprise that the clubs who allow players or managers the time to settle both professionally and in their private life seem to reap the benefits in the long term.
My game last Sunday saw me as fourth official at the Liverpool v Manchester Utd game. Both clubs realise the value of allowing their respective managers time to settle and both have seen success as a result.
Yes, moving house is not the easiest of tasks and is fraught with pressures.
For me as a referee it means finding which box contains my kit. For players and managers it means a whole lot more. So the next time your team unveils their new signing, give their domestic life a little thought, it might explain a few thing.
* Pete is referee at Bolton v Chelsea on Saturday.
