AT any big club these days, there is an army of staff behind the scenes to cater for a player’s every need. That is evident here at Celtic’s pre-season training camp in Austria, where there seems to be a member of backroom staff for every couple of players.
Subsequently, these Celtic players are in prime physical condition, but what about their mental health? For Matt O’Riley, looking after his mental welfare is the single most important aspect of being a professional, and that is why he has his own mental coach to help him ensure he is also looking after himself in that regard.
Given the high pressure environment that O’Riley operates in with Celtic, he feels having such an outlet is vital, and he encourages his fellow professionals to also pay as much heed to their mental welfare as they do their physical condition.
“I have my own coach who I like working with,” O’Riley said. “Not just stuff on the pitch but also things on my general well-being because I think that helps a lot, as a player and a person. Hopefully, that shows by the way I play as well.
“He lives in India actually. I met him at Fulham about four years ago just as a friend. He has now become a coach as well and I think it helps that he is also a friend as well. Maybe if he was just a coach I wouldn’t have that same connection. “He speaks English otherwise it would be a struggle. He was studying at university in England and he was an intern at Fulham. I immediately built up a relationship with him because I felt he really wanted to help me. I didn’t necessarily get the same feeling off everyone else there.
“If I was looking to do a bit more in the gym or elsewhere then he was the one that really took an interest in that.
“From the off we were very good friends and four years down the line we are doing Zoom calls a few days a week just to keep in touch, to keep things ticking over. Hopefully, I can get him over in the near future which would be cool. “In football it is hard to open up sometimes because you are under so much stress and pressure. So it is good to have a person you can go to and tell how you are feeling.
“If something with my football is not good or in my personal life then I can speak about it and it helps me to keep quite a steady, level head.”
Slowly but surely, the old taboos around discussing mental health in football are falling away, as the effects of the toxic masculinity that used to define the game begins to dissipate.
That can only be a good thing, according to O’Riley, who is more than happy to help break down the stigma that men in general may once have felt around opening up about their feelings.
“I think so [it is getting easier to discuss mental health],” he said. “I am very open about it and I think it is the most important aspect of football.
“You can see if a player is not playing with confidence or a level-head on the pitch then it shows.
“There are so many cases where a player has been on fire and then a few weeks later they are struggling. It is probably down to their mind telling them the wrong thing etc.
“I think it is the most powerful thing and that is why I try and really work on it consciously. [I’ll do] stuff like meditation and stuff like that I do quite a lot to make sure my mind is in a good place on the pitch.
“I try to do something most days but the schedule out here is pretty hectic out here. Even if it is just a simple breathing exercise I just try and do something.” O’Riley has had a lot to take in after making the move to Celtic from MK Dons in January. The 21-year-old settled into Ange Postecoglou’s side from the off, and ended an impressive opening to his Celtic career with a Scottish Premiership medal to show for his efforts.
In the short term, he is focused on showing an even greater improvement next season, with the departure of Tom Rogic perhaps increasing the burden on O’Riley to be a creative outlet for his team in behind the striker.
In the longer term, the sky is the limit, but he is certain he is in exactly the right place at the moment under exactly the right manager to continue his development as a player. “I am not afraid to dream as big as I can,” he said.
“I can aim as high as I possibly can and that is what I will do.
“With the manager and the culture of the club it means you will always be striving to get better.”
