The Town Fan Who Helped Leicester to Premier League Triumph Wednesday, 4th May 2016 20:58 For most Town supporters the season has come to a quiet, underwhelming end but it couldn't be more different for Ken Way, who has been celebrating helping Leicester City to the Premier League title. Ken is the performance psychologist with the new Premier League champions, having worked in a similar role under George Burley at Portman Road from 1997/98 until the Scot's departure in 2002. A Blues supporter since he was a schoolboy in Felixstowe in the 1970s, Ken worked with Burley again at Southampton in 2005 and stayed on when Nigel Pearson came in as boss for a fleeting spell at St Mary's in 2008, then followed the former central defender to Leicester, Hull and then back to Leicester in 2011. “It’s fabulous, it’s definitely up there, almost as up there as when we won in the play-off final at Wembley!” Ken laughed when asked how it feels to be part of the staff of a Premier League-winning club. Despite the shock nature of Leicester’s first ever title, Ken says the season has gone relatively smoothly, particularly when compared with the ups and downs of his time with Town. “Without belittling it in any way and I don’t want to say it was easy, but we never really seemed to go through really difficult times,” he reflected. “Going back to the time when I worked at Ipswich, we had those three bloody play-offs that we reached, but the seasons seemed like such hard work and it certainly felt like hard work when we ended up losing two of those play-offs [during his time working at Portman Road].
“This whole season for Leicester City, it was enjoyable, almost from start to finish. Enjoyable because we achieved aim one, which was to retain our Premier League status but then obviously it escalated into something completely different.” He says there was a match in February when winning the title seemed to become a serious prospect. “I think there was a big turning point, Man City away when we found ourselves 3-0 up and eventually won 3-1,” he said. “There was a look, I remember looking at some of our staff members and we were kind of laughing because here were one of the teams that were tipped for winning the Premier League and we’d gone away and, again without belittling it, it was just too easy. “And the boys were enjoying themselves so much on the pitch. I’m not sure any of us said, ‘Hey, we could win the Premier League from here’, but I think that was when we started thinking that finishing in the top four or six wasn’t a dream but was a distinct possibility.” He says the team found themselves under greater pressure during the previous season when they escaped relegation by the skin of their teeth, winning seven of their last nine matches. “The real pressure the boys were under happened last season,” Ken added. “That was distinct pressure that Sunderland, Newcastle and Norwich are going through right now. “We started this season thinking, ‘Let’s get to that magic 40-point barrier’ and if there was any pressure this season that was when the real pressure was on. “But I do think the pressure was beginning to ramp up a little bit more towards the tail end when Spurs were [chasing in second] even with our huge advantage in points.” Leicester’s title was confirmed on Monday evening when Tottenham drew 2-2 at Chelsea having been two goals in front, a stressful game for those with a vested interest in its result. “I watched it until Spurs were winning 2-0 and I just couldn’t take any more, so I turned over,” Ken said. “And then someone texted me to say it was 2-1 and I started watching it again and I still thought, ‘This is going to be 3-1 in a minute’ and couldn’t stand it any more. “And then I thought I’d just check my Sky Sports app and I just hit it right at the moment it flashed up and said 2-2. “That was the longest extra-time, the longest eight or nine minutes I’ve ever watched in my life. “I wasn’t drinking but when the whistle went that’s when I opened my first bottle of wine, far too late to be doing that really but it was necessary!” What does he put this season’s remarkable achievement down to? “If there was a secret, and I don’t think there was just one secret, there were lots and lots of different variables which were controlled and looked after, but it was teamwork. “It is all about having a team which gels together. I know having worked at other clubs, not just at Ipswich, sometimes I’ve worked with teams that have got a much younger average age. “But if you look at our team we’ve got a few players who have been around the block and their attitude, their approach, their focus, that really has generalised so that even the youngsters have been well and truly focused and have applied themselves with serious intent, on the training field and in games. “As much as it’s been very, very enjoyable to be a part of it, I cannot but admit I’ve learnt a great deal this season, perhaps more this season than for quite a few years. “I’ve learnt quite a lot about the dynamics of teamwork, how it works and it’s just been an absolute pleasure to work with them.” Ken, who also works in other sports, including rugby, cricket, golf, tennis and squash, as well as with businesses, is with the Foxes for around one day in the week in addition to match days when he spends his time observing. “I observe and listen very intently to note what’s going on to see if there’s something that I need to do in the following week. Observation is a very important thing.” He added: “I didn’t run any first team group sessions this season at all. It’s all been individual work. There’s not been a need to. I would say that there have been two psychologists working at the club. One is me and the other is Claudio Ranieri. “He’s superb at reading things, at saying the right things, getting them really, really focused. “He used a line, unfortunately I can’t quote it to you, but he said something to the team at the team meeting before the Man United match, something that from a psychological perspective that was all about getting their minds particularly focused. You could write a mini-book on the psychological value of what he said. “The guy you see in the media with the smiles and the almost grandfatherly approach, that’s the same bloke behind the scenes. He’s got a lightness of touch at times, which is just fabulous.”
Understandably, the week since Monday has largely been spent celebrating: “I was at the training ground yesterday and you can imagine the mood, it was back-slapping and hugging, well-wishing. “And without a shadow of a doubt the owners are the best owners a club could have. They treated everyone to a meal and took us, obviously, to an Italian restaurant with the best quality wine and food. “That’s the first time I can remember being on a police escorted coach journey to a restaurant. “We passed the King Power Stadium and there was a guy there dressed in football kit, who was the spitting image of Jamie Vardy.
“So they boys shouted, ‘Get him on, get him on, let him meet the real Jamie Vardy!’. So the door opened and we dragged him on and this poor guy was almost in tears! “He was taken to the restaurant where word had got out and there was already an enormous crowd outside, and there were shouts of ‘Get him off, get him off!’ and the same guy was then kicked out of the coach and, of course, all the fans thought it was the real Jamie Vardy! That was really quite exciting. "Some of the players who left early from the restaurant had to escape via the fire escape at the back of the restaurant so as to avoid the fans, it was bedlam!”
Photos: Reuters/LCFC
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