MAX TO THE MURRAY

The pilot of the Boeing 737 bound for Genoa gunned the engines and the passenger in 1c, as racing drivers like to say, took a bite out of the seat.

Max Damioli glanced across at the nervous flyer and smiled.

“You don’t like it?”

“No.”

“I used to be like you but then I learned how to fly an aeroplane and now I understand how safe these things are.”

And so began a conversation about the fear of flying, smoking, fencing, shooting and the fourth best tennis player in the world.

Max is a hypnotherapist and gave 1c a few tips on how to deal with the rational fear of putting his life in a stranger’s hands and moving at high velocity.

1c said he had given up smoking using hypnotherapy and Max mentioned he was also a sports psychologist and worked with Olympic fencers and shooters.

Now, 1c knows little about anything except sport and he only knows a little about that but he is curious so he asked Max about Andy Murray.

The 23 year old Scot is the most gifted player from these islands since Fred Perry who won eight Grand Slam titles between 1934 and 1936.

He is a counter puncher who uses his opponent’s pace, moves well and plays with imagination. He is fun to watch.

Murray has won 14 times on the ATP tour and has reached two Grand Slam finals. In 2008 he lost the US Open final in three sets to Roger Federer and earlier this year he went down, again, in straight sets to the world’s number one in the final of the Australian Open.

Leave aside those two matches and Murray has won six of nine matches against the best player to pick up a racquet.

Last year at Wimbledon Murray lost in the semi finals to Andy Roddick and after the match Roddick’s coach Larry Stefanki identified a tactical weakness in Murray’s game.

“He is going to have a great future if he gets to the point of recognising balls to attack and to come into the forecourt and play there rather than 15 feet behind the baseline.”

But there maybe another reason why Murray has yet to win the final point.

During matches, when he makes a mistake, Murray berates himself. The more mistakes he makes the more frequent and louder the berating. Murray is by no means unique in this but none of the other top players do it.

When asked about this tendency Max said,

“His conscious is split in two. One is judging the other. One expects to make a mistake and the other part makes the mistake. It is dividing his energy.

“ The more tension in a match the more intense the other voice becomes and the more mistakes are made. Instead of supporting him the other voice tells him off and pushes him towards making errors. It goes downhill from there very quickly.”

“Everybody is different and the solution to the problem depends on the character of the individual. Tennis is similar to golf and shooting events in the Olympics. These contests can be very long and there are plenty of opportunities for the part of the person that judges to raise its voice.

Max said the solution is to stay in the present.

“He must succeed in believing in THE point. Not the one before nor the one after. It is the power of now.

“If he asked me I would recommend he creates an anchor in training. An example would be to close his eyes, take three of four breaths and smile or tell a joke so that when he feels tension during a match he can go back to his anchor and prevent the judging side of his conscious taking over.”

Maybe this is too simple.

After all, when Murray was seven years old he survived the deadliest mass murder of children in British history when a gunman killled sixteen fellow pupils and a teacher at his primary school in Dunblane. His parents also separated around the same time.

But Max knew nothing of these events. He was talking solely about a professional athlete struggling with his other voice and 1c is a much better flyer now than before.

SIMPATICO WITH THE BOYS IN PINK

The goalkeeper was consumed with guilt. He turned his back, knelt by the post and prayed.

Fourteen minutes earlier Salvatore Sirigu had given away a penalty that appeared to dash the dream of playing in the richest competition in football.

But referee Roberto Rosetti had awarded another spot kick at the other end and the 23 year old Sardinian refused to watch as Fabrizio Miccoli sized up the opportunity to equalize.

Sirigu never saw Miccoli put his foot through the ball or the net bulge but he heard the roar and it salved his conscience.

There were no more goals and the game between the only two clubs in Serie A who could finish fourth and qualify for the UEFA Champions League ended in a draw.

Palermo could still make the show but they are two points adrift and must win their last game of the season and hope Sampdoria lose.

At the final whistle the English commentator perched in the main stand of the Stadio Renzo Barbera felt a pang of regret because, in a sometimes monochrome league, the Rosanero add colour with their blend of Italian craft and south American flair.

As well as the prolific Miccoli and the outstanding Sirigu there is the young, thin Argentine Javier Pastore who finds space where there is none, the Uruguayan Edison Cavani, all sunken cheekbones and menace, and his gangling teenage compatriot Abel Hernandez.

In the middle the Italian trio of Fabio Liverani, Giulio Migliaccio and Antonio Nocerino are willing and skilfull workers.

Behind them the full backs Mattia Cassani and Federico Balzeratti attack the flanks and leave the Roman Cesare Bovo and the Danish phenomenon Simon Kjaer to hold the fort.

Kjaer is a pearl. The 20 year old is having a sensational season for club and country. Look out for him at the World Cup. He has long blond hair and wins every challenge.

But if Palermo fail to qualify for the Champions League Kjaer may move on and everybody, from Manchester United to Juventus and Real Madrid, wants him. Others, like the Brazilian Fabio Simplicio, may also leave.

It would be a shame because President Mauricio Zamparini (bonkers but popular), sporting director Walter Sabatini and coach Delio Rossi have put together and run a team which deserves a big stage and the people of Palermo crave the opportunity to showcase their city.

Before the game against Sampdoria the commentator's producer Guiseppe Sampino, Palermo born and bred, had told him why.

"Whenever Palermo is mentioned everybody always thinks of the mafia, and dark things but that was twenty years ago and this city has changed. People here are against the mafia. This is a beautiful and friendly city with history, architecture and passion. It is also safe. A woman cannot walk around alone after dark in Rome, Milan or Turin but she can here. Being in the Champions League would show people that we have other qualities."

Every football club represents the values and emotions of its fans but U.S. Citta di Palermo are a little different for they are the only professional football team in the world that dares to play in pink.

CURRY' S FOLLY

Alan Gowling wore headphones, held a microphone and was about to tell his listeners the team news.

Only the former Manchester United, Newcastle United and Bolton Wanderers forward was sitting in the wrong seat and the former Dynamo Haringey, Club Sandwich and Green Gate utility player was about to ask him to move.

Gowling agreed without fuss and with the suggestion that Tottenham Hotspur is home to the worst press box in the Premier League.

Everton and Portsmouth compete but the view at Goodison is fine and at Fratton Park they still have ticket price signs in pounds, shillings and pence so we are grateful for electricity.

If you are one of the 56 reporters crowbarred into 120 square foot of East Stand lower tier at White Hart Lane your Saturday afternoon will be an uncomfortable one.

Not only is it cramped but the tiny flip-up desks slope towards you. Broadcasters have to gaffa tape equipment and writers hold onto laptops.

Not only is it cramped with tiny, sloping desks but it is impossible to see over the crown of the pitch. Commentating is tricky. BBC radio were in the cabin to the rear of the seating area but the view was so poor they moved to the television gantry in the stand opposite.

Not only is it cramped with tiny, sloping desks and a restricted view but television monitors block the narrow gangway running down the middle. Getting in is difficult; getting out requires balance, sure feet and the eye for an opening.

Everybody blames Steve Curry.

When the East Stand was rebuilt in 1982 the press were housed in the upper tier but a few years later chairman Irving Scholar, who was desperate for cash, freed up the good seats for corporate clients and kicked the press downstairs.

Curry was the number one football reporter on the Daily Express and chairman of the Football Writers' Association at the time. Over lunch with Scholar Curry agreed to the move and to advise on the facilities. Or lack of.

A smile from the dinner ladies in the equally cramped press room, the hot food, the rewarding football (69 goals and only three draws in all comps), the terrific atmosphere and access to the managers post match never quite make up for three hours of neck craning, bladder holding minimal movement.

Tottenham plan to build a new stadium and the FWA have been consulted about press facilities and maybe broadcasters will also be asked to contribute.

The bad news is Tottenham’s new 58,000 seater stadium may be some way off. Spurs are also building a state of the art training ground at Bulls Cross in Enfield and need to spend on players to compete at home and abroad. In the deepest recession for 70 years something may have to give.

The good news is Steve Curry now runs a pub.