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FA Cup Betting: Fascinating contrast in managers as Barnsley clash with Cardiff

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Legendary Non-League manager Frank Gregan considers which of Simon Davey and Dave Jones has the most to win and the most to lose in the second of the weekend's FA Cup semi finals

Imagine the scene. There are eighteen highly sceptical soldiers, members of an elite military shooting team, sat in a large auditorium waiting for a civilian sports psychologist to come and address them and explain how he can help improve their marksmanship and performance under pressure. The conversation was muted before the shrink's arrival, there was a genuine resentment that valuable time was being wasted on the whim of a commander.

I was one of the soldiers and I was wondering how the psychologist was going to be able to get through to us. In his shoes I would have probably started with an opening gambit along the lines of: "Okay fellas, I appreciate that you don't want to be here, all that I ask is that you give me half an hour of your time and if you like what you hear, take it on board. If you don't, throw my ideas in the bin and move on." That probably would have given him a chance. Instead he walked onto the stage and said: "Good morning gentlemen. If you remember nothing else after this lecture remember the following. Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, bright copper kettles and warm woollen mittens."

They are, of course, the lyrics of My Favourite Things from the musical the Sound of Music. His message was that when the pressure is really on think of something that gives you immense pleasure to relieve the stress. "Smell the flowers" is the golfing equivalent. That was my first encounter with a sports psychologist and it is probably the reason that even to this day I have very little faith in them. By the time he went on to buttock clenching exercises as a relaxation medium he had lost his audience. I remember the lads around me crying with laughter when he suggested they should imagine that they were "giraffes nibbling the leaves from the tallest branches of the tree."

The pressure will really be on the two Championship managers who come head to head in this weekend's FA Cup semi final between Barnsley and Cardiff. It's the 38 year old Simon Davey against the 51 year old Dave Jones. I mention their age because age goes hand in hand with a manager's attitude towards mental pressure. I remember the first time I was asked by a broadcaster if I felt "under pressure." I was a thirty five year old fledging manager and scoffed at his question, "This isn't pressure, it's football. Pressure is not being able to pay the mortgage!" Ten years later when the mortgage and every other household bill were being paid by football and results were poor I quickly discovered what being "under pressure" was all about.

I expect the two managers' approach to the contest to be in stark contrast. Davey will be loving it, and why shouldn't he? After a great win at Anfield, Barnsley went on to dump out Chelsea. He'll be as confident as Tom Cruise heading out to a Grab a Granny night! There will be a belief that this is going to be his year. He'll be feeling invincible, he's thirty eight years old and leading out a team in an FA Cup semi final at the new Wembley, what can possibly go wrong?
Dave Jones on the other hand has just about seen it all. A quick glance at the ups and downs of the last twelve years or so of his career illustrates what a terrific fighter he is. He'll not be anywhere near as buoyant as Simon Davey, when life has planted a size twelve boot in your groin as often as it has to Mr Jones - excitement tends to get replaced by apprehension. The experience he has gained will tell him that there is no such thing as "your name is on it." You don't win the FA Cup because it is the Chinese Year of the Whippet or because a team wearing blue has never won a semi final in a year ending in an eight. You win it by progressing through five rounds and then triumphing in the final. It matters not one jot if you have beaten Manchester United or Matlock in the fourth round when you line up for the fifth round. Dave Jones knows all of this but it won't stop him worrying about it at night.

This is going to be a fascinating contest and a game I am really looking forward to. For me it will be a battle of wits between the two managers, in the privacy of the dressing room I would expect Simon Davey to be bullish and confident whilst Dave Jones will be reserved and philosophical. The sports psychologist would tell us that Davey's positivism will give him the advantage. I beg to differ, I think Jones's experience and level headedness will win the day. I'll be backing Cardiff to win at [2.34] and also I'll be having a couple of bob on them to lift the FA Cup at [6].

And finally, another reason why I think the sports psychologist failed during his lecture with the military shooting team. The next line in the song My Favourite Things is "Brown paper packages tied up with strings." Talk about knowing your audience - a brown paper package tied up with string on the Falls Road in West Belfast is one of the best laxatives known to mankind!