In discussion with the BBC, Mansfield Town manager Adam Murray has revealed that he has banned his players from using their mobile phone ‘when they are on duty’. He says that by improving their communication off the pitch, by forcing them to interact with people in person, it will hopefully improve this aspect of their game on the pitch as well.
35-year-old Murray has been in the vacancy since his appointment in December 2014, then as player-manager, following a successful caretaker period after Paul Cox departed the club. Now that he is fully focused on managerial duties, he is looking to put the Stags firmly into the promotion race this season. After 13 games, they are just a point outside the play-offs.
With times forever changing on the global scene, including the emergence of various technologies, such as mobile phones taking on greater prominence, Murray is worried his players get caught up in that. Not wanting them to suffer from a lack of communication, he doesn’t want his players using their phones at the training ground or stadium,
“It’s a society thing. I don’t like the amount of time people spend on their phones around the football club.
“They don’t talk and then they expect to go into an environment where you have to talk and it will just happen,” he added.
“I think all of us, we’re all guilty. We get lost in this technology world now and we forget the actual core values of human beings.
“We had a ban on phones in certain times anyway – players weren’t allowed to be on their phones because they have to talk to each other.
“Instead of it just being in certain times, now we’ve put a complete stop on it.”
