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Chelsea have hired the All Blacks mind coach who introduced a “no d***heads” policy as Graham Potter looks to turn the Blues into winners.
Heavy investment in players since Todd Boehly came in as owner has not yet been followed by success on the pitch, with Chelsea a disappointing ninth in the Premier League.
Thomas Tuchel was sacked in September and his replacement, Potter, is battling to prove he can be the coach to deliver strong results and trophies to Stamford Bridge.
Now Gilbert Enoka is heading to the London club after making an impressive impact in rugby union with New Zealand over the past 20 years.
Enoka, who stepped up from being mental skills coach to become leadership manager with New Zealand, will join up with Chelsea on what New Zealand said was a “short-term consultancy basis”.
The incoming expertise should be a boost to Potter, with the widely acclaimed Enoka having been part of an All Blacks set-up that won Rugby World Cup titles in 2011 and 2015.
Chelsea have spent around £600million on new players in the past two transfer windows, without their sprees having had any obviously positive effect on results, and installing a positive mindset appears to be what they are looking at achieving.
Enoka revealed in early 2017 how his famous policy functioned within the New Zealand ranks, saying: “A d***head makes everything about them.
“We look for early warning signs and wean the big egos out pretty quickly. Our motto is, ‘If you can’t change the people, change the people’.”
