Joe Williams finds control amid the chaos to become a better player for Bristol City

Progress and development can take many forms, and the genesis of such steps forward isn't always obvious. Consensus opinion is that this has been Joe Williams’ best season in a Bristol City, albeit with his first, and to a large extent his second, decimated by injury.

The midfielder has brought a consistency not just in his availability but impact on the field and, while there has been natural dips, as the campaign and results have ebbed and flowed, when the Scouser has produced his best, it’s tended to coincide with the Robins’ standout displays.

But what exactly has got Williams playing with such influence and finesse, going far beyond his bountiful energy and relentless drive? For Liam Manning, it’s pretty straightforward: he’s learned to control his primal instincts.

Williams’ very nature is to play on the edge, no quarter given. It’s not exclusive to, but tends to be a trait of Liverpool-raised footballers. Except, while an undoubted strength, sometimes it’s been detrimental to his overall performance over a 90-minute period.

The willingness to sprint for everything, to fly into tackles and get the collective blood pressure raised inside a stadium can be a positive but the downsides can be an obvious lack of discipline, in terms of cards accumulated - although his seven yellows isn’t too far away from the nine last term - but also it has an adverse effect on his own positional sense, and therefore his teammates in general.

Manning is big on playing to a structure and at the heart of that is Williams; he needs him to be that Tasmanian Devil in terms of winning second balls and powering forward, but also with the restraint at times to maintain shape and assess what’s in front of him while dictating the tempo beyond 100mph.

It sounds straightforward, but for a player of Williams’ profile and make-up, he’s probably had to work hard at it; more so than, say, someone like Matty James who is a model of composure, on and off the field. However, the results of Williams' work are there for all to see.

“I can only assess what I worked with when I came in and where he’s at now and he’s made strides forward in his emotional control,” Manning said. “He’s got that bite, that aggression, that tenacity, it’s making sure it’s under control which I think he’s done a good job of because that allows him to stay focused in-game; you want to keep the hunger and the bite but not to the detriment of doing what the team needs you to.”

Psychology and the use of it to improve performance forms a significant part of Manning’s approach to coaching; in terms of skilset, fitness, technique, athleticism, there isn’t a great deal to distinguish many of the players that make up the 24 teams in the Championship. Players have respective strengths and weaknesses, of course, but they’re mostly all fundamentally of a high level, otherwise they wouldn’t be making a living in the second tier.

Finding that extra five per cent is often between the ears and controlling his impulses has maybe helped Williams find it. That will be further tested against the Steve Evans-led Rotherham United this weekend as the already-relegated Millers are likely to test City’s desire to play, with interruptions, physically-imposing football and trying to play spoiler at Ashton Gate.

In order to prepare his squad for such a challenge, and work on their aforementioned “emotional control”, Wednesday’s session involved the coaches deliberately sabotaging the session with recreating a deliberately raggedy game, to see how the players react in that moment and then shape how they should react if it was to transpire on Saturday.

“It starts with awareness,” Manning added. “People misread what I say and don’t listen properly at times, in terms of I want players to be emotional, I want them to be fully invested and right on that borderline of control and no control because that passion, that hunger, that fire, that drive, has to be in you and then, the biggest bit is recognising that when you do step over and the red mist sinks in, how quickly can you bring it back under control?

“Because what you don’t want is rash decisions, rash actions - it ultimately hurts you or costs you. Whether that be with cards, being in the right/wrong position, missing a tackle, fouling, whatever it might be, it can sometimes lead to negative actions, which we don’t want.

“We tried to do a little bit of it (in training) in terms of: create chaos, give bad decisions in-game and then the awareness element, it always starts with that, because if you have a conversation about it and you’re aware of it, you maybe improve how you deal with it.

“It’s no different to finishing, to improving your heading, it’s working with it and for us as staff we try and recreate some of those scenarios and situations for them.”

It’s impossible to discuss Williams, of course, without the impending deadline as to the end of his contract and exactly where he’ll be playing his football next season. The Scouser is one of four first-team players who become free agents at the end of June and with Andi Weimann’s fare sealed, Andy King - if we were guessing - probably leaning towards the exit door, there has yet to be any indication whether Williams and/or Matty James will be extending their respective stays.

His performances, and reputation, will undoubtedly mean he has interest and probably offers elsewhere in the division, while the potential lure of a return to the north west is always there, but having drawn these sort of performance levels out of Williams, it seems logical to guess that Manning would like to have him as part of the squad for next season.

It won’t be as straightforward as that, given the various financial considerations, but at least the next week or two should finally provide a degree of closure on the matter, one way or the other.

“They (talks) haven’t happened yet but they’re things that will happen in the next week or two,” Manning added. “For me, we’re still finalising things and, of course, my first port of call will always be a chat with the players.

“Joe’s been brilliant and the big bit is he’s enjoying it which I always think helps. When you look at players sometimes we forget the human behind them and if they’re head is in a good space, they’re enjoying what they do, they look forward to turning up and they’ve got clarity, I think it allows them to perform to a high level.

“He’s done brilliantly, I’ve been really, really pleased with that. The challenge is now to sustain that in the next two and I think what’s helped is the people around him.

"When you look across the group, Joe has improved and I think a lot of the lads have, credit to the staff in what we do and how we work, it’s around improving people and improving players and Haydon (Roberts) is another one who jumps to mind, I thought he was excellent and he’s progressively got better and found more consistency which is where we want to get the team and individuals within it.”

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