Working with my team of qualified sports scientists and nutritionists I find myself supporting more and more athletes with sports nutrition for health and performance.

Focusing on this area makes me very aware of the wider public and how some of the eating habits of the general population are spiralling out of control. With Christmas fast approaching, food is very quickly becoming the centre of focus - many of us simply want to enjoy the festive period and all it has to offer, but it can come at a very big price for many.

As we are drawn further and further into the month of December there seems to be a mental shift away from the normal eating patterns that are strictly adhered to throughout the rest of the year, into an almost animalistic frenzy of eat as much as you can, as often as you can.

The lights, decorations, festive music, parties and events all have a part to play in this mindset. It almost seems that much of the population are hard wired to see the festive period as a licence to gorge, and totally lose sight of the long-term harm it can do.

For me, much of it is in the mind, and to be honest, the population is hard-wired to feel and think completely different during the festive period, by the companies who sell food and drink.

The festive period is without a shadow of a doubt the most profitable for many businesses, but at what cost? For some, and many will be athletes, they possess a discipline that provides them with the iron will to maintain their normal intake, deviating perhaps on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and just maybe Boxing Day - but this is a level of discipline most of us can only dream of!

These individuals will increase their portion size with calm and cool control, ensuring that the increase of food at every meal is just enough for them to notice a level of indulgence, and allow them to enjoy the food they eat and the alcohol they drink just that little bit more.

After Boxing Day, they go straight back to normal, maybe deviate again over the New Year period, and get back to normality on January 2 as if nothing ever happened!

For the rest of the population it can vary from gaining a few pounds around the midriff, to sliding back into health problems that they have avoided all year round.

You cannot ignore the fact that, for some, Christmas can be a period that can spark negative life-changing experiences.

I can only imagine, for example, what a challenge the festive period would be for someone who has struggles with alcohol, with all the adverts in the media, the shop fronts decorated to entice and so many more parties to attend, with booze seemingly unlimited.

After the fun and laughter is over, the hell of being drawn back into uncontrollable drinking is the reality for many during the Christmas period, and this is no laughing matter, because it will ultimately affect all the family.

And it's not only drink of course, the diet companies must be waiting very patiently for January, a month they know will yield an incredible profit - by 2022 the global weight loss market is predicted to be worth £250 billion!

Many will start with the intention to control their intake over the festive period, but this is easier said than done with the festive period fuelling a liberal mindset as the simple carbohydrates and saturated fats test the resolve of the nation.

For many, that's too much. Not only will they gain eight to ten pounds over Christmas, it can be the beginning of a period that sees many sliding back into very large weight gain.

My schedule this week has involved a very important trip up to Glasgow to attend the premiere of the film telling the story of my late wife, simply called "Elena Baltacha."

As you can imagine, it was a very emotional experience, but not at all in a negative or sad way, it was a celebration of a woman who lived an incredible life, which has affected so many people in so many different ways.

It was a chance for me to be part of a private group of individuals who travelled in from all over the UK to be part of this premiere at the Every Man Cinema in Glasgow.

I was very pleased to see David and Mona Sheepshanks attending, their history with the Baltacha family is a very important part of Elena's story, and David featured heavily in the film.

It's safe to say, if it was not for David, my life would not be what it is today. That thought sent my mind on an incredible journey, tracking back, and peeling the years away until it reached the moment in the film where David talked about his visit to Russia to negotiate the historic signing of world-class defender Sergei Baltacha from Dynamo Kiev.

If David and the Ipswich Town board did not take the decision to negotiate with the Russians, Sergei would have never arrived in Ipswich as the first Russian football player to find a footballing life in England.

Sergei would never have been sold to a Scottish club, Elena would never have fallen in love with tennis as part of Judy Murray's national tennis programme, and eventually find herself in London as a young tennis player sponsored by Stephen Marks, the owner of the French Connection clothing company.

As I navigated back through the years and thought about how Elena's and my life crossed paths, it was completely mind blowing - but we all have these life path experiences, I'm sure many of you reading also have some incredible stories!

In the cosmos of the universe of life, energies are moving around, stars are aligning which, in some incredible way puts individuals into a certain place, at a certain time, that changes everything!

As Elena was happily training in London at the FCuk Tennis Academy, I was visiting Ipswich Sports Club to look at a fitness studio for training.

Funnily enough the daughter of the late Bobby Ferguson, ex-Town boss, had just left ISC as a strength and conditioning coach, which led to another twist in my life path.

I arrived at the studio with my Sports Performance Academy tracksuit and the head of tennis at the time, Rhys Hanger, spotted the logo on my chest, and asked me, "are you a conditioning coach?"

I said yes - and little did I know that this one little word would propel me into a life trajectory that would lead me to being an Olympic and Great Britain tennis coach.

Our conversation led to me joining the tennis team at ISC, which led to a conversation with someone who arranged for me to present at the world-famous La Manga Club in Spain.

At this very time, the 19-year-old British number one was also planning a training block in Spain, and yes, you've guessed it, at La Manga.

And this is where I set eyes on Elena for the first time, I never actually got to meet her, but her coaching staff liked my presentation, invited me to London to give a training session to the FCUK tennis players, and this led me to stay for six years.

For the first five years, I simply said good morning to Elena when she was back at the training base in-between flying around the world competing for Great Britain as our top ranked player.

Her tennis life then took a turn for the worse, her form dropped dramatically, and at a lunch we began talking and she asked for some nutritional advice - this conversation led me and Elena on a global tennis journey that would see me support her as a coach against some of the biggest names in tennis, including Maria Sharapova, at some of the biggest tennis arenas in the world.

Meeting David Sheepshanks and the whole Baltacha family again was a very special experience. It brought back to me all my memories and feelings, which filled me with emotions that are indescribable.

During the last year I have been adapting my sports mental skills programme for the business and corporate world. I've had a lot of experience working with individuals who operate in the high-pressured environment of the office, including Barclays Bank senior managers.

The more I study the area of sporting mental skills, the more I believe that sport can have the answers to many of the health problems now being experienced by those at senior level in the business and corporate worlds.

I found myself surfing the web regarding this area, and came across a very interesting article on this subject. It suggested that senior members of staff suffered more mental health issues than other members in their team with less responsibility and stress.

As I read through the article, it stated that senior managers need more training and more time to deal with other staff members who are dealing with pressure in the work place.

I see the role of senior members of staff as very similar to the coaches in a sporting environment - athletes are placed under huge amounts of pressure, some can deal with this pressure very easily, but my experience is that many cannot.

The statistic that 31 percent of management level staff had received at some point or another a diagnosis of mental-health related issues, is very worrying.

This was followed by the statement that managers in the workplace desperately need more training, which could potentially minimise mental and emotional trauma, simply through being able to hold meaningful and purposeful discussions with those who are struggling to deal with workloads and pressure.

I am now coaching the coaches in sport, and one area of my teaching is to highlight the importance of discussion and communication. This area of coaching support cannot be overlooked in sport, and I believe it can play a very big part in the workplace as well.

Pressure in sport can present itself in many different ways, athletes comparing themselves with others, setting aspirations too high, not being able to deal with failure, unable to set appropriate goals, inability to deal with the pressures of others.

Every item that adds pressure to an athlete's life on that list, can also add pressure to any manager in the business and corporate environment.

The British culture is very much about carrying a stiff upper lip and this really needs to change - in the same way I encourage coaches to develop the ability to guide athletes through experiences that can create stress and poor performance, I encourage managers in the work place to do exactly the same.

My approach to building athletic mental strength in sport is driven by creating the right environment and culture, and this is of course driven by the coaches.

For them to do this, they need to have the knowledge, skills, methods and principles to know how to create this culture. This is developed by them committing to self-development - once they start on this journey, it enables them to change the way the athlete perceives their wider world, and how they act and react in their world. When there are issues, the coach then possesses the skills to deal with these situations.

Athletes are developed from a very young age, often you see them entering the world of sport at the tender age of four or five, instantly they are being affected by good habits and developed in high quality environments, and this will hopefully play a very large part in the process of prevention.

It helps to build a personality and character that can avoid mental and emotional stresses and strains, but when experienced, the athlete is empowered to deal with them and overcome them, with the support of their team.

I see the work place in exactly the same way. Managers need the skills to create positive environments, the skills to educate and develop, the knowledge to react when their staff needs them, and of course focus on prevention rather than cure, providing junior staff with a positive entry and experience into the work place.

A big part of my professional life is now linking sport to business, I am working very closely with Jason Turner, the Director of East Region, Barclays Private Bank, and Jennifer Leeder, a senior lawyer based at Birketts Head Office in Ipswich.

With their involvement, I am hoping our sport to business programme called Sport Skills for Business will gain powerful traction and hopefully deliver some of the solutions for this debilitating issue we are battling in our workplaces across Great Britain.

During the last week I have been focused on working with a team of professionals, completing the final stages of a project I am very passionate about called SportSkills4Business which will be piloted in Ipswich with a view to expanding nationally.

The programme will be offered to both girls and boys, but it is a small group of businesswomen that are the driving force behind the programme, and we are now trying to identify talented young female athletes for the project.

There is one particular individual who is currently trying to show the world that being a young woman can at times be very difficult, that woman is Meghan Markle, The Duchess of Sussex - and what an inspiration she has been to my team.

I am of course the chairman of The Elena Baltacha Foundation, tasked with the very important job of looking after my wife's legacy, and she was very passionate about becoming a businesswoman after her retirement.

Tragically for her, and for me, we never got the chance of developing our business together, but knowing how much she would have backed this project, gives me all the fuel I need to work to create opportunities for young girls in sport.

During a recent trip, Meghan attended a breakfast meeting with a very powerful group of South African female businesswomen to discuss many issues affecting young women, they were also discussing how they could work together to empower young girls.

There are great women in all walks of life, across the whole world, and definitely here in Ipswich. Two ladies in particular, Jennifer Leeder and Sharyn Scott, who are based at Birketts Solicitors head office, are simply amazing and have actually affected the way I work and see my business and professional world.

Jennifer has already offered to be one of our female business and corporate mentors and will have the massive responsibility of taking a young athlete under her very experienced wing - Ellie Cornforth, an Ipswich-based GB international gymnast.

The SS4B programme will show young athletes how to focus on the skills they are developing through their sporting environment and culture, and ensure they can transition these skills to either growing their own venture, or finding a career in the business world.

Only very few will ever earn a living out of the sport they love, and at The Elena Baltacha Foundation we want to ensure that the years of hard work, dedication, discipline and commitment shown by our young athletes will in one way or another lead to a very rewarding life.

As I said I am very blessed to have some incredible individuals around me, and that also includes Jason Turner, the Director of East Region for Barclays Private Bank.

At our Gala Judy Murray event next week Jason will launch our SS4B programme to our regional business and corporate community. He will also announce how the WTA, the global governing body will be supporting our programme.

They have agreed for us to use their global network of professional job roles, to show how a sporting background can transition into a very rewarding life. Jobs such as physiotherapists, strength and conditioning coaches, psychologists, social media specialists, sports agents, media management, financial consultants, administrational clerks, the opportunities go on, and on - there is an incredible life waiting for many athletes after their competitive sporting careers end, many of them just simply need that early support and positive and guiding intervention.

The Duchess of Sussex has of course made gender equality and women's empowerment among her key causes, The Elena Baltacha Foundation salutes her efforts, and with the help of influential woman such as Jennifer, we hope to do our little bit right here in Ipswich.

We are now in the early stages of the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan, the first time this prestigious tournament has been held in Asia.

Rugby is one of the sports I have never had the opportunity to work in, but I'm pleased to say because of my work at The Hub, Centre of Excellence based at IWIC, I was invited to St Joseph's College last week to attend their Sports Information Evening - and this school, as I found out, definitely knows a thing or two about world-class rugby.

As soon as I walked into the presentation room, it was clear who the young rugby players were, the physicality of these young men is outstanding and it was obvious that a lot of hard work went into creating the bodies needed for this extreme contact sport.

I've heard it said that taking a full impact rugby tackle is like experience a car crash, and that's why these young men need to develop powerful bodies, not only to deliver impact, but also to receive it.

The game of rugby is without doubt a sport for very tough and resilient athletes, and that's exactly what I witnessed at this incredible school that dedicates so much of its efforts to ensuring they create players of the highest standards.

When I say the highest standards, this is not a throw away comment, this is based on results.

Lewis Ludlam, Northampton Saints flanker and an old boy (Old Birkfeldian) of St Jo's, is actually out in Japan with England as I write.

Just a day after the 23-year-old earned his first England cap playing in the warm up game against Wales, he flew out to Japan for the main tournament.

He duly came on in England's opening win against Tonga, and will make his full debut in the clash with the USA tomorrow (11.45am).

As most of my readers know, I often talk about celebrating all that is outstanding in sport in Ipswich and my goodness, it does not get much bigger than this in terms of achievement!

I listened to St Jo's principal, Danielle Clarke presenting to all the families who were there and it was obvious how much pride she felt as she talked about the school's education and sports programmes and their many achievements.

On hearing the news about Lewis, she said: "We were absolutely delighted to learn that Lewis will be joining the Rugby World Cup squad this year. The entire St Joseph's College community will be behind him, bringing an extra special dimension to our enjoyment of the tournament.

"Lewis is the first of our Old Birkfeldians to earn a cap for the full international XV and we are all incredibly proud of the accomplished player he has become."

I often write about the hopes and dreams of the young athlete and how these are so important in terms of creating the mental and physical energy to endure all that sport will throw at them as they travel along their journey to champion status.

It was very interesting to read what Lewis' mum, Dorinda Ludlam, said: "For Lewis, this really is a dream come true - he's been working toward this since he first started playing when he was about ten years old and certainly since he gained his sports scholarship at St Joseph's College.

"It really has been their faith in him, and the support of the whole community, that have helped shape his career to this amazing moment."

The sporting opportunities that are offered to me are exceptional, and I appreciate every single one of them, but having the opportunity to join the St Joseph College team of specialists, is one that really excites me.

I've visited the school on a number of occasions, there are many aspects that greatly impress me, but it's the utter commitment to excellence that stands out.

I've been invited to return to St Jo's by the Assistant Principal and Director of Sport Anthony O'Riordan, and Ben Palmer, Director of Finance for the National Schools Rugby Festival on October 19/20.

The World Cup quarter-finals will be played during the same weekend, and I've been informed that they will be streaming the games live so the festival visitors don't miss any of the world-class action in Japan.

The thousands of visitors will be very disappointed that Lewis Ludlam will not be attending - but on this occasion, I think he can be excused!

This week saw the end of the US Open, the last of the four greatest tennis tournaments that are held around the world.

The first is, of course, the Australian Open in January, the second The French Open in May, the third The Wimbledon Championships starting in July and of course the fourth, the US Open in August.

When you calculate how many countries won the singles and doubles titles at the slams it comes to 18, with some countries having more than one success.

In the final Grand Slam, it was Spain and Canada that took the honours in the biggest titles, Rafael Nadal winning the men's title and Bianca Andreescu lifting the women's crown.

I took part in this Grand Slam numerous times supporting my wife Elena as she competed for Great Britain, and of course Rafa was one of the tennis stars that I had the privilege of seeing on a daily basis during my job as a coach.

Bianca Andreescu is now 19, which would have made her only 13 when I attended my last US Open as an official GB Coach. When I think of this, it makes me focus on the players that we are now supporting through The Elena Baltacha Foundation, and how quickly - if super talented - they too could be on the world tennis tour!

As I now write my column I have just come off the courts after an early morning training session at Ipswich Sports Club, where we base all our training sessions, the players involved are boys and girls, from county to national standard.

And it's these great tournaments, such as the US Open, that they turn to for inspiration, and the fuelling of their personal hopes and dreams.

Of course, it goes without saying that Rafa is one of the greatest tennis players that has ever graced the clay, the hard and the grass courts, and he is without doubt an incredible inspiration to millions across the world.

But it's also the incredible stories of players such as Bianca, the brilliant teenager, that also helps support and drive the massive hopes and dreams that all our young players cherish and protect in their thoughts.

Bianca's story is quite incredible - she started 2019 ranked the 152nd best player in the world, but she will leave the year and start the 2020 season as a Grand Slam champion, and if she can protect her current ranking, she will be in the world's top five players.

That is a jaw-dropping achievement, anyone who has operated at a high level in tennis will know this is nothing short of a miracle!

It's stories such as this that sends out a powerful message to not only our foundation players, but millions of others across the globe - you have the right to dream big and, if Bianca can do it, with massive amounts of hard work, you can too.

As a coach, this story is so valuable. I use role models such as Bianca many times throughout the week of training, at times when motivation is needed, or while explaining a particular aspect of tennis development, and of course when the early morning training sessions become tough, when it's raining, cold and the alarm goes off at 5am in the morning!

Finally, this weekend will see a film crew from an award-winning production company visiting Ipswich. They are travelling around the UK, filming individuals such as Judy Murray, as part of a documentary on my late wife Elena.

It will focus on all she achieved, on and off the court, it will capture her life, and how she inspired when she was alive, and now through her powerful legacy that continues to be part of so many young children's lives.

When they are filming, I know I will be thinking of her, all our time together, and our hopes and dreams of building a Grand Slam champion from our home town of Ipswich.

I will be watching the film crew shooting footage of some of the best players we are developing and, taking inspiration from Bianca Andreescu, I will be hoping we can achieve Bally's dream of one day taking a home-grown player all the way to the top!

Nearly a year ago I had the opportunity of launching The Hub. I approached this project with the belief it could truly develop into an entity and energy that could have a major effect on local athletes, and it's safe to say that my expectations have not only been realised but surpassed, as we're expanding nationally with international projects also being planned.

The Hub, based at IWIC (Ipswich Waterfront Innovation Centre), is a centre of excellence for athletes across the UK to approach for support through sporting services, consultancies, products and programmes, and our reputation has grown to such a level that we now receive inquiries from all over the world, from not only aspirational athletes, but also global sporting companies.

When I first launched The Hub, I wanted it to be a force for good that would bring local athletes together, creating one sporting community that would include those earning multi-million-pound deals, all the way through to those who needed to pay for flights and hotels to compete for their country.

It sounds insane, but yes, this is the reality for some athletes - they are selected to represent their country in their sport of choice, but the governing bodies lack the resource to even buy the kit for these athletes, let alone pay for flights and hotels!

I have seen through my personal experiences how much money there is in some sports, and this was particularly evident during one of my presentations, which was held at the Manchester United training ground, at Carrington.

As I walked around the building with the staff, I looked through one of the large windows to see a jaw dropping line of cars - Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Aston Martins, Maseratis, the list goes on

They were owned by some of the most famous and successful players in the world, who compete and perform at a level that earns them vast luxuries.

Unfortunately for many other athletes, though they compete at the highest level, the money is simply not on offer.

The Hub focuses on many areas and bringing the sporting community together through involving athletes from lucrative and non-lucrative sports was a vision that I had right from the beginning.

I quickly realised that this concept could, in itself, become a brand and attract interest from companies who felt a social responsibility to support me in this quest.

My first objective was to attract attention, so I turned to Ipswich Town Football Club, and Lee O'Neil, manager of Football Operations.

He invited me to a meeting in one of the boardrooms at the stadium in Portman Road where I explained what I was trying to achieve. Lee listened with genuine interest and after a long conversation extended full and unreserved support, opening up the stadium to our first Hub Sporting Community photo shoot, representing the wide and diverse range of athletes we support.

We are now arranging our second generation shoot which will involve athletes from tennis, boxing, football, squash, cricket, running and swimming, again supported by Lee and Dan Palfrey, from the media team at Town.

I am, of course very proud of all the local and regional achievements we have banked, but I am very excited about the national and international opportunities that we are creating from our head office in Ipswich.

We are now in talks with the world's leading human performance and analytics company regarding a collaboration in a very interesting field of sports programme support.

This entity supports in excess of 25,000 athletes from 40 different sports across the world and 750 global teams, including top football teams from the Premier League.

A collaboration with a company of this magnitude would earn The Hub a place on the global stage of sports performance consultancy and support.

I am now planning a visit to Montreal, one of their world wide offices, and I look forward to keeping all my readers up to date with the potential progress of this very exciting opportunity.

The Hub started in Ipswich with a unique vision, we expanded to offer national support, and the aim now is to go global. All of this because a small group of people had faith in me, The Hub, and our vision to offer all athletes - rich or poor - the support they deserve.

I've heard lots about life coaches recently, and I think these professionals can be very positive for so many reasons - but especially when it comes to combating the spreading danger of social media and influencers.

Life's stresses and strains are mentally and emotionally harming more and more of our population, so life coaches will only play a bigger part in more people's lives in the future.

They will become more and more popular and necessary as we move into a future which is driven by the power and influence of social media, which in my opinion has many negative facets that can affect the population in so many harmful ways.

I'm sure many of you, like me, have conversations about social media on a daily basis, and the toxic effects it can have.

If used properly, for so many reasons it can be a very positive aspect of life, but for me I see it becoming increasingly negative as it finds its way to the core of many people's lives - so much so, that it affects the way they think, act and react.

Many young individuals are now setting their life aspirations based on what they are viewing on social media, much of it being based on individuals who are simply famous for being famous.

Their social media activity is normally focused around the way they look, the way they dress, or the way they behave, much of which has no reflection on the reality of most people's lives.

This means that many who are becoming increasingly addicted to following the lives of these influencers through their phones are being subconsciously affected in the way they see the world and the way they should lead their lives.

There are many positive role models out in the social media world, individuals who present their subjects in a very balanced, concise, structured and stable way, and are affecting in a very strong, powerful and valuable fashion.

It's the other group that I am more concerned about, those who pose their lives as being very realistic, and attainable by any one in the real world - but this is simply not true, and can affect the way many of their followers live their lives.

The mobile phone offers these influencers a screen of protection - it enables them to filter their lives, not only in terms of the way they can affect their images, but filters in terms of removing the truth of life, which enables them to force us to view life in the way they want us to.

Social media can provide them with a way of removing the rough and harsh edges of life that most of the population experience, instead presenting their lives as one seamless and perfect chapter of events that smoothly flows from one day to another, with none of the life issues that many of us experience on a daily basis - and it's this aspect which I fear is damaging the psyche of the nation!

It influences us to set unrealistic expectations of how we would like our lives to be, how we act, what we wear, how we look, where we live, how we live, and much of it is simply not attainable.

It's this yearning for something that can not be attainable, that ultimately makes many individuals feel like failures, simply because their lives do not reflect what they are witnessing through this small screen that they carry around with them all day, every day.

Social media will continue to gain momentum and become more and more powerful and influence the lives of the greater population, and this is why I believe good quality life coaches will have a big part to play, adding some reality to people's lives, creating real life perception and mental and emotional balance.

These individuals are not typically psychologists, but instead are often simply individuals who have lived life - been around the block, as some would say.

They have in many cases a realistic outlook on life, and offer support in terms of nudging unrealistic perception into realistic life styles. Many high profile celebrities will have a life coach in their lives, supporting a healthier way of living, and I think the future will see many more of the general population tapping into the skills and support these life coaches can offer!

This week I had the pleasure of meeting the one and only Kieron Dyer, and what a meeting it was.

As a sporting professional, to have time with an ex-athlete like Kieron, is simply a dream. I use the word athlete, as his insight into sport and what makes a great competitor goes way beyond kicking a football, the conversations you can have with him are extremely broad and deep, and very stimulating.

It's no surprise that there is a never-ending list of sporting subjects to be had with Kieron when you study his impressive CV. He had a combined tally of 310 appearances for Ipswich Town, Newcastle and West Ham United.

He also won 33 caps for his country, the first on September 4, 1999 when he started in England's 6-0 win against Luxembourg, and had the incredible experiences of playing in both the World Cup and the European Championships.

Even if you are not a sporting fan, it's very difficult not to be impressed by this man's achievements.

As we travelled deep into our conversation, it was clear to me that he possesses a sophistication of mind when exploring the many subjects that develop and create sporting success, he can draw on so many life experiences, and he has a way of weaving these beautifully into his expressions and thoughts.

At one point I said to him: "You must have some incredible memories to draw on in that cranium of yours Kieron!"

This is not a man that talks about sport as someone who can only imagine what it is like, this is a man who has been there, done it and succeeded at a very high level, around other players who are legends, this is life experience you cannot buy!

Kieron wants to share his knowledge, and this is what makes him an incredible asset. I asked him if he would give his time to mentoring some of the elite athletes we have in our portfolio, and he agreed without hesitation.

For me as the director of The Hub, this is such a valuable opportunity for the many athletes we now have who will go onto the world stage of competition. The ones who are lucky enough to be able to spend some time with Kieron, will benefit from his principles, methods and invaluable philosophy into what makes a successful competitor.

For me as a coach, the most important aspect is the fact that it will "fast track" athletes to knowledge that will have a great impact on their personal development.

The time factor is so crucial for athletes, the quicker they can learn, the more they will learn, and of course, this extra injection of knowledge means greater adaptation and development, which in simple terms means better training levels and of course, more winning, which is the ultimate focus for all competitors.

The more we talked, the more I was drawn into his way of thinking, and his style of communication. Part of my job role is to inform, inspire, motivate and draw just that little bit more out of every athlete I work with.

Communication style is very important - get it right, and you earn the complete focus of the athlete, get it wrong and they simply just switch off.

It's only coincidental, but I have been having many conversations over the last week about Kieron, with coaches, players and parents, and the feedback is always the same - he's very positive, inspirational and effective. So how does he do it?

For me, it's simple, his words are backed up with experience, and references to the most incredible stories of his time in sport. As an example, we were talking about how sport can be so demanding, the pitfalls, and the colossal amount of collateral damage there is, in terms of athletes that don't make it.

The subject of inspiration and motivation came into the discussion, and Kieron was able to draw on his personal experiences once again, telling me about his time with Sir Bobby Robson, one of the most talented football coaches in English football history.

I was absolutely locked into every word Kieron was speaking - he talked about the way his old gaffer could turn around the mindset of a player during a short meeting, told me how world class players would walk into Sir Bobby's office with their chins dragging along the floor, but would walk out thinking they could conquer the world.

This is what world class coaching is about, changing the mindset, changing the way athletes see their world, and ultimately affecting their training and competitive levels - and that is what I believe Kieron Dyer possesses!

For this reason, hearing that Kieron has left the Ipswich Town Academy is very depressing, but of course, I can understand why. He has an absolute belief in his abilities, and for very good reasons.

He wants to achieve great things as a manager, and as an individual who has worked with some great leaders including Judy Murray, Leon Smith and Nigel Sears, I can confidently say Kieron is destined for a top job.

I have no doubt he will do a Frank Lampard, and one day, will be the gaffer of a Premier League football team.