David McCarthy
STEVEN GERRARD’S joke that none of his Rangers players had better be getting less than eight of 10 in the man-by-man markings raised a smile in the Press room the other night.
It came in the aftermath of a result and performance against Rapid Vienna that was definitely in the eight out of 10 category.
And it reinforced my belief that you can write what you like in a match report but it’s the manbys or mannies, as some of us call them, the players care about more than anything else.
They might say they don’t read newspapers but try giving them a three out of 10 and you will find out they’ve been reading them all right.
Or at least their team-mates have and wouldn’t be slow in letting them know.
It’s all a bit ridiculous and they certainly shouldn’t be taken too seriously that’s for sure. I know those of us who have to do them on a regular basis would never claim to be the worldwide authority on the Albion Rovers left-back’s performance over 90 minutes, so why should said player be raging about what mark they get on a Sunday or Monday?
You’ve got about 15 words in which to describe a player’s display over an hour and a half. Then you have do it up to 28 times, depending on the number of subs used.
SPORTS VIEW
Hands up, on more than one occasion, I have written the words, ‘Kept it nice and simple, nothing too flashy but effective – 6’ because some poor holding midfielder has done nothing in the game that has caught my eye.
The marking system differs from hack to hack. If I think a player has had a decent game, he’ll get a 6. A 5 is a below par performance and a 4 is verging on having a stinker. The only time I dole out lower marks than that is if someone has been unlucky enough to be injured in the first 20 minutes or sent off.
A 7 is a good display, an 8 is excellent and a 9 is exceptional.
I can’t remember giving out a 10, although I might have the day Marco Negri scored five for Rangers against Dundee United 21 years ago because that was as good a performance I’ve seen from a striker in all my time
I worked for the evening paper in Edinburgh at the time and one afternoon when I walked into the ground, most of the players walked out. Never a good sign.
The one who didn’t approached me with a face like thunder. This lad was never one to mess around as more than a few defenders found to their cost in his time in Scotland. He growled: My dad gets the paper sent down to him – stop giving me f***ing four out of 10.”
The following week he got a seven. Well, his performance improved!
The manbys. You’ve got to love them.
And if you don’t, you certainly can’t ignore them. Not even if you’re Steven Gerrard.