Tears are worse than tantrums SACKING THE KIDS IS HARDER THAT MOVING ON OLD PROS
AFTER their 2-1 win away to Brighton on Thursday, I don’t see Derby slipping up today.
Having gone a goal down, they roared back to show just why they finished third in the Championship. Resolve, spirit, huge threat going forward – that’s why they are still my favourites to go up.
For Brighton to stand any chance, I always thought they’d need to get something in the first leg. That’s why the second goal was such a blow.
That said, Brighton do have a great away record. And when I was at Plymouth, I remember we lost 1-0 to Colchester in the first leg only to come back and win 3-1 at our place. So, as Steve McClaren said, it’s not over yet.
But with Chris Martin, right, in instrumental form and Johnny Russell and Jamie Ward such a threat on the break, I can’t see anything but a Derby victory.
THIS is a time of year that all managers dread. Because whether you’ve been fighting for promotion or to stay up, you’ve got to tell players they’re no longer wanted.
Some will be out of contract. Others you will have to transfer list. And all of them deserve to know why you’re moving them on.
Maybe you don’t think they’re good enough. Maybe you want to change the system – go to a more or less physical approach. Also, there may be somebody who you don’t feel helps the team spirit around the club.You would never say that of course, but any player released under those circumstances will probably have got the message long before then.
In fact, 99 percent of pros see it coming. And 99 per cent of them accept what you’ve got to say.
Occasionally you get someone who will react. I’m sure I’m not the only manager to get a mouthful from a player he’s released.
It’s his opportunity to get something off his chest – that maybe the manager hasn’t given him a chance or not played him in his best posi- tion.You listen, of course, but ultimately your mind is made up. At the end of the day, you can’t take it personally. As a manager, I think it’s important to realise how hard it is being told you aren’t wanted.
Tears
But even though it’s hard to tell the pros, I don’t think anything is worse for a manager than telling a 17-year-old boy that he’s not going to be taken on as a pro.
To sit him down in your office and say that in your opinion, he’s not going to make it as a professional. I’ve seen plenty of lads break down in tears, and you feel for all of them.
All you can do is reiterate that it isn’t over for them.You can go out of the game and come back. After all, I was 19 before I turned pro.
A few years in Non-League isn’t the end of the world and some people do develop later. I always say ‘Go out there and prove me wrong’.