experts comments

[Spurf]

What's the point of rules if players are allowed to consistently break them with no serious consequences and what kind of message does that send to the other player in the team? Redknapp didn't tolerate players showing a lack of respect, neither did Fergie, neither does Mourinho, nor virtually any of the top managers in the World. City persisted with the troubled Balotelli and look what happened there, the players got pissed off with him and so did the manager, to the point where he picked a fight with him!

If you have a player who has been at the club some time providing great service as a LB who then coinciding with a change of management becomes a problem then the question has to be asked WHY? In the event we know why; there was a problem with the manager whose rules proved more of a liability than those that broke them. Suggesting that the rules were the problem in the first place.

 

[Boss]

Ekotto is hardly a genuis who deserves to be treated differently or immune from team instructions just because he has given good service, regardless of how trivial they may seem. We all understand Avb was viewed as a poor man manager yet the only two players he had a problem with this year where Ekotto and Adebayor.

Also Ekotto and Avb used to have a good relationship..

And Assou-Ekotto says he has developed a unique relationship with the 35-year-old manager since his introduction at the start of last season.

He said: “It is a relationship I’ve never had before as it’s the first time I’ve had a young manager. I’m sorry to the other managers as they are not old but you know what I mean.

“Sometimes when we speak, my passion is the car and he likes the car as well and I’m surprised we can speak about things like that.

“But you remember he’s not an old man. He still likes the speed, so he likes the same kind of cars as me.

“It is strange to have a young manager but sometimes it is easier to explain if you have a problem to someone of the same generation - communication is easier.”

and

Assou-Ekotto said: “He’s from a new generation of manager so he sees the football in a different way – it’s a different way to work.

“It’s not so cool when you change managers but when you have a manager who comes in who has big positivity, has big professionalism and has a different way to work, it is cool.”

Which could be why there has been such an issue, as usually when two people are friends or on good terms, they react worse when they feel the other is showing disrespect. Either way, this whole situation has been fairly pathetic and lame, but Avb isn't solely to blame.

 

[PleaseNotPoll]

I said this a while ago, but I don't think that Villas-Boas ever established the correct boundaries between himself and the players.
He tried to be mates with them and that's not how a managerial role works, in my experience. His age was probably a factor and he'll probably learn his lesson over time.

 

[deedub93]

AVB was unlucky because he was a ****.
Brendan Rogers is a ****.
All Ar5ena1 favouring journos are ****s.

Simples

 

[BajanSpur]

Agreed its the manager's job to use all the talent at his disposal but a few years back I remember posting on here that Redknapp was at fault for wasting the talents of Boateng, Dos Santos and Taarabt and got all kinds of stick. Managing a group of overpaid prima donnas is probably a harder job than most of us think

This is not kinda-garden., most Premiership club has its fair share of the sort of professional you are now describing as 'prima donnas'. I could probably name 10 or 12 such players, without too much hard thought, and so could you if your honest. Skillful managers manage professional players in a positive manner., one that not only gets the best out of the player but also one that maintains their value to the club.

Some people unfortunately confuse confidence with conceit.
The best professional players processes a level of confidence over and above that that is usual required in other more normal walks of life IMO.
I've heard it said 'Confidence is not bravado, or swagger, or an overt pretense of bravery. Confidence is not some bold or brash air of self-belief directed at others.' In football, it’s a natural expression of ability, expertise, and self-regard.
I believe the more talented professional players take a stand not because they think they are always right, but because they're not afraid to be wrong.

Cocky and conceited people tend to take a position and then proclaim, bluster, and totally disregard differing opinions or points of view. They know they’re right – and they need you to know it too. Their behavior isn’t a sign of confidence, though; it’s the hallmark of an intellectual bully.

Truly confident people don’t mind being proven wrong. They feel finding out what is right is a lot more important than being right. And when they’re wrong, they’re secure enough to back down graciously; intellectual bullies never do.

In this case, Villas-Boas management of talented, accomplished and confident players, fell short.

 

[SpursOldboy]

What's the point of rules if players are allowed to consistently break them with no serious consequences and what kind of message does that send to the other player in the team? Redknapp didn't tolerate players showing a lack of respect, neither did Fergie, neither does Mourinho, nor virtually any of the top managers in the World. City persisted with the troubled Balotelli and look what happened there, the players got pissed off with him and so did the manager, to the point where he picked a fight with him!

Redknapp didn't tolerate lack of respect, but he also had the common sense not to enforce petty rules like the one about BAE walking to the team hotel. That's the difference between good man managers and bad ones.

Not to mention then compounding the problem by pointlessly playing Rose in an EL game that we'd have won with me at LB, when he knew he had no proper backup if Rose got injured.

 

[The RDBD]

Adebayor and BAE have allegedly stacked up a variety of piss-taking infringements.
Spurcat has told you about two for BAE, one for Adebayor (and I add his mysterious pre-Europa
away tie "injury/illness" as another) .

 

[Chirpy rides again]

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