Uknowmehfo

Let us picture the scene:

Season 2013/14. I'm embarked in a season that could the the most successful ever for my club, or one of the most frustrating ever. However, that's not the point, it's only a vague description of the situation.

I had signed this Dutch 23 years old stopper this summer. He has all the recquired abilities to be the next big thing in some two or three seasons.

He starts playing pishpoor, but I take it he needs some time to settle and pick the automatisms of my system.

5 months fast forward and after a late injury time equaliser against QPR in a postponed Premiership match, I do a reevaluation of all my squad. When I reach the guy I see some alarming thing into his seasonal performance stats: In a defence that has conceeded 25 goals in the 35 odd matches we must have played so far, the lad has taken part in 15 matches, in which we've conceeded 19 goals.

Confused by that I go into P.I. job and have a review of the matches in which he's played (not all of them, but the ones in which the result was somewhat weird).

To my surprise, it's all there!

[rant]
The goals conceeded always come from the man alledgedly marked by the dutch boy!

To top that I also see he hasn't managed to utter a single word in English since he landed my team. Bah!

I wonder who has he bribed in the national media to avoid all the stick he should be getting.

And why can't my coaching staff give me a hint about that? Something simple like 'we think Dutchie is not adapting well to the English lifestyle and our defensive performance seems to suffer when he's in the pitch'?!

No... They're all keen admirer's of him and already see him as a key player in our defence. Bugger off! He might be getting decent averages, but he's not a key man in my opinion.

I mean, he just could have costed us the freaking league!!!!

He's now fined two weeks wages, relegated into the reserves and transfer listed. :kostis:

[/rant]

retired_jmathias

I noticed many times, that the player with the best average is not always your best man. And this gappened in previous reincarnations also.

As for the media, I think they are too manager focused. Nowdays your hardly hear media praises about players. I guess the same goes for the opposite.

retired_jmathias

bloody non editing

retired_pmetzger1

I thought you were going to be a contestant. What's the Spanish Anne Robinson like?

retired_sargent

She hates the Catalans

Uknowmehfo

They have had two women leading.

The first one was ace. Ironic, insulting the contestants in many so subtle ways they even had to smile when she was giving them stick.

The second one was a bluff. So bad they had to cancel the program.

retired_kswansonwoolf

I usually find i can trust the key highlights to judge my players' performances. I.e, a defender who was averaging over 7.60 over the season would be the guy to always get that last ditch tackle, or clear a dangerous cross with his head etc etc.

I guess if i went in PI mode as well i could well be surprised. If that happens, the procedure is well known: fined, listed, relegated to reserves. Hallelujah!

retired_mrsjb

Don't you ever feel like you're being a bit harsh on these poor barstewards?

retired_kswansonwoolf

They're well *cough* paid to do their job. If they don't do it, then they won't be paid anymore.

Uknowmehfo

I'm guessing this was for Kostis, but nonetheless I'll give my view on the offender's case:

I don't care if the match engine tells me he's a solid performer and has a 7.15 or simmilar.

What bugs me is that a player of his caliber shouldn't be found out of position or losing his mark, even at injury time period. If the player abilities mean what I think they mean (and I think I'm right) he's more capable than any defender I have in the team. So it's either that he's lazy (could be) or that he's a hermit with no social life and cannot adapt to live outside his country.

Either way, his being transfer listed and relegated to the reserves is justified.

The fine was only a way to express my frustration at the discovery.