Ok, thoughts about Sunday are fading, still annoyed and I have replayed the game in my head so many times. However a particular player gave me a bit of cause for thought and I am so glad. I finally have a dilemma on who to pick and who to leave out. The majority of the season the team has picked themselves but now I have a sub fighting for a start and then after training someone else showed they want to start and I think it is brilliant and truthfully about time. At training the ladstold me what I look for when picking the team and the one they didn't get was "effort" this isn't just effort on a sunday but effort in training. I have told the team before if you don't put effort in training I can't put effort in on a Sunday to get people on the pitch. Last night everyone was excellent and now on Sunday everyone deserves to get on and have a game of football.
People may say this is harsh and its all about Junior football and the kids playing games and enjoying themselves. The latter is true, but if you have a squad of 14 and 11 lads train hard, have a laugh and then on a sunday thos 11 start and play there herats out and enjoy there game. Then you have three who can't be bothered turning up for training or when they do they would rather be somewhere else, then on a Sunday they run on the pitch as they have turned up and can't be bothered. Who is this fair on, the 11 lads who want to play and try or the three who have turned up and should play its junior football. It is a debate that sadly with our liberal government that competiveness is a bad thing and certain kids all deserve a chance. They do deserve to run out and play but put the same effort in as others. It doesn't matter if you are not as good as long as the effort is good.
These are just thoughts and I would like to think other football managers agree with this, where as parents may not. They are not directly related to Beighton Falcons either, it is something that has come up with a related subject and I thought I would share the fun of being a football manager.
Cheers
Simon
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Being a football manager
How flat you can feel?How hard is it to be a football manager? Truthfully its very hard, parents don't realise the pressure and how hard, parents look at junior football as just that its kids football as long as "my son or daughter is on the pitch in my favoured position its great you won't have trouble from me. " It is true that a lot of parents are like this. Politics, I hate them, but being a football manager you get involved when you don't want to. You hear the comments and you try to manage them, but then you start making decisions, to keep the peace, but this doesn't work. Then you have the other side, do you play your best team all the time, not giving the subs a chance unless you have to, but this is Junior football it is supposed to be fun so why shouldn't the subs be allowed to play. Just because they "may not" be able to play as good as others why shouldn't they get a game.
As a manager this year I am facing the thing I hate most about professional football, a team in the premiership is going down and you hear players say "if we go down I am off" I hate that, and I think lots of others do, if your apart of that team you are part of the reason why you are going down. The opposite with Falcons, if we don't go up "I am off" . The bit I wonder is the players that have this thought how much are they holding back, the parents saying things like don't worry if you don't go up we will move team. In that case why fight? If you know your off at the end of the season why bother, will you fight the extra ball, the 2nd ball, you probably won't. Talking personally after what I saw this morning, the team are playing well, they create loads of chances, shoudl be in the top three, but can't score. This is a good team to be in, the problem comes back to politics.
All I can say for any future manager that comes into football, enjoy your football, arrange training, sort kit out, arrange matches, ref if you have to, and do nothing but worry about your lads and give everything for them. However you cannot and will not be able to please every one. If you remember this, and deal with the politics when they happen you will be fine. The rewards when they happen are great and well worth it.
The losing Crowd
Being a football manager is one of those jobs that win or lose you are wrong, so please make sure if your thinking of doing it for the first time remember your broad shoulders. I will tell you it can also be one of the most rewarding things you could ever do but sadly you have to deal with those different types of creatures called "parents". Take today for instance, as a manager, you make sure the away team can get to your ground, you put up the nets, set up the corner flags, arrange the match card, sort the ref out and a couple of assistants. You then have to get the match ball and warm up your team. On top of this you make sure each lad has there lovely new jackets, that you had sorted for them, and you help your good lady set up the tea and coffee, the same good lady who is married to the manager and did the fund raising for the new jackets the lads are all wearing. So that was today a typical home game, and all the manager asks is for the lads to turn up on time, in there kit and be ready to play when needed. Your 7 minutes into a game and your are drawing 0 - 0 and you get the "parent" the one who knows best will never run a team ever, will never take the responsibility of all these lads but will openly criticise the lads and the manager. There are these types of parents at every club, how you deal with them is down to you because there negativity has an affect on the whole team. So your 7 minutes in and the your hear the words that are so negative towards the team, you mention this to the parent as you don't need it, and you get called names. So 7 minutes in your 0 - 0 and your wrong, the lads are wrong so what can you do?
Being The Special One
Last week saw the departure of an amazing manager, I am a Man utd fan but to get rid of someone who has won you all those trophies is amazing. I do think the russian has made a mistake and there will now be a Chelsea merry go round of managers for the next 18 months. I have predicted Arsenal as champions this season and at the moment I do not think I am wrong. I love Man U but don think they will have to settle for Runners up.
Anyway please click here and enjoy the Jose tribute
New Season 2007 -2008
Just two games into the new season and decisions are big and hard, pre-season saw players competing for the starting 11, some weeks I had players that meant I had 14 to choose from and other weeks I only had 11 maybe 12. You have to look at this and decide do you rotate the players that all play well or have a firm 11 and make the subs play there way in? It is hard the first league game, saw several players below par, and one player have a good solid game. The following week in the cup I change formation which meant he missed out again, he then played the second half and was great but so were the other 11 and the two other subs. This makes a real problem that managers have to face week in week out, I know some managers have clicks in Junior football but I like to see a player burst there way into the team, no matter if I have a good rapport with there parents or not. I want all the squad to win and enjoy the season together. There are no answers but next week I have the decisions to make all over again.
End of Season Management
It is that lovely time of the year where there is no football, aaaarrrrrggggghhhhhh, yes its still on TV, and well done to the English Clubs for reaching the semi finals of the champions league. Of course well done to Man Utd on reaching the final of the FA Cup what a day that will be.
Anyway back to junior football, what does a manager do during the close season, well a lot of managers carry on with training and have a few friendlies, I like to have a break, this year its a month after protests from the lads not to have the usual two months. So May 1st will see the lads resume training, the girls will resume April 28th at Brookhouse at 10.30am. What are your thoughts when it is close season? Mine are normally on the players and how they played and things that happened during the season, areas of the pitch you would like to strengthen, what formations worked, all those questions. You also ask your self will you lose a player you don't want to lose? It is hard because of planning, the team finished 4th which proved it wasn't quite good enough, I thought the players I brought in would tip us over the edge after last years 4th finish. It didn't prove so, so this time I am looking at who wants it? It is a huge question, I have players with the skill to win, I have sections of the team that can rip people to pieces on the day and they did, but areas just don't work and it comes down to WANT. It is hard, do you stay loyal or do you say those horrible words, "I am sorry I am not taking you this year" loyalty doesn't always work. So you are looking in the close season at who you are taking and potentially will you get any new players, or do you work with who you already have? Do you take 16 or reduce numbers for substitutes sake? All I can say is enjoy being a manager and learn from mistakes. Good Luck
High's of Football Management
Football is full of highs and low's sometimes you wonder why you keep going and other times its the best sport in the world. Its full of opinion right and wrong. As a manager you have to set your stall out are you going to try and win something or do you play everyone and see where you end up. Both approaches can have casualities, if you are all having the greatest laugh and you lose every week you know your best players won't be around for long, or you can go for a trophy of which fringe players tend to suffer. These cause you highs and lows because you never want anyone upset and it becomes hard , then you have highs big highs, this big high for me was today 24th February at the Girls game Vs Mexborough, when the girls team started they couldn't pass, tackle, dribble, save or even kick a ball. Some girls got things quicker than others and the team started forming a shape. As the season has gone on people have impressed and some people have just quietly been plugging away in the background. A couple of months ago we changed in training what we were doing, we started making it harder, we made them work harder and before long the girls with best effort in training were winning GOM on a Saturday, the improvements were starting to show but there was one particular girl in the last month that was training hard, this girl was Zoe Clapham, she was training harder and harder. Now Zoe through out the season hasn't got GOM and in games, she got 5 -10 minutes here and maybe a few more later, some games she got 20 minutes and played in new positions, we then played Abbey which was a very hard game, Simon having been impressed with this effort put her on the pitch and WOW, what a difference this player was in midfield and winning nearly every ball, she would then run with the ball and tackle. All this hard work and effort was paying off. We couldn't wait to see this girl who had worked so hard to get into the starting line up play again. Sadly a holiday (how parents can take there kids away during a season I don't know :O)
So she missed one game and today after such an impressive showing Zoe started, and after 5 mins she was fouled and had to come off, what a pain football can be. Just before half time Zoe was ready and the second half Vs top of the league and she won for the second time GOM. Once again every inch of effort and hard work had paid off. She was kicking the ball stronger, tackling hard and truthfully standing out.
It showed me even after a few years managing what kids can achieve and the results have been great she has shown great determination and something tells me she will be starting again next week, but not sure yet so if she reads this she needs to know we have a traing session and she needs to keep the effort going. A great story which has left us on a high.
Dilemma at Last
Little football and something else
Another day and still thinking about the game on Sunday, but it is starting to get weaker thoughts where as next Sundays game is coming into it more. You play around with your team formation in your head, then have a doodle on a pad, and re jig the team and at the moment the team looks like something like it has never before, so who knows where each player will be playing Sunday.
Anyway the other point (political), I heard briefly regarding the money going into dancing classes for people who choose to be over weight. Preventative measures are great and I am 100% all for it, take the strain of the NHS in the long run. Get people dancing and being fit, however I can't help that the government who has stopped competitiveness in school have shot themselves in the foot. I will ask todays adults to think of their junior school and what they did, for instance I personally from 1st Year (y3) played for the school football team and did all the way to 4th year (y6). There were two teams a and B and a competitive league every year. I played cricket for the school and did x country for the school, I also swam. This was against other schools on top of this we also had in school challenges for house points where I did all the same again. On moving to senior school, I played football, rugby and carried on swimming and then when swimming stood out as the sport I was good at, I did swimming and water polo as well as x country for the school and a bit of football. People reading that are thinking yes we did that, the women probably did netball and went onto seniors to do the same. So why isn't the extra cash going into schools for after school clubs getting competitions up and running again, my daughter does Trampolining and it costs £9, so there is no help for the ones willing to stay fit and keep their kids energetic. All kids go to school and if there are facilities and activities the ones who are from a deprived background will be equal to everyone and get to do sports they wouldn't normally do. I bet there are a few diamonds in there as well. So once again the welfare state dishes out the money in areas where the government has failed when it is far easier to go to the place where all kids are and that is at school.
Schools could form partnerships with other local clubs, Getting the kids to learn different sports, the clubs benefit from potential new kids joining there club and the kids and school all benefit.
Sorry but a very easy solution and once again the government are tring to buy votes from those who don't go out and vote and have done nothing which the people think would be good.
Day After
Well its the day after a defeat and I can only say its true what they say, when you win you think about it for an hour when you lose it lasts all week. First you get over the disappointment, then you see the days results and get disappointed again as you realise what could have happened and where you should be in the league. Eventually you get over it again and try and think towards the next game and what should you do in training this week. Then you go back to the game and analyse what happened, you think of each player and everything they didn't do. You pick out the players in your head who deserve to start next week who did perform, and you realise you don't have a full 11.
This is the reason I do not say too much after the game you need to reflect and when I think of the game more and more I realise who didn't perform who didn't do what they should do. I then think of who I had on the pitch and who when they came on really wanted it, those that showed they don't want to be a sub, they want to be in the first 11. I witnessed two players yesterday who battled for everything, just two players out of 16. I then witnessed 4 others who did battle and played really well, just not quite as much as the two. However these 4 seem to be playing at a good level week in week out, and will fight for the team, so I have 6 players who can put there hand on their heart and say I played well and gave everything. Then you bring on Subs and two in particular did well for me, one better than the other. So I have half a squad, I have 8 players in my head the day after who I think should be proud of their performance, I now need 3 more for the starting line up next Sunday, and how to organise the squad. This is how I am thinking that these players deserve to start. Many managers may say you are allowed a bad game and yes you are, but you do need to have a level of consistency that means even your bad games (by your own standards) are still good enough to be on that pitch. I have two of these players who performed OK and battled things just didn't happen for them. So I might have 10 players for next week, so only one more to go. Lets see what happens at training and throughout the week, as I will think everyday about the next match as 3 points will be huge next weekend. More thoughts tomorrow.
Cheers
Simon
03 December 2006
the real game
3rd December , saw the lads play emus, and a win would have put us 3rd, however all plans were ruined completely. You work on certain things in training and the majority of the team play like you ask and try things you would like them to. Turn up at 9.15am to try and get the game on, and with your hands brush the water of the pitch and you have quite a few parents (thanks) actually forking the pitch for the lads to play. So parents do there bit, the lads do there bit in training and what of the manager, the bit people do not talk about. The bit people do not realise how hard it can be, if you are passionate about football like I am, I live and breathe the next game. My lads are everything and them enjoying their football is so important. So I plan the team to play in such an important game, I look at who trained well, I looked at who didn't turn up, I consider the previous game and who played well and who didn't, also who will be up for it and who is interested. You walk the dog and think tactics, 4-4-2, 4-3-3 or even 3-4-3, you change the team and think about what everyone can do. You then don't sleep as the game is so important, not in the sense of points but these are the teams you want to play and test yourself week in week out. These make the lads grow and learn the game better and learn themselves.
Hopefully you get the picture a lot of people and alot of time went into making this game happen. The two teams in question always have a brilliant game that can go either way. Then you have the ref the one person who can undo all work you have done and hard time and effort you have put in, yes a volunteer who should be praised for stepping forward. NOT today, a rule of thumb when you ref, if unsure look at the players there behaviour gives you an answer, so when the keeper and a striker is on the floor, and the striker pushed the ball over the line with his hand and not even the player claims the goal it says everything. The opposition parents didn't shout and everyone behind the goal evn let the ref know it was pushed in with there hand. Completely ignored goal given. I hav echecked the rule book for when the ball is kicked out of the keppers hand, an dthis happened twice and allowed. This does not mention shirt tugging, Rugby tackles yes rugby tackles not given, kicking when players are down. There is too much to mention, and had emus won 2-1 it would have been accepeted, it would have also shown what a hell of game it was. And well done to EMUS yes physical but good on you. The problem being is the ref was our own, we spend the season being ripped off at away games and short changed and do it to ourselves, before the game my words were, he is either completely biased to the away team or hes good. Sadly our most important game of the season and it was the biased ref that turned up. The big question is WHY? is it a power trip? it isn't plain bad its biased against the team and sadly it affects the lads. The outcome is going to be I or Mark (asst) will have to do them, we have given penalties to away teams and denied our own, but we always call it as we see it for either team. If only the Sheffield FA got their fingers out and supported refs then less would leave, meaning all games could get refs.
Anyway the match report on the website is fair for the game of football, the ref didn't warrant anytime on the website.
28 November 2006
Junior Football
I just thought I would start a weekly Blog regarding my Junior Football team and everything that goes on behind the scenes and on a Sunday, I will also Dicuss anything else reagrding my day and life. My Web Site Simon Hall is always updated with the Beighton Falcons U13's match reports andthe Beighton falcons U11's girls match reports.
Today I have the lovely task of preparing for training in respect to a bug game we have on Sunday at 11.00am at Rother Valley. The game is against East Midlands Utd, which should be a good one. The lads haven't quite hit form yet and we hope they do soon. Even though they are challenging for promotion. The game on Sunday is a big one and one they hope I win. Training aims tonight will be both defensive and attacking, I have a great exercise planned which the lads will love. In fact anything where the lads get to do lots of shooting is fun. At first we will be working on technique as this needs to be improved.
So lets see how it goes later.
Cheers
Simon
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27th November 2006
keeping players happy.
Half way through the season and you have this question of how to keep all players happy. You have lots of calls if you need any more players. This is because these players are unhappy at their present club. So how do you keep everyone happy? This is hard because when you look round your squad of players, every single one of those players would love to be standing on stage at the end of the season with a title winning trophy in their hands. In fact they all want to win, however if you have a match on the go and its close and some don't get on you get called as a manager. So you change and rotate the squad, so everyone gets a game, and every substitution changes the dynamics of the side and the results do not always go the way you want. So again as a manager you get criticised. So what is the balance between the rights and wrongs of being a football manager? What are the right and wrongs of keeping players happy? You also have to remember these are only kids and should winning being so important as it’s only a game. Again peer pressure all the parents want to win, my personal instinct is to win and the lads want to win. So you have to mix the right ingredients and that is the tricky bit about being a manager, you need to remember you will not always win on the pitch or off it. On the pitch things happen you cannot control, off the pitch some children can do no wrong. If a child scores 6 own goals and your brought them off you will be criticised, so the only thing I can say to anybody looking to be a manager is be tough on these decisions. Take what you hear with a pitch of salt and enjoy what you see on the pitch; these include magical moments like someone’s first goal, someone’s first save or tackle. Their first win, their first trophy and for some their faces when they realise they are happy being apart of something. You will enjoy when they pass and move, or play two touch football, when they score a great goal. When the keeper makes a fantastic save, these all give you pleasure which helps you ride out the "individual" parent who are so blind there child cannot do wrong.
Something similar but not quite on the same note, I substituted my own Son and happen to mention for this particular game that he wasn't very good. The comment was that other managers do not do this. So if you are running a team be equal for your own son or girl. This is both ways so don't criticise too much and don't praise too much. Last season I was guilty of using mistakes on the pitch as examples and I used my own lad all the time so no one would criticise me as picking on their child. How wrong I was, Ryan took it badly in the end and stopped enjoying his football. You need to get the balance right, now people still moan if I criticise their lad, or substitute their lad even though their are lots of other players who need a game.
It’s difficult but rewarding.
If you are considering being a football manager sometimes choices can be really hard, depending on which way you want to go as a team. I personally hate losing so being a team where we turn up and see what happens is not an option. However if it is your choice then good luck. If you are like me and believe winning is winning and lets go for it then read on. With kids if they are girls or boys it is about having fun, that is what sport is about however ask your team what they have more fun doing losing or winning. I know the answer and I am sure you can work it out. So are you a manager who believes everyone has a game, if they turn up for training do they deserve to play week in week out? This is a hard one and when you speak with several managers they say they have a really strong team, sadly some of the subs don't always perform, but they get them on no matter what. Ok another question is this fair on the rest of the team? The answer to these dilemmas isn't too easy but lets look at putting the same questions a different way: Is it fair if someone can't be bothered at training to put any effort in to play on a Sunday? Now the person has turned up but couldn't be bothered he is there because he had to be, and then you must play him Sunday, I don't think so. There are certain lads who run them selves into the ground, put there head where they might get hurt and others who might care one week but not the next. So do you win the silverware or the promotion for the lads who really wanted it or do you make sure everyone is happy. These are the dilemmas facing a football manager even at junior level. Parents who criticise but would never step up and do the job. I am lucky I have a good bunch of parents some of who gladly come and talk to me with any issue, we sort it and forget it. Other managers have nothing but parents moaning behind there back and not to there face, I often worry if these parents realise the damage they do to the rest of the team. Their kids hear what they say and it affects them.
I probably haven't answered the questions to the dilemmas of do they play every week or not, as each manager to their own. However i do believe if you want to make it big and win silverware look at Fergie, its his way or the highway and he is right. He has 20 years and a trophy cabinet to prove it.
Favoured Positions
I would say to anyone going into football management, get your players to learn more than one position, if they want to play more and be on the pitch more play a couple of positions and play them well. Watch out for the parents who insist their child is a striker. We would all love our children to be a striker, get all the praise, get the name in the paper, sadly there are plenty of other positions. These parents can really play damage to their child, the child is playing under pressure of where he or she should be playing. The fact they are not in that position creates the pressure, creates the unhappiness and then creates the back biting of the manager which affects the team. This is the downside of the job but when you beat top of the league 2-1 you know you are right.
If you are considering being a football manager sometimes choices can be really hard, depending on which way you want to go as a team. I personally hate losing so being a team where we turn up and see what happens is not an option. However if it is your choice then good luck. If you are like me and believe winning is winning and lets go for it then read on. With kids if they are girls or boys it is about having fun, that is what sport is about however ask your team what they have more fun doing losing or winning. I know the answer and I am sure you can work it out. So are you a manager who believes everyone has a game, if they turn up for training do they deserve to play week in week out? This is a hard one and when you speak with several managers they say they have a really strong team, sadly some of the subs don't always perform, but they get them on no matter what. Ok another question is this fair on the rest of the team? The answer to these dilemmas isn't too easy but lets look at putting the same questions a different way: Is it fair if someone can't be bothered at training to put any effort in to play on a Sunday? Now the person has turned up but couldn't be bothered he is there because he had to be, and then you must play him Sunday, I don't think so. There are certain lads who run them selves into the ground, put there head where they might get hurt and others who might care one week but not the next. So do you win the silverware or the promotion for the lads who really wanted it or do you make sure everyone is happy. These are the dilemmas facing a football manager even at junior level. Parents who criticise but would never step up and do the job. I am lucky I have a good bunch of parents some of who gladly come and talk to me with any issue, we sort it and forget it. Other managers have nothing but parents moaning behind there back and not to there face, I often worry if these parents realise the damage they do to the rest of the team. Their kids hear what they say and it affects them.
I probably haven't answered the questions to the dilemmas of do they play every week or not, as each manager to their own. However i do believe if you want to make it big and win silverware look at Fergie, its his way or the highway and he is right. He has 20 years and a trophy cabinet to prove it.
Favoured Positions
I would say to anyone going into football management, get your players to learn more than one position, if they want to play more and be on the pitch more play a couple of positions and play them well. Watch out for the parents who insist their child is a striker. We would all love our children to be a striker, get all the praise, get the name in the paper, sadly there are plenty of other positions. These parents can really play damage to their child, the child is playing under pressure of where he or she should be playing. The fact they are not in that position creates the pressure, creates the unhappiness and then creates the back biting of the manager which affects the team. This is the downside of the job but when you beat top of the league 2-1 you know you are right.
If you are considering being a football manager sometimes choices can be really hard, depending on which way you want to go as a team. I personally hate losing so being a team where we turn up and see what happens is not an option. However if it is your choice then good luck. If you are like me and believe winning is winning and lets go for it then read on. With kids if they are girls or boys it is about having fun, that is what sport is about however ask your team what they have more fun doing losing or winning. I know the answer and I am sure you can work it out. So are you a manager who believes everyone has a game, if they turn up for training do they deserve to play week in week out? This is a hard one and when you speak with several managers they say they have a really strong team, sadly some of the subs don't always perform, but they get them on no matter what. Ok another question is this fair on the rest of the team? The answer to these dilemmas isn't too easy but lets look at putting the same questions a different way: Is it fair if someone can't be bothered at training to put any effort in to play on a Sunday? Now the person has turned up but couldn't be bothered he is there because he had to be, and then you must play him Sunday, I don't think so. There are certain lads who run them selves into the ground, put there head where they might get hurt and others who might care one week but not the next. So do you win the silverware or the promotion for the lads who really wanted it or do you make sure everyone is happy. These are the dilemmas facing a football manager even at junior level. Parents who criticise but would never step up and do the job. I am lucky I have a good bunch of parents some of who gladly come and talk to me with any issue, we sort it and forget it. Other managers have nothing but parents moaning behind there back and not to there face, I often worry if these parents realise the damage they do to the rest of the team. Their kids hear what they say and it affects them.
I probably haven't answered the questions to the dilemmas of do they play every week or not, as each manager to their own. However i do believe if you want to make it big and win silverware look at Fergie, its his way or the highway and he is right. He has 20 years and a trophy cabinet to prove it.
Favoured Positions
I would say to anyone going into football management, get your players to learn more than one position, if they want to play more and be on the pitch more play a couple of positions and play them well. Watch out for the parents who insist their child is a striker. We would all love our children to be a striker, get all the praise, get the name in the paper, sadly there are plenty of other positions. These parents can really play damage to their child, the child is playing under pressure of where he or she should be playing. The fact they are not in that position creates the pressure, creates the unhappiness and then creates the back biting of the manager which affects the team. This is the downside of the job but when you beat top of the league 2-1 you know you are right.
Well what a great game to choose to start this new page, we lose 6-2 (match report). So the first choices of being a manager, I would like to think lots of amateur manages can realte to this page. Its only junior football but it is also your life. The interesting thing today is we went from domination to pure an utter rubbish within the space of 5 minutes half time team talk. You are allowed a 16 man squad, you have 11 on the pitch, leaving 5 subs but the team play that bad you need a whole transformation, so who do you leave out. Some players think they won't be dropped but probably did enough to not be dropped but arrogance on thinking they can't be dropped means they deserve to be, or the other side is the lads that know they should be dropped want the next game to prove why they should play. (hope that makes sense). So what do you do, a truly managers dilemma. I have a week to get my head round who deserves to start and who doesn't, I ahve gone from a promotion hopeful, to a relegation worry. This team when pulling together and playing football will beat the majority, this disappears in the league but is there in the cup. So do you drop those who think they are safe and choose to talk when I do, or do you drop those who let you down the most, but probably wouldn't dare do it again.
The interesting thing as a manager is first to find out who turns up for training, losing a game the way Falcons did on Sunday, the lads were either going to turn up and take responisbility or not. Only 1 was missing, so you have to take things from here as a manager, it is imperitive that your players let you know if they cannot make it to training, if you are good you plan your session what you are going to say and what you are going to do. Ironically the person who did not turn up, was no shock, the first to lay blame the last to take any critisism, as a manager how do you deal with that? Its like any other time you have to manage the player, they can be a child in a youth term or a premiership footballer, to improve you ahve to take critisism, but you also have to manage them. Find out if they want to do it there way or your way, i did precisely this on Tuesday, I explained the choice and they chose my way, it wasn't put bad or threatening, it was encouraged and rewards like winning matches will happen. Everyone backed the manager, the decisions that will be made will be for the good of the team and not an individual. Football is for the kids and is supposed to be fun, but losing teh way the falcons did on Sunday meant fun certainly did not happen. We have addressed this and moved on. Training was then fun and we worked on the game we want to play and it was one of the best sessions for a long time and the smiles returned towards the end and that is what should happen. If everything that has been said has sunk in we will find out Sunday.
If you are new to football management please remember some small things: Kids are kids and please treat them that way you can still win having fun. In the last 2 years I have had several players come to me with one aim and purpose. This aim is to have fun and enjoy playing football again. I am tough when needed to be, but the game is fun and when they have fun it normally leads to winning and trophies. So please remember fun is the name of the game.