Jerry wrote:
Of course they affected me directly. Loads of people laid off, relocation of the company etc. Didn't stop me from doing my job.
If they are worried about the future I would suggest concentrating on putting in performances on the pitch is the best way to ensure they get what they want.
Or are footballers really too stupid to work this out?
I feel like this is a little too simplistic. A key difference in football is everyone is on a short fixed-term contract so "laid off" in that context will often mean that contract has ended and will not be renewed. Being "unsettled" doesn't mean that the players will stop doing their job, they'll still turn up to train, and they'll still kick a ball around for 90 minutes once or twice a week and try to put on a performance. In pure football terms, "unsettled" may affect things like whether a player will dig up something special in those 90 minutes, whether they play as a team or as individuals, and whether the tension might stop them trying the ambitious at critical moments. That's important because football can be boiled down to moments of genius, inspiration and/or luck. Our recent 1-0 win at home to Southport ultimately came down a to a few seconds in the match. Toby Ajala used a burst of skill to control the ball and open up some space to put a neat ball into the path of Dan Butler, who hammered a terrific quick, low cross in the box, which eluded the otherwise resolute Southport defenders and landed perfectly at the feet of Nathan Blissett who kept his composure just enough to guide the ball into the net. You could argue that the Southport defender who missed the cross failed to "do his job" but that would be unfair. And maybe if he had intercepted the cross and we don't win that match, you could then argue that Butler or Blissett failed to "do his job". But again that would be unfair. And we won't talk about the other 89 minutes and 57 seconds of football in that match, ever again. The point here is that football success and failure comes down to split-seconds in a match. People make mistakes. People make amazing decisions. Football players will do both many times in a single match. Look at how James Hurst scored two brilliant goals at Kidderminster back in September, and in the very same match gave away a silly penalty with seconds remaining to deny us the win.
It's Wembley 2009 and Chris Hargreaves bursts through the Cambridge defence. Maybe he wouldn't normally smash the ball with his unfavoured right-foot. Maybe he'd hit it first time with his left and watch as it deflects out for a corner. Some instinct kicked it at that precise moment for him to hit an unstoppable shot and score an amazing goal. "Team spirit" is a big thing in all this. We were a free-scoring promotion-chasing team with the promise of a good future should we come out on top that day. The motivation to try something and not worry about the consequences was at a real high. Today, we're a low-scoring, relegation-threatened team and goodness knows what could happen to us should we suffer relegation. Even players "doing their job" will be that extra bit cautious about taking chances, nervous about making a match-losing mistake. These guys are all playing for a career and it's a difficult balancing act at the best of times as to how they should perform. By "how they should perform" I mean the small decisions in the blink of an eye where the fans erupt in a roar of excitement or groan in despair. And it's the tiniest difference, a slightly over-hit pass or an inch-perfect pass. My favourite player is Courtney Richards, he likes to try that quick ball through the middle, sometimes it comes off and sometimes it doesn't. When it does, he's a genius. When it doesn't, he's an idiot. But regardless of the outcome, the bloke is clearly trying his best.
There's going to be hundreds of names hoping to get a trial at a football club like Torquay United in three months. I think every single one of our players (aside from a couple of loanees) are out of contract next season and will very likely find themselves on that list of names if they do not get a contract offer from us.
The above is just the norm. Add to the mix the talk of a club takeover and all of a sudden you might be impressing the wrong man. It might not matter if you're ambitious or if you're cautious, if you take chances or if you play it safe, if you play as an individual or as part of a team. Kevin Nicholson thinks you're great and will have you back next season in a heartbeat, but Geoff Harrop thinks you're too small, Paul Hart thinks you are too big, Paul Sturrock doesn't want to play with defensive midfielders at all, Steve Tully just plain doesn't like you and Louis Van Gaal feels like he could find a Dutch youngster who is a tiny bit better than you. Regardless of how much you contribute in these next seven games, you will be on the long list of players without a club in June and have to start all over again.
