26/12/06: Sheff Utd 0 City 1Updated: October 3rd, 2007
Now I’m getting pissed off.
Not at the team. Okay, it was another disappointing performance, but those were three vital points we snatched yesterday. No, the person who is pissing me off is Stuart Pearce.
When the hell is this man going to stop publicly criticising his players?
Here’s what he said after the game:
“I am pleased with our resilience but disappointed with our football - I thought we had more in us than we showed today.
“To be fair, I have told the players that as well. I am pleased with the result but we have got to do better.
“I think any time you play in the Premiership, the result is the driver - but that still doesn’t mean I can’t go away disappointed with the display.”
Quite why Pearce believes this type of blanket criticism will help the team is beyond me.
Earlier that day he was at it again, telling the MEN:
“We all know the players in Europe who will guarantee goals. If you buy Dietmar Berbatov or Dirk Kuyt for £10million, the chances are they will score goals. Look at Klaas-Jan Huntelaar at Ajax. They are the players who will score all over Europe.
“But if you spend a bit less, you get less consistency and make no mistake.”
Announcing to the press that our new signings are inconsistent because we didn’t have the money to buy better ones is nothing less than an act of stupidity. There may be some truth in the statement, but it’s hardly going to spread confidence throughout the training ground. After a statement like that, is it any wonder that Samaras yesterday nearly hit the corner flag with a shot from six yards out?
But the fact that these comments were made less than a week after telling the MEN that “any flak should be sent in my direction,” is even more incredible. What is the point of announcing that fans’ criticisms should be aimed at you, if you’re merely going to forward them on to the national media?
Any new manager can make a mistake, but the art of leadership is about learning from them. Sadly, Pearce does not seem capable of that.
First there was the outburst following the defeat at home to Boro in April where he accused the team of having “a lack of moral courage” (full transcript here). True, that was a very poor performance, but you wonder what part the public condemnation played in our dismal run that followed.
Stephen Jordan has twice been on the receiving end of public criticism, first in February (link) and again after the Sheff Utd game. The following game at Wigan, Jordan put in his worst ever performance in a City shirt and looked like a player whose confidence had been shot to pieces. And the list gets longer. Pearce criticised Weaver’s positioning after his first game back against Chelsea, chastised Corradi for going down “a little bit too easily” in the derby and called Samaras “disappointing” after his performance against Spurs.
Look through today’s post-match interviews and see if you can find another manager criticising his team in this way. You won’t find one - because other managers have the sense not to do it.
I can’t think of a successful manager in the modern game who has been so publicly critical of his players. One manager from the past - Brian Clough - does spring to mind though. But then Clough was a one-off, a man who once announced to his new employers at Leeds that they only won their trophies though cheating.
It’s likely that Pearce is following the example set by his former boss. But Martin O’Neill’s management style is also heavily influenced by his old mentor. Difference is, O’Neill has the good judgement to know which of Clough’s traits to emulate, and which not to.
Pearce does not appear to possess that ability.
~ Getty Images photos
~ Latest Premiership table.
Match stats
The stats (below) are compiled from the live commentary and differ slightly from Sky’s stats:
Match reports
Sheff United 0 City 1 (MEN)
The rare away win, only City’s second in 10 matches on the road, means there is now daylight between themselves and the relegation zone,.
Pearce so grateful for small mercies (Daily Mail)
The switch to a more fluid 3-1-4-2 formation, the first time Pearce has started with three at the back this season, proved confusing for the City players. The visitors’ two most gifted ball-players, Joey Barton and 18-year-old Ireland, found themselves drawn into wide areas where their passing game was much less effective.
City rely on luck of Ireland in bruising meeting with Blades (Independent)
In a bone-cruncher of a match, both these sides gave clear indication why new year spending is a must if they are not to flirt with relegation.
Ireland’s first City goal settles ugly encounter (Daily Telegraph)
Pearce was encouraged by his team’s resilience but admitted the quality of their football had been distinctly sub-standard. An experimental 3-5-2 was partly to blame. Pearce sought to accommodate his “abundance” of quality centre-backs, even playing Sylvain Distin as a left wing-back as he desperately tried to end a slump of three straight defeats.
Ireland runs away with the points as Pearce enjoys scrap (The Times)
City continue to flirt with the relegation zone, but this result should work wonders for their fragile confidence, not least because Sheffield United were the better team. The visiting team, however, displayed the sort of character that is sure to be needed in the weeks to come.
Samaras’ end-to-end endeavour lights up City (Guardian)
Samaras will have to do much more to convince City’s fans that he is worth the £6m the club spent to bring him to Manchester in January but his contribution yesterday at least provided Stuart Pearce with some breathing space.
Slick City stuff Blades (Blades Mad)
Identical report to the MEN. Naughty.
Season-on-season table
No change for City in the season-on-season table, which compares results to the corresponding fixtures from last year.
(Results against last season’s relegated clubs - Sunderland, West Brom and Birmingham - are compared to Sheff Utd, Watford and Reading respectively)
Here are the next three fixtures, with the results from last season:
(A) Sat Dec 30: West Ham (lost 1-0)
(H) Mon Jan 1: Everton (won 2-0)
(A) Sat Jan 13: Bolton (lost 2-0)