Source: Daily_Mail
Player power is dangerous game to play when you’re in big trouble
A chairman once asked me: 'What do you think of the manager? How is the coaching? Why are things not going as well as I'd like?' The modern game throws up close relationships between boardroom and dressing room that can only spell trouble for the man who picks the team. [LNB]If you're in the line-up, playing well, results are going your way . . . then your world is happy. Conversely, the selfish nature of a footballer will elicit a different response to the same question if the ball is not bouncing your way. [LNB]Footballers like to moan at the best of times. Give them an audience andthey will exaggerate their woes. When it's the man who pays the cheques and hires and fires, they can cause a whole lot of aggravation. [LNB] [LNB]Future colleagues? Chelsea captain John Terry (left) and Guss Hiddink[LNB]Millionaires in boots and their boss in a suit have only recently become bedfellows. Some chairmen like the company of their players socially, too, inviting them round for tea. It was never the case in times past. [LNB]Player power is strong. There are plenty of characters at Chelsea, so is this another case of such power, overcoming the World Cup-winning ability of their coach, Big Phil Scolari? A 0-0 draw at home with Hull doesn't help but there has hardly been a stampede of Chelsea fans demanding the sacking of their manager. [LNB] More from Jamie Redknapp... JAMIE REDKNAPP'S WEEKEND WATCH: Blues need cash boost and Arteta should be facing Becks in Seville [LNB]09/02/09 Jamie Redknapp: Robbie has point to prove after his Rafa nightmare[LNB]02/02/09 Jamie Redknapp's weekend watch: Davies the destroyer [LNB]02/02/09 Watertight United are simply unstoppable but Liverpool are fading fast from the title race[LNB]29/01/09 Jamie Redknapp's Weekend Watch: Good deal or a loada Bull?[LNB]26/01/09 Jamie Redknapp: Manchester City should get a Maka not a Kaka[LNB]18/01/09 Jamie Redknapp's Weekend Watch: Making a defence case for Laursen [LNB]12/01/09 Jamie Redknapp: This show just seemed like another cheap shot [LNB]06/01/09 VIEW FULL ARCHIVE[LNB] [LNB]There are some players who also have to take responsibility for their demise. Too many have looked as if they wanted to be somewhere else recently. [LNB]Guus Hiddink will inherit a talented group but how many of them can really say they have been at their best consistently? [LNB]Deco, for instance, started in spectacular form but the pace of matches and onslaught of fixtures has swamped him, while Didier Drogba has been off the pace too often. He's a magnificent centre forward, but what has happened to the ferocious, rampaging talisman of old? [LNB]There is a need for investment. Chelsea are lacking in wide areas where they need an injection of pace when the transfer window opens again. [LNB]Scolari: Did player power oust him?[LNB] [LNB]Jose Mourinho's Chelsea had Arjen Robben and Damien Duff, with electrifying pace and direct running. They could run with the ball, stay wide or tuck in narrow while their speed stretched defences and created space for others to run into. Robben, in particular, has never been replaced. He might have suffered injuries and played only 25 games a season but 20 of them were excellent. I'd rather have that than 40 average games from someone else. [LNB]Injuries, especially to the dynamic Michael Essien and also Joe Cole, have damaged the balance of the group. We must assume there will be fresh investment in the summer but Hiddink must cope with the players he inherits. [LNB]They are still good enough to finish in the top four, although they are being made to look ordinary by Manchester United. The regeneration of players at Old Trafford continues. Paul Scholes, for instance, is gradually being replaced by Michael Carrick and Anderson, Gary Neville by Rafael.[LNB] Players will always look for excuses when results aren't what they should be. I've been there, you always look for someone else to blame. 'The training isn't good enough, the coach isn't good enough . . .' Players, however, also have to take responsibility. And that's the case with this Chelsea squad.[LNB] [LNB]
