- Joined
- Jun 1, 2008
- Messages
- 16,254
My issue is that we're focusing too much on what happened today and extrapolating it to his whole season and ignoring the progress he's made with his temperament (as if taking a negative view is neutral). At the start of the U23 season, he was as bad as he was today; he'd lose his head real easily, give away the ball a ton, and just mope his way through the matches. As the season progressed, though, he improved on this front and became an even better player for it, even getting called into first-team training as a result.
Today, we see him fall back to the issues from the beginning of the season, and we have you and Pogue thinking that he's been like this whole time, as if the rest of the season was just a mirage. Isn't this unfair? Why not take what happened today and events from the first bit of the season in conjunction with what we've seen from the rest of it? Basically, why are we ignoring the progress in his temperament?
He is a tremendous talent, but unless he learns to control his temper - he will risk his career. I read people saying he can't play in the U23s - where would he play ? Will he get more protection in first-team football - yeah maybe, but he will also be exposed to harder tackles, more provocation - and he is not ready for neither. He has the skills to be on the verge of breaking into the first-team squad - but mentally he is not. Has he improved during the season ? Yes - but not more than that he get himself needlessly sent off in a game where he wasn't targeted. If he had been targeted, I could more easily have excused him.
See comments from Neil Wood below
Wood: "I know you can't do that in this country. I'm not sure maybe Hannibal doesn't quite know but he does now. I've had a good 25-minute chat with him."
“It's something he needs to learn from, especially in his career, he needs to learn to stay focused and not get distracted. It's a shame because it distracts away from his performances he's had for the majority of this season. "