Robbie Earle: Micky Adams and Tony Pulis show who is the boss
PLAYERS hold all the power in the modern game, don't they?
Well, maybe not, because at Stoke City and Port Vale there's no doubt who is in charge.
Both Micky Adams and Tony Pulis have recently had to exert their power over talented individuals, to let the rest of the dressing room know who calls the shots.
At the Vale last week, the influential Ryan Burge was not only late for a team meal before the Bristol Rovers game, but also then turned to Twitter to explain to his followers that he had been dropped.
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Having been offered the opportunity to apologise for both offences, Burge apparently initially refused and so landed himself a two-week suspension.
Not good news for the player, but not good news for the club either as you need your best players available, especially in the most crucial period of the season.
Injuries and FA suspensions are things you accept as inevitable over the course of a 46-game season, but it must hurt all parties concerned that this is a self-imposed ban.
Down the road at Stoke, winger Jermaine Pennant, or rather his absence, continues to frustrate.
Stoke need attacking flair and pace in a side that is struggling to open up Premier League defences. Pennant has proven in the past he has the tools to offer another dimension to Tony Pulis's team.
Unfortunately it seems there has been some kind of fall out between player and manager, because on pure ability Pennant would at least warrant a place in the current squad.
I'm not sure how accurate reports are about a missed a curfew, but it looks like Pulis has decided he needs to make his mark and Pennant is completely out in the cold for now.
Both Micky Adams and Tony Pulis will have given some thoughts to their actions because denying yourself your better players is no easy decision.
While I make reference to Burge and Pennant I don't know either personally and so don't want to paint a picture of them as bad characters.
I too have had my moments and vividly recall a time in my early days at the Vale when I missed a curfew after a pre-season game away in Exeter.
A couple of team-mates and I thought we could sneak back to our hotel rooms unnoticed an hour later than we were allowed.
Unfortunately for us, a certain bald-headed gentleman was sitting in the hotel lobby patiently awaiting our return.
Having given us an almighty rollicking and sending us to bed, Mr Rudge spent the night deciding his best course of action in the morning.
I was gutted to be told at breakfast that I was to pack my bags immediately, head back to Vale Park at my own expense to train with the reserves, and would be fined two weeks' wages.
Having to suffer the fine and leave the training camp was embarrassment enough. But when you are on the grand sum of £125 per week and the train from Exeter to Stoke cost £55, then that bloody hurts too.
On my train ride home it was probably fortunate that, unlike Burge, I didn't have any Twitter followers.
It is probably the one and only time John Rudge and I had a serious falling out. It only took me a short time to fully understood the errors of my ways and learn the lessons of being professional and the disciplines required.
Looking back, although I was then an important member of that team in the early 1980s, I recognise 'The Gaffer' needed to establish his authority and teach me a lesson. It served me well for the rest of my career.
There will always be periods in the manager's tenure when he has to show who is in charge. Dealing with an individual doesn't only affect the player in question, it also sends a very loud and clear message to the rest of the group.
I wonder if Sir Alex Ferguson was letting everyone know who is boss when he left Wayne Rooney on the bench in the second leg of the Champions League tie against Real Madrid.
There was a time, not that long ago, when Rooney's name would have been the first on the United team-sheet.
So the embarrassment to the club's biggest star, with the football world watching, must have been extremely difficult for Rooney to swallow.
But swallow it he did, for at 27 years of age he was wise and mature enough to recognise that this was Sir Alex giving him a serious shot across the bows.
I believe it was a very public lesson to let everyone know who is still the main man.
While Rooney most certainly got the intended message, the wily Scot knew everyone else in that United dressing room felt the impact of his actions too.
13 Comments
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by StokieNick
Saturday, March 23 2013, 12:26PM
“Smother and pottersruleok, you mention all those forwards. Just a minor point, Kitson was not a forward, not a footballer either, the worst player I have come across.
Pulis paid 5.5 million for him and he goes on a free and only plays because of that once price tag. Pulis should be accountable for his buying and the money he has wasted. What is he up to now £100 million and last week the bench was Jones, Adam, Owen to name three, while Whelan, Shotton, Walters and dross like Whitehead get a game because they work arrrd....
Where has Ness been all season, why is Edu good enough for Rangers in Europe and Bursaspor yet not Stoke.? Where is Palacios and the kids deserve a go, instead of the likes of Marshall moved on when we are desperate for a winger. Pennant, needs a arm on shoulder manager instead of my way is the only way like Pulis is.
Went against West Brom, the football was garbage, predictable and I was one minute out when predictIng the time and who the subs would be. Total lack of ability to change the game to a plan B because one doesn't exist in the Pulis locker.
Pulis go, it's fair to say, you don't know what you are doing...GO GO GO and good riddance.”
by Pottersruleok
Friday, March 22 2013, 10:22PM
“OK folks, let me explain Johnson for you. When you have nothing to say that is factual and truthful and intelligent in response to what other people say, you can't do anything else except call people names. Its all he can do”
by Si1963
Thursday, March 21 2013, 11:20PM
“Pulis out”
by Davejjohnson
Thursday, March 21 2013, 9:55PM
“Pennant was rubbish at Wolves so why the hell would he be up to playing for Stoke. I do not say this to insult Pottyforever's intelligence as I do not believe he has any to insult.”
by Pottersruleok
Thursday, March 21 2013, 6:53PM
“smithee, you know ,you make an excellent point there about Pulis and who the type of players are he has his fallings out with and dammit if they are not all attacking players. Kitson, Lawrence, Tuncay, Beattie,Pennant, Jones, Owen.
Just a coincidence ??
I think not”
by smithee
Thursday, March 21 2013, 5:09PM
“Pulis did have to show Pennant who was boss. And Lawrence. And Beattie. And Hoefkens. And Triggy and Ziggy. And Fuller for the last year and a half of his time here, and Tuncay, and Kitson, and Gudjohnsen, I could go on? And now Adam and Kenwyne are frozen out regardless of the form of the players in front of them. Theres asserting authority and then there's been an insecure little Mussolini who cant take any signs of dissent or disagreement from his players, Pulis has shown himself to be very much the second one. Basically any attack minded players who arent content to wait for Pulis' balls to drop are frozen out and its not good enough.”
by SCStokieKev
Thursday, March 21 2013, 4:39PM
“I just wonder how much Jermaine Pennant is bothered to be honest. His attitude at Wolves wasn't that brilliant allegedly and his game suffered as a result.
In reality he's probably not fit enough to get anywhere near the Stoke starting 11 at the moment. Despite his trangressions, it may be wrong to blame TP for his exclusion, and ask how much Jermaine really wants it?
A fit JP, with the right attitude and commitment is sadly missing for me at the moment!”
by Hadis53
Thursday, March 21 2013, 3:35PM
“Correct me if I am wrong but didn't Pennant struggle to earn a regular place in the Wolves team when he was on loan? Did they not send him back to Stoke early? If he cannot make an impact at Wolves what makes people think he should be starting at Stoke?
Don't get me wrong. I'd love to see an in form Pennant tearing down the wing for Stoke. It's just what we need at the moment. But if he is not in form then there is no point in playing him. Do we really want the manager to pick someone based on their reputation and past glories rather than their current productivity?
As for Owen, his lack of game time is far more likely to be due to injuries than a falling out with the manager, though we will never know for sure of course.”
by Pottersruleok
Thursday, March 21 2013, 1:43PM
“Nothing twists my **** more about Pulis than his idiotic and immature ability to hold a grudge against players that have "crossed" him. I am all for discipline, keeping players in line etc. But,since he does not have the balls to come out and say what exactly Pennant has done, we have to rely on what we read and by that it doesn't seem he has done anything that bad. But, Pulis, to the very detriment of the team as he likes to be the dictator, just keeps him out of the squad and just answers in his smarmy way that there is no rift between him and Pennant! I do have to admit to my shock that there isn't a player this season, who dared cross his path, as Tuncay, Beattie, Kitson, etc before him, but I suppose we should all assume that Michael Owen must have said or done something to upset the Clueless One hence him not playing.
Apparently Pennant must have done something seriously wrong, but not bad enough to terminate his contract, as the best passer/crosser of the ball on the team, his skills have been sorely missed this season and please, no one insult my intelligence about how he played on his loan to Wolves and how your mates who are Wolves fans can attest to.”
by Rookeryboy
Thursday, March 21 2013, 1:40PM
“Agree that he is talented, but lacks discipline.
Why not a pay per play deal??”