Last week I figured that Darren Bent would regain his starting spot in the derby on Sunday. While hardly prolific, he had scored in his last start, and his all-around play has been better this season. It also made sense to give Gabby a rest and at least start him on the bench. He had just played 120 minutes against Man City, he was coming back from a groin injury—he has been injury prone the past couple years. Tired players are even more susceptible to injury.
It is also likely that many of these factors entered Bent’s mind as well. He was, by his own admission, surprised to see himself on the bench. When he broke the deadlock, he showed as much emotion after the goal as I can remember seeing. In light of his post-game comments it does appear that he was venting a bit of frustration.
Any player with an ounce of competitiveness wants to play and Darren Bent is no different. Sadly, in recent years the club have had too many players content to sit and collect a paycheck. If Gabby had started on the bench as I suggested, he may have been upset, as well, considering he had just scored two goals at Eastlands. When there is fierce competition for places not everyone is going to be happy all the time.
As long as players aren’t insubordinate or disrespectful in a way that shows up the manager and his staff and/or creates a distraction for the team there’s nothing to worry about. If players aren’t happy with the manager it only becomes a problem if they fail to produce on the pitch. Alex McLeish thought the fans were against him from Day One and went out of his way to at least get the players on his side. We all know how well this approach translated into results.
More often than not successful managers have that bit of ruthlessness required to make the difficult decisions in the best interest of the club, sentimentality be damned. Along the way feelings may be hurt, but winning does tend to soothe wounded egos.
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