Barnet 0 Oxford United 2

Perhaps Sam Deering saw it as just being professional; the little hitch-kick into tight tuck following the challenge from Jake Wright that resulted in Wright’s dismissal late on in the win over Barnet on Saturday.

To be fair to Deering, it seems unlikely he was aware that Wright was the man making the challenge and that he was on a booking. It does seem likely that he was simply executing a deeply ingrained response to a challenge. Forget the professional foul; that was the professional dive.

Pundits refer to this kind of cheating as ‘drawing the foul’, and use it in that patronisingly exclusive way that puts you as a fan in your place – ‘if you’ve never played professional football, then you wouldn’t understand.’

No doubt Deering will have brushed off the criticism he received from his former manager, coach and team-mates. Its just part of the game, that’s what Alan Shearer and Gary Linekar say.

But if you’re going to be a professional cheat, then you’ve also got to be very good with it. Sam Deering isn’t good enough to act all prime time. During his Oxford career, he occasionally came on to ignite some pace into a game when it lulled, but when used from the start, he rarely delivered.

Compare him, then, to Alfie Potter, both very similar players, both afflicted with a talent that is difficult to channel, particularly in the lower leagues. What makes Potter different to Deering, and why, I think Chris Wilder persists with him and disposed of Deering is because Potter works. You never get complaints from him; he bounces off lunging tackles, and he overall mentality seems pretty level headed. Wilder can see that Potter offers something, and is prepared to work with him to get the most out of him. Deering, on the other hand, became too labour intensive to be worth improving; whether that was making racist comments on Facebook, turning up to training late, or not delivering on the pitch.

Deering will never play for Wilder again, that’s for sure, so I don’t really expect him to show respect for his former manager specifically, but, as I say, these are deep-set learnt behaviours. The more he does it, the more he’s likely to do it, the more he gets a reputation the less likely he is for managers to bother with him. Potter, on the other hand, is much more likely to sustain a career in the game.