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.
No comments:
Post a Comment