The Incredible Sulks

Am I the only one who remembers a time when players looked forward to a struggle for their place? Look at a player like Linvoy. At the start of the 02/03 season Harry took him to one side and said he didn't think he was up to the challenge and with the likes of Hayden Foxe, Arjan De Zeeuw and Gianluca Festa in the team, he would struggle to get a game. 43 appearances, 1 goal and a player of the season trophy later and Harry was forced to rethink. But then with Boris Zivkovic and Dejan Stefanovic, he still wasn't a definite first choice for the Premiership. He still managed to play 26 times, and when he recovers from injury this season he will be back fighting for his place.

What's even more remarkable about Linvoy is that he's had the chance to take the easy option; Norwich have come calling on more than one occasion and offered him guaranteed first team football, admittedly at a lower level, but with Linvoy's age then surely that would be tempting. But no, he's stuck with us because he wants to test himself.

Yoshi - mentalist

Of course he's not the only one who has enjoyed the struggle - even someone slightly more eccentric like Yoshi Kawaguchi clinged to his dream of playing again at Fratton Park despite seeing the likes of Shaka Hislop brought in above him. And of course in the end, sentimentality came into play and he got a run out for one half against Bradford and a chance to finally say goodbye to the fans, make a wonder save to apologise for Leyton Orient and then clear off to Denmark.

"Right," you're saying to yourself, "Why are you telling me this?" Well my point (if you were wondering) is that people who have to fight for their place are now such a missing commodity in the game. I do realise, before anyone points it out, that it does work both ways - we ditch players like Steve Stone and Shaka Hislop who have been loyal, so we can hardly complain if players don't want to be loyal back - but it's not so much the players leaving I mind, it's just the mentality that goes with it.

One of the most recent cases of this was Arjan De Zeeuw. 115 games as a first choice here, and the second he found out that Andy O'Brien was more likely to be playing in front of him this season he threw a strop and handed in a transfer request. Yes, the same Arjan De Zeeuw who had said just a month earlier that he'd love some competition at centre back (presumably as long as the competition was on the bench and had to fight him for the place, regardless of their talent). But that's not what has inspired me to write today, it's the case of Matt Taylor who apparently stormed out of the ground yesterday after finding out he wasn't even on the bench.

Taylor and friend

Whilst I can understand the frustration of any player for not being involved, surely he'd rather show the manager he CAN be a team player by staying and cheering on his team mates? By showing that he's prepared to fight for his place and, what's more, not throw a little girly tantrum because he's not included? Are footballers so stupid they don't realise it's a squad game and, at the moment, Vignal and Robert are forming a good relationship on the left? Taylor is a good player (and improved last season vastly, especially in his defensive abilities), but he has to appreciate that if a manager brings in two players on the left, they're probably going to be playing? And surely he has to appreciate that it won't take long before one of them is suspended or injured and he'll get his chance, so storming out of the ground in a huff and stropping about isn't going to help his chances?

Or perhaps I'm just being naive in expecting footballers to understand simple things like this. We know Perrin doesn't take kindly to people thinking they're "bigger than the club" or those who aren't prepared to accept personal sacrifice for the good of the group, so could the writing be on the wall for another of the Redknapp-signed brigade?