Football Reporting

[John Simkin]

By bosses, the editors of the match programme and the club website, have insisted that I rate all the players out of ten. This has created a real dilemma. I have always been bad at giving students bad marks. I am someone who favours positive reinforcement. Do I really tell the truth about the players. Especially as I have been commissioned to carry out interviews with these players. And what do I say about the manager’s son? If I tell the truth, will I end up being banned from the ground?

I chickened out last night and did not give any player less than six out of ten. You can see my efforts in diplomacy here:

http://www.worthingfc.com/new/index.php?op...d=129&Itemid=52

If any members want to post football reports on your favourite clubs, please feel free to do so. I have started threads on some of the top clubs. Please start up new threads if your club is not amongst them.

[Ed Waller]

By bosses, the editors of the match programme and the club website, have insisted that I rate all the players out of ten. This has created a real dilemma. I have always been bad at giving students bad marks. I am someone who favours positive reinforcement. Do I really tell the truth about the players. Especially as I have been commissioned to carry out interviews with these players. And what do I say about the manager’s son? If I tell the truth, will I end up being banned from the ground?

I chickened out last night and did not give any player less than six out of ten. You can see my efforts in diplomacy here:

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I understand the difficulty....

Maybe you could 'norm reference' rather than a mark out of ten?

For example: average game, the sort of performance yo would expect from 'non-league' (Ryman Premier obviously is a League) players= 7

bad game = 7 - 1 = 6

shocker = 7 - 2 = 5

one or two good touches = 7 + 1 = 8

good game = 7 + 2 = 9

outstanding, likely to lead to transfer = 7 + 3 = 10

Another issue.... I speak as a regular sport official (hockey umpire)..

Players (as much as officials) know when they have 'a bit of a mare', and often apologise for mistakes etc before the shower. In some teams a player's teammates will also let her/him know that a performance wasn't as expected.

So whatever you put down will hardly come as a surprise! They might quibble over 5 vs 6 or 6 vs 7 but rarely that your 6 should have been a 9.

Hope this is of some help

Ed

[John Simkin]

I understand the difficulty....

Maybe you could 'norm reference' rather than a mark out of ten?

Thank you for the advice. It was decided last night to remove my player ratings. Instead they are just publishing the average ranking for the top seven players. I suppose you could say an example of positive reinforcement.