"Pleased" at HT

I read somewhere on here a while ago that saying you were 'pleased' at half-time was a complete no-no. I never use that but last night did for the first time, as a sort of test really because I was 3-0 up away to Copenhagen in the first knockout stage of the Champs League and to be honest... I was pleased!

We won the game 3-2. I understand it could cause some complacency but what I want to know is... with everybody saying it's a complete no-no, and now i've tested it for myself and we did lose the 2nd half 2-0... is 'pleased' a redundant option? Or is there ever a time we can/should use it?

I don't think I'll ever use that pointless button again anyway!

Dont get complacent is my preference

I find Pleased to be a bit less of a no-no on 11 than it was last year. I just wouldn't touch it with a 5-foot pole now – as opposed to not even thinking about it and performing mystical rituals to ward away any mention of the word at half time on 2010.

Weird, I use it pretty often and don't think I've run into complacency that much.

It can cause complacency in some players (As manager you should already know which) but in others its a teamtalk that can boost confidence and push them on to an even better performance in the second half.

I use it fairly often and it seems to work ok. Depends on morale really. If morale is high and i'm winning at h-t i tend to go for don't let your performance drop if morale isn't that good i'll go for pleased or encourage (if available)

I always think as well you have to take into account the other team will have a team talk as well. Take the example above, 3-0 up away and coasting and you say pleased. Their manager may well have slammed then for being 3 down and they've come out all guns blazing.

I do use it, but vary sparingly. For instance if a young player has come in and done well after me telling them they had no pressure at the start, or if a player has been suffering low confidence or low morale recently. I go by the old adage that the half time talk is for motivating and the post game team talk is for boosting morale. Even though my most often half time team talk is nothing at all.

I think the general rule is, if they have good morale, give them a bollocking, if they have poor morale, give them encouragement.

SO if morale is good, make sure they dont get complacent. But if it is poor, encourage or say pleased.

I read somewhere on here a while ago that saying you were 'pleased' at half-time was a complete no-no. I never use that but last night did for the first time, as a sort of test really because I was 3-0 up away to Copenhagen in the first knockout stage of the Champs League and to be honest... I was pleased!

We won the game 3-2. I understand it could cause some complacency but what I want to know is... with everybody saying it's a complete no-no, and now i've tested it for myself and we did lose the 2nd half 2-0... is 'pleased' a redundant option? Or is there ever a time we can/should use it?

I don't think I'll ever use that pointless button again anyway!

I personally have no problem using "Pleased" at half time, as long as it is the right one to use.

I always give each player an individual instruction, it takes about 30 seconds to do and works brilliantly. For example, in the team talk feedback shown below, we were 2-0 up at half time, and the match finished 6-0.

5 out of 11 players reacted very well to it, and I know that 4 of the remaining outfield players never react to any team talk for some reason (crap attitudes I think!)

How I decide team talks is done simply by looking at their half time ratings and it goes as follows:

0 to 4.9 - angry

5.0 to 5.9 - disappointed

6.0 to 6.9 - you have faith

7.0 to 7.9 - pleased

8.0 to 10 - delighted

I find that if I stick to this I usually get at least 4 or 5 of my team picking up their performances after half time and its very rare to see any players shown as complacent, or too relaxed, in the second half.

I personally have no problem using "Pleased" at half time, as long as it is the right one to use.

I always give each player an individual instruction, it takes about 30 seconds to do and works brilliantly. For example, in the team talk feedback shown below, we were 2-0 up at half time, and the match finished 6-0.

5 out of 11 players reacted very well to it, and I know that 4 of the remaining outfield players never react to any team talk for some reason (crap attitudes I think!)

How I decide team talks is done simply by looking at their half time ratings and it goes as follows:

0 to 4.9 - angry

5.0 to 5.9 - disappointed

6.0 to 6.9 - you have faith

7.0 to 7.9 - pleased

8.0 to 10 - delighted

I find that if I stick to this I usually get at least 4 or 5 of my team picking up their performances after half time and its very rare to see any players shown as complacent, or too relaxed, in the second half.

I never usually go that far, I might give one or two an individual team talk. After seeing that though I might well give it a try. Thanks!