Players being upset over you praising their performance?

So I just won 8-0 over Glentoran in a Europa League qualifier and my players managed to achieve some really high ratings so I've been individually going into private chat and praising them for it.

However 3 of the 8 or so who I praised for getting something like 8.8 or above have become upset because I was pleased at their performance.

Here's the prime example:

Roger Johnson got an 8.8 so I figured he'd made a really good performance on the day. Why would he ever be upset over that? It just seems mad to me to think someone would react badly to me basically saying their performance was sensational and any future performances like so would be incredible to watch.

Can anyone seriously explain this madness? I also had two other players on 8.9's react badly as well.

Seeing as it's Roger Johnson he might have thought you were taking the ****! In seriousness though do you praise them often?

It might take the opposition into account. You were probably expected to destroy them so what you did was expected, therefore they might not think performing well against this team was anything special.

That's his 2nd game for us. He only joined us on a free a few weeks back.

Got a straight red in his first game in the first round of the cup, I fined him a weeks wages, was suspended for the league and now I've played him in this game; our 3rd fixture.

Personal praise should be used sparingly and only after a string of good performances. The players may well think that such praise is not merited due to the quality of the opposition

Cheers FrazT, just seems a bit crazy why he would be upset!

I'm calling him brilliant ffs !

I don't use personal praise or criticism when the goal differential is so great, because it's hard to know what they thought their performance should have been. In the above example, you could probably have criticised Johnson and he would have agreed with you - because he believed the par rating was 8.9 or higher.

Praising an individual performance is best used in the post match team talk imo, although I don't think any player would/should really get upset over being praised when it is well deserved..

Personal praise should be used sparingly and only after a string of good performances. The players may well think that such praise is not merited due to the quality of the opposition

"This has upset me and I can't accept your apology."

When this happens, choose the reply option that goes along the lines of, "I just wanted to tell you you played well. If you reckon you can play better, then I hope to see that soon". He will usually reply, "that's ok just as long as you know where I am coming from", any of the other choices then he will fall out with you. I use the chat to complement the MOM or the top rated 1-2 players in every match but never more than that. You should use your after match team talk for that. In this way I find that I can also critiscise a bad performance without any negative outcomes.

In all honesty, I don't really understand why so many players get upset by praise. Yeah you might get the odd professional who thinks "I haven't played that well", but for the most part surely a player who has a reasonable game but gets praised by his manager would just think of that as a bonus.

The tantrums players throw over the smallest issues just represents a feature that has been shockingly implemented.

Try it after he has a run of good games, see his reaction then.

No, it's because he wasn't one of your top performers I praise after most matches. Only (usually) your top 3 players accept the praise. If he was say the 5th top performer he just see's the others did better. Praise your top 3 only. Outstanding for above 8 Impressed for below.

No, it's because he wasn't one of your top performers I praise after most matches. Only (usually) your top 3 players accept the praise. If he was say the 5th top performer he just see's the others did better. Praise your top 3 only. Outstanding for above 8 Impressed for below.

This pretty much, I use this most the morning of my NEXT match, just to top up the morale of any players that need it.

Only praise the three highest rated players from that game, slag off the rest and they usually take it on the chin (and very quickly add you as favourite staff too). This is VERY useful for getting subs morale up, as they generally don't make the top 3 in a game, and getting their morale up is just as important as getting match fitness up to get them in shape to start a game.

Any that do take it badly, put them on the bench, bring them on second half, and you can then use the above trick to get their morale back up in 1-2 weeks.

Gaming the system? Yes. Logical? Not a bit. Anything like real football? Not that either. Effective? Hell yeah.

Standard YMMV disclaimer goes here.

I only praise players outside of game day if the fans arfe pleased with recent performances. My team is totally dominant in the A-League (I know it's a lower league but I prefer the salary capped teams - my salary cap is 18.8K/week for first team and 28K/week for squad). I don't give an outstanding rating for anything under 9. If a player scores a late winner I usually praise them regardless of rating as well.