feeling the pressure of public expectation

Hi there!

Anybody know how to deal with players "feeling the pressure of public expectation"?

I've searched but couldn't find anything.

I've got a young 17 year old Scottish goalkeeper who I signed in january, despite him only previously playing in four seniour games over two years, and he's immediately become indispensible to my team.

Usually in this situation i'd be resting the player, but goalkeeper has been a bit of a probem position for me (ie everyone else at the club is terrible) and I have some massiveley important matches coming up (later rounds in the cup, and playoffs if I make them) that I cannot afford to play these joker in.

Does anyone know:

Are there other ways of making him happy?

What will happen if I ignore it and continue playing him anyway?

Will he grow out of it, or will it ome back to haunt me?

Also, after offering him a new contract (which he rejected), he has gone from "willing to stay at the club" to "content to stay at the club". Is this better or worse?

i think you'll just have t persevere with him if your back-ups are that bad! id normally rest him for a couple of games and it should go away then... id say it probably will affect him, he wont be as confident or assured when he's playing...

If you can get him to sign a new contract he'll become happy again. There's nothing as good as money to keep your players happy.

I generally just put them on the bench.

I've never seen it happen to an indespensible player though.

It normally happens to young players that have been overplayed and they think you are relying on them too much.

Rest him for unimportant matches and put him in for the ones you need to win.

(Speaking of "feeling the pressue of public expectation"... how about that Football Manager design & marketing staff?)

As already said, normally you should rest a player in a situation like this. You've got a 17-year old who has become invaluable to your team. He's feeling the pressure and needs taking out of the firing line.

If you can't do this because you don't trust your backups then you're stuck I guess. Maybe if you qualify for the playoffs and there's still games to play then rest him for the last match or 2 before the playoffs come round?

Thanks for your help.

I got him to sign a new contract, which cleared it up for a few weeks, but now it's back again - and he's on four times as much money

Helpfully he missed the FA cup final because he was playing for the under-19's.

Thankfully he's back for the (postponed) play off final.

Hopefully a summer out of the limelight will let it all die down (I will be buying a better backup, just in case)

Nick...

17 is awful young to be starting regularly.

In FM'05, especially, I found that their first season as a regular member of the first team, I needed to get players about 33%-40% of the starts. Their second season, I could get up over 50%, maybe around 60%. The third season, I'd get up to 75%-80%.

So, give him some time off - try rotating him with somebody for a bit.

Good news!

I've dropped him for a record breaking Charity Shield performance (not bad considering i'm still stuck in the league below) and it seems to have gone away.

Hopefully my new keeper will be able to carry the mantle for the brunt of the season, and I can ease him into the squad properly.

*looks round expecting a long term injury*