Players saying we are underachieving?

Hello

I am Crewe and we have to avoid relegation this season, I am 10th in the league after 19 games, in the Northern Final of the Johnson Paint, 3rd round of the FA Cup and unbeaten for 8 games yet I have players getting all upset because the club is underachieving, i don't understand why they are doing this?

If any one can explain it would be most helpful.

Thanks in advance

I promised a player that we would increase our stature by winning the FA Cup, 2 days before the final he requests a transfer because we failed to win the FA Cup?

What did you tell the team you expect to happen this season?

There is usually two expectations as far as I know: what you tell the board and what you tell your players.

I always tell my board the lowest expectation, as to lessen the pressure. However, I'll be far more ambitious with my team and challenge them.

I told the board we'd avoid relegation, not sure i saw the player bit! Both players have not been in the first team much so I don't know if that is it?

I've had this just now, interestingly with Crewe Alexandria as well, in an almost identical position (done well in Cups, currently in 8th place in December).

Very strange.

Had the same with swindon in both my second season which we went up via play offs and got to Johnstone paint final and the next season when after 14 games we were something just off 11th.

Shame I don't have the save as it looks like a potential bug.

Just got finished with a first season as Dag&Red. Relegation candidates picked 20th or 22nd preseason. My season started slowly but well enough to stay out of the League 2 relegation zone. I went on a tear near the end of season and made the promotion playoffs. Everyday another player would say we were underachieving. Even though I never ever told any promotion was even a possibility. We ended up in seventh place and lost in the semifinals to the eventual playoff winners, but if my players hadn't been pissed about underachieving we might have won. Probably a bug.

I'm Notts County, 9th in the league in my first season, and a win away from a playoff spot. We're in the final of the Johnson Paint, still in the FA Cup (facing Spurs next), and the board is very satisfied with my job after requesting a midtable finish (and the media predicting we'd be in 14th).

My players are all approaching me saying we're underachieving and other managers are talking about me being under fire in the media.

What in the world?

We're now a game or so clear in 6th place (promotion playoff spot) and I'm still getting trashed by the media and my own players. Meanwhile, the board are delighted.

This is the second thread about the same thing happening with Crewe.. It also happened to me with Crewe, so that's four people stating the same thing.

I've had this happen quite a bit. I don't know if I've correctly identified what's causing it but I do manage to fix it by using a good mix of backups and youth players. Every time this has happened to me it's when I take over a team where a big chunk of the 1st team and Key players have been there for a while and has high influence mixed with low determination. I usually fix it by making sure that I don't have more than three of the complainers in the squad for any one game. Once I start getting good results...or should I say if...then I can use more of the complainers and still get results. They still complain but their morale improves with more and more wins. Sometimes I also think the Ass Man may have something to do with it but that's just a suspicion I have, I don't know how to check that.

I doubt it has anything to do with the assistant manager, as I let mine go after it started happening, hired a new one, and it continues to happen.

I'm hoping it'll sort itself out after this season or my save is sort of ruined; I've promised a lot of players we'll sort it out by the end of the season, but I don't know what they expect exactly. Notts Co. winning the Johnson Paint and finishing in the playoff spots should surpass any reasonable expectation for the year. They finished 20th in reality.