04-21-2021, 04:55 AM
(04-21-2021, 04:25 AM)Milhanna13 link Wrote:Agreed - its an easy reign to pull during a rebuild, as it
a) assures you lose, so higher draft picks
b) allows the club to sell hope - look at these kids, arent we going to be great, soon
c) buys time
But, it can be counter-productive, as it can, as you point out, kill the confidence of the kids (looking at you, Paddy Dow)
It should come as little surprise that SOS followed the GWS model, given his pedigree. Lots of young kids playing and growing together. Given the injuries and average recycled players that he also recruited (O'Shea etc.), maybe the kids were played becuase there was no on else.
On the flip side, one could reasonably speculate that Dow's confidence took a hit when he was no longer being selected, or selected for 1 game, then dropped. He started really well in 2018, despite our worst season in history.