Why complain all year about players not getting their chance. then when an oportunity comes up you MOAN.
I don't have a problem with resting Ifill or Lia or about other players getting a chance. If that is what the coach wants to do, its fine by me. In fact some fresh legs in there might be just what the team needs. What I have a problem with is the coach undermining the marketing of the game.
The marketing people and the coach and the captain should all be singing off the same sheet.
Durante had it right...he said we really need to win this because we need to get back into a winning mode before the playoffs and its important to perform in front of the home fans etc. This is the sort of stuff that people who buy tickets want to hear. People have lots of options on how to spend their money.....
Ricki should have said the same thing....if he wanted to rest Ifill and Lia then he should have made an announcement on the morning of the match that they won't be playing because of injury/flu etc. I know its slightly dishonest but its done all over the sporting world.
People understand players getting injured....they don't understand when they have to pay full price for what they percive as a lesser product.
So you'd rather Ricki lied to the media and public?
What total bullsh*t. That will work precisely once and then Ricki will get a reputation for never being straight up, which will have much more serious long-term implications.
I realise you are anxious about crowd sizes etc, but advocating lying as a marketing strategy?
I agree that telling a lie is Bad Bad Bad. But in professional sport how often do players/coaches/managers lie? All the time IMO. How often in interviews do people tell the truth? Its all spin and media beatup.
Ifill was in bed with the flu all week.....so if they did not want to play him is it deception to say he had not sufficiently recovered from his illness and needs more recovery time?
As it turned out the whole thing was pointless because Ifill and lia both played.