i think all of you are missing the point, he is purely doing the
right thing as a supervisor/ boss to the players and pledging
support to them, just as he would expect of his players.
this is a common situation in any work situation; if you are a
people manager, you will want to show support to your subordinates,
especially externally. in return, you would expect that
he/she will give the best to you everytime, regardless his/her
talent level. it is also making the best use of any resources. no
one is perfect. if there is any area that is lacking, the solution
is to plug the gap and improve. this should be the way until there
is no meaningful solution left, as in the case of keane.
as a player/worker/subordinate, you would also appreciate the
show of support from your boss becos it will only make you want to
work harder so as not to disappoint your supervisor/boss. imagine
you have a boss who criticise your fault publically. not only will
you be demoralized, your productivity level drop and it will affect
the team in general.
so, there is no surprise rafa pledge his support to lucas. but
it is not blind support. if lucas is surplus requirement and does
not fit into the grander scheme of things, lucas will make way,
amicably.
however, if he tries hard and have great work attitude, one
cannot fault him.
good managers (not just football) protect, support and help
their subordinate improve and so they can give their best.
this is pretty basic stuff.
