jumhed
12 Jan 2006, 12:35 PM
"We are still working on the left-back but I don't talk about new players," he said. "I still feel that if you want to be a top side, you need two players in every position. With the three players going now we have to do something.
"If Lee is out on the left side, we don't have a left-winger. Andy Reid is fit again but he is not a real wing player."
Davis claimed Jol's style meant players were frozen out and ignored if they were not part of his regular first-team squad.
But Jol accepted such criticism comes with the territory of trying to keep such a large squad happy and refused to hit back at Davis.
"It's a very difficult one because if you never play or you are injured and come back and play occasionally, it is very difficult to keep players happy sometimes," conceded Jol.
"I did not speak to him for the last three or four weeks because he was injured. You get this kind of thing but there is no problem.
"If you ask other players they will say that he is an unbelievable man-manager but if you have 26 or 27 players, you get the same thing in football all the time.
"If you speak to players all the time they expect to play and sometimes it is impossible. Even with Jermain Defoe, sometimes I have to leave him because if you talk to them all the time, what sort of reaction do you get? It's a reality of football. They haven't played, so they won't be happy with the manager.
"When they come to me and want to leave I said I would think about it. Stephen Kelly also asked to leave because he wants to play but you can't let everyone go."
But Jol will not re-think his policy of having such a large squad despite acknowledging the difficulties of keeping fringe players involved and happy.
"No, I will not do that," declared Jol. "I have a structure with every player mentally but sometimes you cannot talk a lot because, and I'm not saying it is true in this case, you might want to get rid of them.
"If you talk a lot to them, they might make their minds ," he joked. "Sean Davis was not happy at all for the last six months. Pedro Mendes was already out of the team for 12 months and even when you try to make them happy it is impossible because they are not playing and that is the main thing they want to do."
Very interesting I feel. Insight into his management style.
"If Lee is out on the left side, we don't have a left-winger. Andy Reid is fit again but he is not a real wing player."
Davis claimed Jol's style meant players were frozen out and ignored if they were not part of his regular first-team squad.
But Jol accepted such criticism comes with the territory of trying to keep such a large squad happy and refused to hit back at Davis.
"It's a very difficult one because if you never play or you are injured and come back and play occasionally, it is very difficult to keep players happy sometimes," conceded Jol.
"I did not speak to him for the last three or four weeks because he was injured. You get this kind of thing but there is no problem.
"If you ask other players they will say that he is an unbelievable man-manager but if you have 26 or 27 players, you get the same thing in football all the time.
"If you speak to players all the time they expect to play and sometimes it is impossible. Even with Jermain Defoe, sometimes I have to leave him because if you talk to them all the time, what sort of reaction do you get? It's a reality of football. They haven't played, so they won't be happy with the manager.
"When they come to me and want to leave I said I would think about it. Stephen Kelly also asked to leave because he wants to play but you can't let everyone go."
But Jol will not re-think his policy of having such a large squad despite acknowledging the difficulties of keeping fringe players involved and happy.
"No, I will not do that," declared Jol. "I have a structure with every player mentally but sometimes you cannot talk a lot because, and I'm not saying it is true in this case, you might want to get rid of them.
"If you talk a lot to them, they might make their minds ," he joked. "Sean Davis was not happy at all for the last six months. Pedro Mendes was already out of the team for 12 months and even when you try to make them happy it is impossible because they are not playing and that is the main thing they want to do."
Very interesting I feel. Insight into his management style.