defeats

Two games and two defeats for Kenny.

Some awful refereeing has contributed to his second spell as boss. But, mainly, it's a lot to do with the attitude of some of the players. They're not good enough.

I once saw an interesting way of rating players in an Everton fanzine. It went like this......

PLAYERS WHO WOULD IMPROVE BEING PART OF THE 1970 BRAZILIAN WORLD CUP SQUAD - Raul Meireles, Daniel Agger, Fabio Aurelio, Joe Cole, Maxi Rodriguez.

PLAYERS WHO COULDN'T IMPROVE BEING PART OF THE 1970 BRAZILIAN WORLD CUP SQUAD - Pepe Reina, Jamie Carragher, Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres.

PLAYERS WHO WOULDN'T GET ANYWHERE NEAR THE 1970 BRAZILIAN WORLD CUP SQUAD - The Rest!

It's the last batch who get too much of a chance in my opinion. There's probably kids in the reserves with all the talent in the world, yet coaching staff or managers won't touch them because they're scared of the consequences of failure. Immediate results are the norm now, though that's never been a worry for Ryan Babel.

It's like pop music. Record companies won't gamble anymore. They don't see the wisdom of nurturing talent, because both parties will gain in the long term. Market forces override ethics.

Unless you're Chelsea or Manchester City and have owners who sort out a player problem by buying any suitable player in the world, you have to juggle and try and get it right. But as Kenny's finding out, and Hodgson before him proved, it's a hard road. My main grouse with Hodgson was bending over backwards to the likes of Ferguson. Not good.