For league shooters; Time to cut a player
- Thread starter Gregg
- Start date
I quit my pool team mostly because of the team Captain. Now one season later he is gone and they want me to come back and Captain the team. I hope I never run into your situation, but I have a feeling that if I accept the position of Captain of the team. At some point the former Captain is going to want to come back on the team and that would be a pain. Hot headed smart ass is what he was, in case your wondering.
Flex said:
Flex,
I was trying to avoid mentioning details, but if you feel that it helps...
Shooter is not a team player, seems to have no interest in socializing with the team, sits at the bar, away from players. I was thinking that most shooters would like for him to be more of a coach, and help with layouts and shots during in game. Teammates try to encourage him during his game, and he blows up. Shooter was talking trash about a fellow teammate, for no reason I can find, right in front of a fellow teammate. This shooter also drinks. A lot. Not a first for a league shooter I guess. I personally don't care what level of skill the shooter has, but it happens that he shoots a very good stick, and may feel that he is in some way above the team, I'm not sure.
I would just have a talk with him and tell him about the problem that the team has with him and give the examples. Give him a chance to correct. If he doesn't do anything to change than tell him that he has to go. Being honest may hurt at the time but there should not be any bad feelings because you are just trying to help him.
Soemtimes people don't know that there is a problem.
I had a job that was really stressing me out. I didn't realize it and started to get depressed. I thought everything was normal and fine until I came close to a nervous breakdown. Got offered a early retirement, took it and my life improved tremendously. Everyone told me how I completely changed after that. They immediately noticed the change and all told me that I was getting real bad and couldn't understand what was happening before.
Just confront him and tell him the truth. He may even thank you.
Soemtimes people don't know that there is a problem.
I had a job that was really stressing me out. I didn't realize it and started to get depressed. I thought everything was normal and fine until I came close to a nervous breakdown. Got offered a early retirement, took it and my life improved tremendously. Everyone told me how I completely changed after that. They immediately noticed the change and all told me that I was getting real bad and couldn't understand what was happening before.
Just confront him and tell him the truth. He may even thank you.
If you can, and assuming it's APA, you can blame the 23 rule and say that's why you need to adjust your roster.Gregg said:
Sucks to be a captian doesn't it.Gregg said:
The sooner you do it the better. I know you probably don't want to do it over the phone, but if you have to wait a week till league night and the guy shows up ready to play it makes it more difficult.JMO
TheBook said:
This is some good advise. It's hard for me, in that I really don't have a problem with him other than fellow teammates are upset with his behaivor. I don't want to ask him off the team, but I think what I will do is ask him to make amends with the people in question, or he cannot return to the team. Unless he is 100% cool with everyone on the team, that he is not to return. The funny thing is really that the player taking the firmest stance with the offending shooter is the one closest to him, who has played with him on other teams, and plays cards with him weekly.
CaptainJR said:
I had a similar situation arise last year. The APA 8-ball team I'm on, that I've been on for a little over three years - the guy who was captain at the time decided to quit about 1.5 years ago. I ended up being the guy who took over as captain (the rest of the team either didn't want to, or weren't up to it).
A couple of sessions later, the former captain (and his wife, who had left with him) wanted to come back. We still had a couple of spots left on the roster - we had been taking our time trying to find good folks to fill the spots - so we took'em back. But of course, I ran things differently than he did, and it irked him. He lasted one more session before he bolted again.
It's tough, being in that hot seat sometimes.
juanbond said:
Hmm, let me respectfully disagree. I am not a team captain of a pool team, but I have owned several businesses and I have had to fire people many times. In a couple of cases I had to fire people I considered friends.
Talking to him about the “problem” and hoping it will get better will most likely not work in this case. We are not talking about a minor thing he can changed, but a fundamental personality difference. It sounds like he is not a social guy, that is not going to change. You can talk to him and he may try to change, possible it may ever work for a short period of time. Eventually, things will go back to where they are. At this time he will resent you and the other players more and the other players will resent you for not getting rid of him to begin with. This is a bad situation all around.
Being a leader means just that: lead. You have to be willing to make hard decisions and to be decisive. I see a lot of failures in businesses that are directly caused by a lack of decisive leadership.
The first time you fire somebody is very hard. It gets easier, but not much. I would just tell the guy that it is not working out and that he should look for a team that better suits his personality. One thing I have learned about firing people is that the less said the better. Don’t get into to details trying to explain yourself. This will just lead to an argument and more bad feelings. A quick, clean break is the way to go.
IMO, it doesn't sound like he wants to be there anyway.
Thanks for your help this session, but you'll need a new team for the next session.
She said it’s really not my habit to intrude
Furthermore, I hope my meaning won’t be lost or misconstrued
But I’ll repeat myself at the risk of being crude
There must be fifty ways to leave your lover
Fifty ways to leave your lover
Just slip out the back, jack
Make a new plan, stan
You don’t need to be coy, roy
Just get yourself free
Hop on the bus, gus
You don’t need to discuss much
Just drop off the key, lee
And get yourself free
Thanks for your help this session, but you'll need a new team for the next session.
She said it’s really not my habit to intrude
Furthermore, I hope my meaning won’t be lost or misconstrued
But I’ll repeat myself at the risk of being crude
There must be fifty ways to leave your lover
Fifty ways to leave your lover
Just slip out the back, jack
Make a new plan, stan
You don’t need to be coy, roy
Just get yourself free
Hop on the bus, gus
You don’t need to discuss much
Just drop off the key, lee
And get yourself free
Gregg said:
I had the arduous task of cutting a teammate from our roster. And he was the team captain! He put the team together, and at some point, he became a supremely weak link.
It sucked, but we're adults and we're friends. I told him that the team was on the verge of going to the next level, and his play doesn't look like it will help us. I can still remember him asking, "are you kicking me off my own team??"
But, he knew that he was the weak link. He didn't have the same passion for the game as the rest of us. And, he had other things going on that were bogging down his game.
Fred
Cornerman said:
This was an APA team?
A recreational team?
And you 86'd a guy for not being a good player?
Holy Schneikies! That's cold, man.
Well I never have had a problem delivering the bad news to someone....what I would do is have the other players with you when you approach him and tell him that he needs to start being a team player or go sit at the bar and you're off the team....
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I dont think I would mention any specific problems or reasons that you are not having him back.
I think I would just thank him for playing this session but say that you
are filling his spot with another shooter and/or skill level rating.
IMO its too late to explain anything and that will only set up the senario of
him saying that he will change. This is not what you are looking for. If you were looking to keep him then you would have already discussed this
with him.
Just cut the string. He might be a bit gruff at first but I still would not get into details about it with him. If you turn it into a "whole team against him" position then he will become defensive.
I had to let a good friend of mine go from my team. It was tough but like I told him "its just about pool league and a team..... its nothing about me and him". If he had stayed then it might have gotten each of us mad at the other one and thats what I wanted to avoid.
I say to keep it simple and to the point.
I think I would just thank him for playing this session but say that you
are filling his spot with another shooter and/or skill level rating.
IMO its too late to explain anything and that will only set up the senario of
him saying that he will change. This is not what you are looking for. If you were looking to keep him then you would have already discussed this
with him.
Just cut the string. He might be a bit gruff at first but I still would not get into details about it with him. If you turn it into a "whole team against him" position then he will become defensive.
I had to let a good friend of mine go from my team. It was tough but like I told him "its just about pool league and a team..... its nothing about me and him". If he had stayed then it might have gotten each of us mad at the other one and thats what I wanted to avoid.
I say to keep it simple and to the point.
Make it a clean break. Give a short and to the point explanation. Don't try to 'fix' him... it's not going to happen. Definitely don't confront him with the whole team. It will only make him more defensive and possibly angry. I would do it in private, just you and him.
Reading this thread make me realize how lucky I am with the two teams I captain. We all get along great and love to shoot pool. At the beginning of every season I remind everybody that we have two main goals during the regular season... to have fun and get better at pool. The winning will naturally come.
Reading this thread make me realize how lucky I am with the two teams I captain. We all get along great and love to shoot pool. At the beginning of every season I remind everybody that we have two main goals during the regular season... to have fun and get better at pool. The winning will naturally come.
