I don’t think it’s an accident that both Charlie Manuel and Andy Reid are coaches who don’t like to reprimand their players publicly.
They have both been very successful here in Philadelphia with that style.
The vocal fans (who are a small percentage) become enraged with both of them when a player makes a mistake, but they refuse to address the players mistake publicly.
I think if Philly were to get coaches who shredded their players publicly, it would be over the top. The combination of the coach throwing them under the bus, then the fans jumping into it as well would be too much.
It’s a good balance the way it is. The players feel indebted to the coach for standing up for them, yet they hear the fans’ complaints about their performance. It makes the players want to do better as a way of thanking the coach and shutting up the critics.
If a player doesn’t do his job around here, they find out one way or another that they need to shape up.
The styles of both Manuel and Reid, allow their players to ignore the criticism and focus on the job at hand.
There’s no way the Phillies could keep their focus through a 162 game season and then the playoffs and World Series, while the coach is making a big deal of every mistake in every game.
The same is true of Reid, the Eagles and the football season.
