Taking time to settle in

In view of Stuart Pearce's comments about foreign players needing time to settle in, I thought it worth taking a quick look at some of the problems Pearce has faced with the players he brought in during the off-season .

Pearce said (with particular emphasis on Corradi after his double at the weekend):

"There is an arrogance with the British way that `the rest of the world fits in
with us' and whenever the rest of the world come to our shores they've got to
fit in straight away, it doesn't always work like that on a cultural or a
football basis.
"Let's be honest, how many English players do you see playing
abroad? Historically, how many have gone abroad and not made it? That is
something you've got to look at." Sky Sports

It is easy to forget that it does take players from abroad longer to settle in both on and off the pitch, and perhaps expectations are sometimes a little high - something my brother said about Samaras in that if he was a home grown player he would be given far more time and leeway from fans who are critical of his performances.

It is fair to say though that the players brought in by Pearce over the summer have not quite hit the heights expected of them.

Whilst Corradi has taken time to settle in, and has reportedly been putting in extra training sessions on his day off, DeMarcus Beasley, Hatem Trabelsi and Andreas Isaksson have all had stuttering starts to their City careers, experiencing injury problems virtually since the day they joined the club whilst Didi Hamman who arrived from Liverpool (via Bolton) had also struggled for both fitness and form.

Hopefully Saturday will now kick-start a run of form for Corradi and with some of the previously injured players now back in contention (or not far away) we should see a more consistent and settled line-up which will hopefully translate into a more consistent return points wise.