Terrible footballer’s in short socks (8)
I believe the answer is:
hopeless
'terrible' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are adjectives. Maybe they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'footballer's in short socks' is the wordplay.
'footballer's' becomes 'Pele's' (Brazilian footballer Pele).
'in' indicates putting letters inside.
'short' means to remove the last letter.
'socks' becomes 'hose' (I've seen this in other clues).
'hose' with its final letter removed is 'hos'.
'peles' inserted into 'hos' is 'HOPELESS'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for hopeless that I've seen before include "Having no reason expect a good outcome" , "Inefficient" , "Feeling or causing despair" , "Having no reason to expect success" , "Vain" .)