I've tested that connect/disconnect thing and it's true.
Still, server IS notified if player drops in loading so there's a way to detect that too if you really need "connecting" status... and I belive Orpheu is the one for this.
Also, updating stats in the think it's not really a good ideea because think (with all checks for skipping frames and stuff so that it's got a few seconds delay between updates) it's pretty inaccurate because not all players have the same FPS... and players with high fps may lag your server.