Despite signing for Arsenal in 2016 he's never kicked a ball in England so has zero experience of the physicality and pace which he alluded to in his post match presser. He's lived abroad since 2016 so my point stands regards moving to another country and adapting. If we're getting into the pedantics of saying we have written off a 6th of his contract already whilst allowing the guy to get fit even when the manager has gone on record saying we're getting him upto speed then that's a pretty poor stance. Sometimes we sign players that aren't fit or have lost their way or had horrendous injuries, but for those mitigating factors we might not be able to sign them, that's the way we have to operate at times. If you couldn't see the guys quality on show yesterday then you watched a different match mate
To be fair Humphrys didn't look full fit for a while I think he got pushed as Cosgrove has been disappointing watters got injured only just started doing a full 90. We've had good options in center midfield all season I think when connells back he still drops to bench but looks a good option to have
I don’t know if you’ve got me muddled up with someone else but I’ve put how well he played yesterday on the last page & on other posts over the last day or so. It’s not questioning his ability. I just don’t agree with the idea of a manager coming out & saying a player in his mid-20’s with lots of experience & international caps needs 4 or 5 months before he’s ready to play. It would make sense if he was coming off an injury or he was a young kid who had never played abroad but that’s not the situation here.
Tbf no disrespect intended but I'd take the view of a professionally paid head coach who knows what's what about the situation on a daily basis rather than fans views who aren't prepared to cut people some slack and have a black and white take on things. You are still being completely dismissive of the potential for someone needing time to adjust new country (never played here before) how many times have we seen players move to clubs for big money and not adapt? You are also not even factoring the thought in that he might not have been training to level DC demanded to warrant a start and understand what's required. There's so many factors involved in football its not as straight forward at times, he's had to bide his time and wait for his opportunity shame some fans can't show the same level of patience.
We are 3 months into a 9 month season. For a 3 year contract, its 1/9th or 1/12th of the contract depending on how you count the summer break.
I was referencing Clarke’s quotes about him not been ready until December / January time as in they were prepared to write off half of one season within a 3 year contract
I’m happy to show patience for young kids who are here to develop over the long term. Let’s have it right he’s a Nigerian international in his mid-20’s. He’s not going to be here on peanuts. I think he should have been ready to start league games a lot quicker. I don’t buy the needing time to settle argument for an experienced player who’s played in several countries & already lived in this one. No one was saying let’s give Hugo Colace & Emil Halfreddson 4 months to acclimatise before they’re ready to start league games. Clarke might just be covering for him I can see that but my argument is he owes us. We’re skint & we’ve given him a 3 year contract & he now needs to put in lots of performances like yesterday to justify that contract as he’s already missed a lot of football.
Sometimes that's the gamble we have to take to get someone of his quality, if it means it takes us 6 months to get someone of his ability upto speed then so be it, its not a big deal. The point being he'd been written off on the basis of making zero league appearences, how people can make such judgments is beyond me, had we been into August of 2025 then fair do's, but comments were being made after 10 games or so of a 46 game season. Can you not appreciate the knee Jerk reaction of some of our fans base?
Your going on like there's some conspiracy theory behind his absecence and we've never ever signed an unfit player before, just out of interest did you have the stance on Donovan Pines then? Played a handful of games when not 100% fit and paid the price with a lengthy injury. Personally can't see the big deal, we've signed a player that wasn't as fit as others that's had to get upto speed then wait for his chance for the past 4/5 weeks it's not uncommon in football
If we're judging players by value for money and probably rightly so then my gut feeling is that Nwakali will be fine, it's players like McCarthy, Cosgrove, Watters and Benson that bother me, what does their monthly wages against contributions add up to ?
Theres some rather unpleasant comments about him on this thread. So I'm pleased to hear other fans say he was our best player yesterday.
Had he been written off? I’ve seen a few including myself saying it seems a bit of a strange one. I’ve not seen anyone say he was a waste of money & not worth persisting with. Personally I do think it’s a big deal. I have major concerns about the way the clubs been run & I’m not happy to see prices increasingly massively whilst the club builds an unbalanced squad & gives out long contracts to players who aren’t fit whilst posting massive losses (for a club our size). After seeing how well he played yesterday I’m a lot happier & I hope there’s many more performances like that to come.
Really??? maybe have a look at the OP and why this thread was bumped, case in point. If he goes on to make 100+ appearences by the end of his contract and be as influential as yesterday's performance will you still be negative? so unless you've a crystal ball how about giving players a chance, he's been pushing to start for 4 weeks, anyone would think he's been signed and done a Richard Kell and not kicked a ball for 12 months, deary me talk about overacting. Think we better cut our losses now on Luca Connell, signed a 5 year contract last summer and missed 6 months after signing it, and didn't play yesterday. Bonkers
Completely agree about Benson. The decision to pay a huge fee for someone who had only played a dozen or so games on loan at Grimsby was a shocking one. For us to pay that kind of transfer fee there has to be a track record of a player showing he’s robust enough to complete a full season. McCarthy was pretty unlucky. Got a serious injury & missed a years worth of football. He’d played a lot of football in the few seasons before so I think that was more bad luck than anything. I think he would’ve been a useful squad player. Frustrating but could happen to any of our best players. Agree about Watters & Cosgrove. Both underwhelmed up to now & need to justify their contracts which I’m hoping Watters is starting to.
I think you’re completely missing my point. I’ve no issue with players getting injured or seriously ill. Luca Connell had what could be a career threatening illness. Of course I’m understanding about that. One of my favourite sportsmen Mark Cavendish had the same. It’s very serious & it’s bonkers to compare it to someone who’s just not fit enough. I’ve posted above that we need to see lots more appearances & performances like yesterday’s to justify the contract so why would you then reply saying if he does that will I be negative? No of course not, that’s what I want from him. I feel like you’re trying to have an argument with me over something different to what I’ve said.
Is that why Pines got injured? He had a good month to get fit & was eased into the side. I’ve never heard anyone other than people on here say he was rushed. If anything Collins was patient with him. Fans were crying out for him to go in the team sooner because we were desperate for some height in the side.
So you haven't an issue with players missing games through injuries but starting doing percentage calculations on new signings who weren't match fit for the first 10 games of the season, what an utterly bizzare standpoint. You've categorically stated people haven't written him off when there's examples on the first page of this thread. I'm not trying to argue with you over anything different, your trying to defend a point and lay a case that would indicate he hasn't been unfairly written off, the evidence alone on this thread proves otherwise.
Just read through & there’s one person called Sambfc90 who says he was a waste of time signing. That’s it. Other people have questioned the signing but he’s the only one that’s wrote him off. I just have a view that experienced players should be fit & ready to start league games a lot sooner than mid-November & certainly a lot sooner than December / January which our manager alluded to yesterday. That’s it.
