No, I am not saying no one deserves a second chance, just him. I am entitled to my opinion and please don't compare me to a footballer who completely believes his own hype.
I don't know the circumstances of how and why things turned out the way they did, for Puncheon at Saints. They just did. Putting aside all the gossip and rumour, and just relying on what I know, from my perspective, all I can see is that he is our player and he brings another string to our bow. But I also realise that a player of Puncheon's capablility doesn't go out on loan to clubs further up the league by playing badly at home. There's an underlying reason. Adkins may have pointed this out with his excellent recent interview with Mark Clemmit. He said the usual thing about the Lads being an honest, hard working group of playersâ¢, but then talked about the occasional wrong 'un who can screw up, in a very short time, the standards and the practices that he works very hard to achieve. And I think that is the reason why Puncheon can't play for Saints again. He appeared to be a bit of a problem for Pardew, who worked through it, but with Adkins he was out, because he was seen to be disruptive. In the past, several people have cited that Cortese had the fundamental problem with Puncheon. I think Cortese just backed his manager.
Adkins has said that he didn't want him in the summer. It isn't just NC and NA that he'll have to win over if he wants to return, it's also the players!
The biggest hurdle he will have to overcome will be winning over the fans, every little mistake he makes on the pitch will be magnified and he wasn't exactly popular when he was a first team regular before. IF he can reproduce his early form with us then he has a chance, but I suspect that it will end in tears if he comes back here unfortunately, despite his undoubted ability.
I think that comment from Thornhill Saint sums up the problem with our fans. Puncheon is correct about Guly. One or two poor performances and they get booed and whatever. I accept Puncheon played poorly for more thn one or two games but we know he is a good player after his first season with us. Give the bloke another chance.
I do agree that this is a big worry. I do think that more and more people would like to see him return, than was the case 12 months ago (especially considering our current problems at right-midfield). But there's still a lot of anti-Puncheon feeling out there, and I could easily see those fans turning on in before even the end of his first game back, if he didn't put on a decent display. (Just look at the Blackburn fans last week. They said going into the WBA game that they would get off Kean's back, and instead get behind the team - but as it turned out, it took them all of 15 minutes to throw that idea in the bin, and start gettting on his back again).
Actually I think the biggest challenge for him will be to overcome his team-mates. It's no secret that he isn't liked by the majority of the players. At the end of last season they were heard in the dressing room, cracking jokes and generally taking the piss out of him. He's not a popular guy amongst the squad.
Btw how many chances do's this guy want?, isn't it like his 3rd or something?. Didn't he also slag us off each time he left on loan?.
Maybe, but on the basis that I've never known this to be absoloute fact (unlike the dislike towards him from certain fans, where for example it was quite clear to hear people booing him), then I'll treat it as nothing more than just speculation.
To be fair to Puncheon he was getting booed at the start of last season when to be honest the whole team was playing crap. We made a dreadful start, Pardew was sacked and imo the treatment dished out to Puncheon by fans was totally unwarranted. NA came in and Puncheon quickly fell out of favour to the extent he was loaned out to Millwall/Blackpool. Even with good spells at those clubs who were in leagues above us he was still banished to train and play with youth team in pre season. Whatever happened between Puncheon and NA is irrepairable so I'd be very suprised if he played for us again, a shame because he's a good player but his character is somewhat flawed which is why he's never settled at a club.
It wasn't NA he fell out with, it was The Don(punchy said this on his twitter too). He has no chance of getting back imo
He is from Thornhill, hardly going to be the sharpest knife in the draw. Footballers need at lesast 10 games to prove worth.
Wasn't aware of that, seems strange he fell out with The Don who I wouldn't of thought he would of had much contact with. You here of player and manager falling out but not player and chief exec??? Its not like they were in contract talks or anything?? ps. have you pulled Fran yet
Puncheon normally plays well for a month when he joins a club,so take him back, give him a couple of games in January if he is match fit,and if he performs well he can either be sold or used as a makeweight to sign someone else. As long as the other players and manager would accept him back,he could be useful for us in January until we sign someone else. He would probably be better off playing in away matches,as there seemed to be a lot of people at St Marys who got on his back as soon as he made the slightest mistake. But he certainly has no long term future with us,as 1,He aint good enough for the Premier league. 2,He seems to have an awful attitude.
He isn't good enough for the premier league? Going by that judgement then none of our players are good enough.
