The lad has knuckled down & worked really hard since Nigel opened the door to him. I think while he was at QPR he actually missed playing football & being part of things. Sometimes in life, when a person gets a lot time to think, its easier to look back & see what mistakes have been made, & then importantly do something about it, & he has certainly done that so far. To come back & get a starting position is not an easy thing to do, so well done. Its also not easy to win back the faithful, but he's on the way to doing it.
Doesn't explain his actions a week prior to 'clearing the air talks' when he slagged off the club and Cortese on Twitter. I think he is a d!ck and always will
Getting back in the squad is one thing, but getting in the starting line up is an achievement. I would guess that Nigel really wanted him and it wasn't some kind of PR stunt as some thought. Bet he pointed out to Nicola that we needed a midfielder and that all the interest shown in Puncheon suggested he was a decent player. Good result all round.
To be honest I think most footballers are quite arrogant and have more money then sense it just seems Punch showed this in public. Hes apoligised get over it as long as he isnt disruptive in the dressing room and hes playing well thats all that matters for me.
Well said HR. I admit that after the Twitter incident I slagged him off on here and elsewhere, he then went and promptly made me look silly. Maybe there is a little lesson here for all of us.
People do stupid things, tis a part of life... who hasn't slagged off their boss? Punch just didn't have the brains to not do it publicly... but then, his actions brought the issue to a forefront and gave him a second chance so maybe not that dumb (agent advice perhaps?) anyway, as long as he's willing to go out there and fight for the honour of playing in the red and white I don't care how much of a d!ck he is.
The big thing I've learnt is that Cortese isn't as intransigent as people make out. He can be pragmatic.
Pragmatism gets a bad press! The fact that he has shown contrition shows he is a bigger man than many of us thought. Good man.
He can be premier league class and he played well for Blackpool there last season. Has shown willing and if he gets form and consistency then welcome aboard the bus.
After watching the last few games I didn't realise quite how good JP is! He seems comfortable anywhere on the pitch swaping flanks with Lallana or in the middle behind the strikers but would love him to attack the wings more beating his man and whipping in a cross for Lambert or sharp!
Thought Punch was our best player yesterday. Having him back is great for the club: it shows that Cortese will listen to Adkins even if it means having to slightly infringe on his own principles. It also shows a great deal of courage and determiantion from Punch to prove us all wrong. his work rate has been magnificent in the matches since. Lest we forget how crucial Punch was in our consolidation season in L1 and the JPT run. might seem like small fry now but that was what put the smile back on our faces. He was better than Lallana that season...
I think he is showing just why he was not sold for less than a million, obviously the bosses rated him but could not deal with the huge chip on his shoulder. Now that both parties have cleared the air its like having a new player
He's a man in his 20's. I'm sure if we listed all the stupid things done by humans, the majority would be committed by men in their 20's.
I do feel that some fans bear some responsibility for this saga as he never deserved the stick he was getting. The trouble is that boos can be easily heard. There may have been other things going on, but yelling at him didn't help. He seems to be popular in the dressing room, so he can't have been as disruptive as some thought.
Booing your own players is absolutely madness. The reason one might boo would be due to a lack of confidence and so booing would only serve to exacerbate that. Mindless, thoughtless and plain ridiculous to do that. In short, I agree
Being a prat is obligatory in our 20's, but this is a bit harsh. Was Bush in his twenties when he started the war on terror; Hitler was getting on a bit when he invaded Poland .. need I go on?! BUT I agree with the spirit of what you say
I didn't like how he behaved or what he's written. I wasn't overly keen on just welcoming him back in to starting line up ahead of the more team minded players we already have. But IMO he has been our best player since he returned and as already mentioned, one of the hardest working. Having said that it's still early days. When he first arrived he played extremely well and then went off the boil leading to the boo boys getting on his back. If he contiues his current form then I'm sure most fans will be delighted but if not, he has to learn how to ignore the booing.
