We have to be more worried about the teams performance next season rather than the progress of one individual, even if he is an academy product. I agree about sending him on loan but don't think he is guaranteed a place starting in most NPC teams. Would worry about the thuggery of L1 if he went on loan. Guess its a risk you take at any level though.
could always be a half season thing like when liverpool recalled shelvey. maybe we could even use him as a sweetener for ince/phillips.
I fancy JWP for the role just behind the strikers actually. Creative, technical (did you see the FA uploaded a video to youtube of him hammering some ****ing SWEET volleys in during England training?) with a good range of passing. If we're making signings in midfield it will be an out and out winger and a monster destroyer. Davis is first to go IMO, he's a jack of all trades but it just means he sucks at a lot of things at once.
The right place for JWP's development is right here, training with the first team squad, getting experience and some game time. If he progresses as expected, he may keep other players out of the team. if you loan him out, we have no control over how he is played or even if he is played at all.
if his place is in the hole and it looks increasingly like it is, getting bullied won't be quite the problem that it was when he was part of the centre midfield pairing at the start of the season. it'll be a good induction for him to the first team proper. it does put him in direct contention with all the other players that fit there best though and as James mentioned, Davis is the one who would probably make way.
I think Davis is an excellent person to have on the bench. He can come on for JWP/ Gaston in the dying minutes when we're trying to hold onto a game.
I fully agree, I'll add that we should definitely hold onto him because some games call for a player like him.
That would be me. I meant he can't play there with any significant effect. He could probably fill in the slot if absolutley necessary, but wouldn't offer much going forward.
We should loan JWP to Bournemouth, allowing another CM to come in and then we'd have 4 strong CM options. It was a bit odd how, at the beginning of last season, JWP was one of our better players and then he was dropped.
He did well all things considering but cork came back and as a whole the team played better. You could argue that it was taking a few games to click but I feel cork made a big difference. Yes ward prouse is probably good enough to do a job for us next season, but is he (currently) good enough to push on and help us make an impact on the top 6? One day maybe but not next season. Its all very well watching him blast volleys in during training but can he do it in a match? As far as I have seen he offers no greater goal threat than Davis. If he bangs in a few next season I will sit up and take notice.
Some sense on the subject. I'm gobsmacked it's even been suggested to loan him out. Develop him right under our noses.
I'm not convinced at all he will play a major role. I like the player, don't get me wrong but if we do sign another CM he won't see much action at all.
Neither me nor Oli (whom I quoted) mentioned him playing a major role. Simply crazy to loan him out at this stage. He will and should get some game time.
Would you not consider an Ince or Phillips signing to be a gamble or are you ready for one of those now?
Would you consider that we are about to embark on our debut (edit: for nit picking's sake yeah debut isn't the right word. CBA to think of a better way to say it.) season in the premier league or have things moved on a bit?
With that logic, I would suggest those decisions you questioned earlier then were good ones, well made. What do we know? We're just fans!
Is that your answer? I'm not attempting to wind you up. We all start on 0 pts so I would have your notion of caution might still carry? Of course it depends on who else we bring in over the summer.