bigmick wrote:Sir Roger wrote:But I dont believe Aquilani is a bad signing. Anyone who can assist as much in such a short time, plus score a goal is a good signing. And I believe that is "beyond sensible dispute"
I think you mean you don't believe Aquilani is a bad PLAYER. You presumeably agree it's an awful signing to buy somebody for 20 million quid and then not play them, regardless of who it is. It's a ridiculous piece of business.
Where we really disagree, is whether or not he will eventually come anywhere near justifying his fee (assuming of course that at some point the manager plays him consistently, if he doesn't then surely all bets are off).
It obviously depends what you mean by a "bad signing"
If you take Shevchenko for example, he was bought to be the next leading goalscorer of the PL due to his track record in Europe. He was very poor in game after game to the extent he lost his confidence, didnt play and was shipped back to Europe. Thats what I call a bad signing. Having great expectations and the player not living up to them and in fact being so bad you have to offload him asap.
I dont see Aquilani in that mode. Maybe you must do?
I see a player who has had few starts, many assists and a goal. No he hasnt "tore up any trees" but I didnt expect him to. Hes brand new to a strange league and has unbelievable expectations from some quarters who are wanting him to be the new Alonzo and the new Zidane rolled into one.
You skirt around the main issue which is Rafas role in all or this, stating that "IT" is an awful signing and a ridiculous piece of business. This makes me presume that you believe Rafa has bought him, and then realised hes made a mistake so he doesnt play him because he is not "suited" to the PL. This is contradicted by his statistics. Which leads me to believe that hes actually a GOOD signing who is not being used or utilised properly by arguably a manager who looks like he hasnt got a Fu*king clue?