nlondonimp
Vital Champions League
it might also be that we want to have a flatter wage structure. which you could argue creates a better team ethic.We paid some cost towards the move. I get the impression we had players we couldn’t really afford in the new world. Good that we are sensible in reacting to the current situation. I wonder if we are also buying subsidised players I guess we are.
if payne was one of the higher earners, he certainly did not justify it. didn't look like our 'star' player when he was on the pitch. potential to be, yes. but in reality, hardly ever delivered. contrast that with morrell for instance, or bridcutt.
payne looked great in that game against southend, but in the long run that proved to be saying a lot about southend's quality, and a lot about the type of team that payne looks good against.
wellens is hoping for the mata-type performances - which i suppose a manager can be seduced by when watching payne's clips... and were presumably hoped-for consistently by all his previous managers - including cowley and appleton. wellens is not seeing the tendency to be caught in possession in all areas of the pitch; head down; not releasing the ball; brushed off the ball; easily beaten in 50-50s. all these things happened regularly in each game, and continued to happened in all the performances for us. if mata did that as much as payne, they would both be playing in league 1.
very much one of the biggest fails of our signings in recent years. and there have been very few. i hope we can find better for the number 10 (and left winger) position for this season, it will make a big difference in creating and scoring.