by Remember Colo » Wed Oct 21, 2015 12:24 pm
Goat wrote:I think the club probably saw more of Abeid's potential than we did.
They've certainly let good players go in the past, but I'm sure they sold him to Panathinaikos for only £1.5million.
We all know that Ashley and co are penny pinchers who try to get maximum value out of sales, so surely, surely they wouldn't have sold him for such a measly fee unless it was clear that he wasn't going to make it at this level.
Plus, we don't know Abeid's personal preferences. He might have simply wanted to go to a club where he'd be a definite starter and even get some occasional Champions League football (albeit as far as the play-off rounds).
All good points, but it's hard for me to have faith in the talent evaluators among our former coaching staff, given the players they showed confidence in, especially late in their tenure. Now it's possible Abeid wasn't going to get better, in which case, I agree no huge loss, but I think some people (myself included) think he had potential to improve, while I don't see our current CMs having any hidden potential lurking behind their age and consistently mediocre performances.
[quote="Goat"]I think the club probably saw more of Abeid's potential than we did.
They've certainly let good players go in the past, but I'm sure they sold him to Panathinaikos for only £1.5million.
We all know that Ashley and co are penny pinchers who try to get maximum value out of sales, so surely, surely they wouldn't have sold him for such a measly fee unless it was clear that he wasn't going to make it at this level.
Plus, we don't know Abeid's personal preferences. He might have simply wanted to go to a club where he'd be a definite starter and even get some occasional Champions League football (albeit as far as the play-off rounds).[/quote]
All good points, but it's hard for me to have faith in the talent evaluators among our former coaching staff, given the players they showed confidence in, especially late in their tenure. Now it's possible Abeid wasn't going to get better, in which case, I agree no huge loss, but I think some people (myself included) think he had potential to improve, while I don't see our current CMs having any hidden potential lurking behind their age and consistently mediocre performances.