That works out at approx 50% of the time he plays ... or 50% of the time he doesn`t. Not looking good John Boy and I`m a big fan.
I know…and I like the player, but this is business, the club, the team, FFP, PSR, and all that modern football entails.
I played at a decent level, but I was a bit injury prone, so I knew I was probably never going to make it and stayed in school. EVERYONE thought I was a fool for turning down a pro deal at Leeds, but my father had been a pro and I’d seen the scrap heap of has beens and might have beens, and I wanted better for myself. I couldn’t stomach the thought of playing for Mossley in my early 30s and
then having to try to rebuild a life!
I was a big and fast center forward, and prone to leg muscle strains. Sure enough, the end was a quad tear after taking a piledriver of a shot. It wasn’t meant to be for me, but I’m all the better for it!
John Stones has become a multi-millionaire that will never have to work another day in his life from tomorrow, if he so chooses, so I can’t shed a tear for him. However, he has been to the mountain top, seen the view, and clearly liked it, so wants to hold onto it. Who wouldn’t?!
But, from the perspective of a club trying to win 4 or more trophies every year, which needs fit and healthy players to play regularly, he is simply not a good business proposition anymore…regardless of how much one might like him.
When fit, he seems like a shoo-in to start, but therein lies the problem. He is simply not someone the club can rely on to build around and we have just bought a couple of new young, talented defenders, one of whom looks to be a Mini-Me in the making of Stones, so they need to be brought through.
Sadly, he’s probably not the only defender we need to move on, and they’ll all be missed for their qualities when fit and healthy.
