There are players who lose their spark and never really get it back. You can hope, you can back the coaching, but when a sizeable fee is on the table you have to be realistic. Paying £9m for someone showing very little right now is asking a lot of the club and the fans.

The fee and the risk

To be fair, we all liked the idea of bringing him in when we were first linked three or four years ago. That feeling is understandable. But feelings don’t pay the bills. A big outlay changes the calculus. If the player simply isn’t producing, that money becomes a weight rather than an investment. Fans worry because £9m is not a gesture; it’s a statement about expectations.

Not doing the simple things

Form isn’t just about one goal or two. It is about consistently beating men, creating chances, taking shots, making the team tick. Honest as I am, I’ve yet to see him beat a man regularly. He has scored one goal, and I don’t recall many attempts on goal either. Even some of the so-called contributions feel flattered by circumstance. You mention the cross that Chermiti finished; moments like that can make numbers look better than they are. Most of the time those crosses don’t end up as goals.

What the club should be weighing up

There is always room for patience. Maybe training, coaching and the right system can coax a player back to form. But the club must weigh that against opportunity cost. Whether it was down to Rangers or Cerny himself, we didn’t pay the 6 or 7 million for a guy who got us almost 20 goals and around 10 assists. Why would we then spend £9m on a player who hasn’t done anything yet? That’s the question supporters are asking.

Ultimately this isn’t about having a pop at a lad. It’s about sensible decision making. Big fees need big returns, and at the moment the returns simply aren’t visible. You can see why fans are sceptical.

Written by Jackboy55: 6 April 2026

Tags: tactics