Give the boy a chance

I'm not going to pretend every signing is a guaranteed hit. I admitted up front that taking a risk on him wasn't without question. But there's a difference between honest critique and piling in because a few posters keep repeating the same unproven lines until they sound like truth.

Don't confuse repeated opinion with fact

To be fair, people hear something a couple of times and it becomes gospel. Claims that he "did nothing since 2023", that he didn't want to be on the park, or the usual noise about wages — most of that is just chatter. Two or three people saying the same thing doesn't make it true. We've all seen narratives build up on here and snowball. The sensible thing is to call that out rather than lend it oxygen.

Missed games change everything

Missing a chunk of football matters more than some admit. Match sharpness, confidence and timing are all knocked when you don't play regularly. You can't fairly expect someone to walk straight in and "rip it up" after a long lay-off. That's not an excuse for poor performances, it's plain common sense. Recovery, training tempo, and getting minutes under your belt take time. Fans often want instant returns, but football rarely works like that.

Backing the lad — it's not blind faith

Supporting a player doesn't mean ignoring flaws. It means recognising context. Wanting to be out there and struggling with confidence are different things. If he's had injuries, missed games and a dip in form, what he needs from us is encouragement, not constant slagging. I'll give the boy that support. Call it patience if you like. Call it practical realism if you prefer. Either way, repeating unverified claims and turning them into ammunition does nobody any good — least of all the club we all care about.

We can critique and demand standards without accepting every rumour or tired line that gets trotted out. Let the lad get minutes, let him settle, and then judge on what's actually on the park.

Written by Boy blue 4: 13 June 2026