The story is that Ross McCormack is going on loan to Sunderland and if you believe the sources, he’s begun personal talks with the club.
I’ve been thinking about this one on and off all day and it’s frankly bugging me.
Ok, I’ve suggested previously that I believe after “Gate-gate” the relationship between the player and Steve Bruce has almost certainly irretrievably broken down.
I still think this and am convinced McCormack will have looked at Bruce’s comments at the time and thought to himself that he was being kicked when he was at his lowest ebb.
Which is a view I do have some sympathy for.
But Bruce is generally known as a good man-manager.
Perhaps he actually felt that Ross just needed a good kick up the proverbial for his own good and was trying to do him a favour?
I’m not really convincing myself about that point, to be honest.
Whatever, we probably only heard a fraction of the real story and will never get to hear all the facts.
So on the assumption that McCormack has told Bruce to stick it where the sun doesn’t shine, the only option is that we have to let McCormack go.
I totally understand that.
But what I don’t understand is why we’d let him go out on loan.
Apparently, no-one is willing to get anywhere near the £12-15 million or whatever it was that we paid for him.
Fair enough. He’s aging, apparently is trouble and was frankly poor last season. I understand thet too.
But letting him go out on loan could really be a worse option than just selling him on the cheap, in my opinion.
I know Sunderland are predicted by many to really struggle this season.
But what if McCormack feels really fired up and goes on to have a great season, banging in say, 20+ goals and helps them get promoted over us?
How stupid would our decision to loan him out look then?
And then we could take him back, when Sunderland deem that he isn’t good enough for the Premiership?
Where we’d still have to pay his monstrous wages and he wouldn’t want to play for Bruce (if indeed he’d still be our manager)?
Ok, that’s a worst case scenario. But football’s a funny old game.
Get rid, once and for all, in my opinion. Whatever the cost.
And do the same for the other usual suspects.
And then I said last night that I’d give my opinion on loans in general.
Most of you probably know that I’m not a fan.
And the reason I say that is because I utterly fail to see the point.
Let’s look at some recent examples;
Baker, went to Bristol. As it happens, I could see the point in this one.
Same league and was showing signs of progress for us (in my opinion), but couldn’t get a game.
Gardner. Showed next to nothing for us, so loaned out to Forest, where he does well. Comes back shows nothing again.
He obviously doesn’t fit our system, so he has to go. It would seem at least someone at the club agrees. So a total waste of time, yet I’ll bet we were paying at least some of his wages.
Johnstone, comes to us and was rubbish, but improved with more games (or a better defence?). Obviously deemed not good enough for Manure, yet they loan him to us again, where his contract is up at the end of the season, so they’ve effectively given him to us.
Again, what’s the point?
Who has gone out on loan for us and has come back vastly improved?
I can’t think of anyone and if you can, I’ll bet you can’t name many more.
No, I’m just not keen on the idea, except maybe for under 20’s and even then, my opinion is that they shouldn’t go more than a league lower than the club’s current position.
If they can’t cut it there, get rid.
For any player to go out on loan, it says to me that he might learn more than he’s going to learn at the Villa. And I don’t see how that should be right.
Perhaps then, a better solution might be for the higher club’s second string to play at a higher level, say two divisions down, like the likes of Barca and Real, etc?
But that means even more elitism, which I’m not a fan of either.
I’ve just thrown the thought out there, that’s all.
Like I said, I’m not a fan.
At best it helps a club out temporarily, but benefits the loaning club even more, if we’re talking real top level.
But otherwise, it’s a totally pointless exercise, in my opinion.
