Drinkwater going back to Chelsea

[IWOODLOVETT]

Lots of wry smiles around Leicester - they sold this waster to Chelsea for £35m. A handful of games later and he’s a “has been”.

Add to that they sold Mahrez for £60m, Kante for £32m and Maguire for £80m. That’s well over £200m for very little outlay and look at them now.

The tragic loss of their Chairman has put them in the ManU (Munich) cult status and consequently a huge International fan-base on top of their Premiership win. Massive club now - stoked up by Linekar every Saturday night.

[Papabendi]

I am though worried about the stick that Cork is being given, both on this thread and elsewhere. We're talking about an experienced player who has played over 250 premier League games in his career, which in itself demonstrates that he's rarely been anything other than a regular since he arrived at this level with Southampton 7-8 years ago. For my money he's been in decent enough form this season overall, which is why he's kept his place ahead of Drinkwater, and I find the extent to which players like him are now being written off to be a troubling trend. We take these sorts of professionals for granted at our peril.

sorry but not for me, we absolutely need an upgrade.

[jrgbfc]

The point is Drinkwater must have been signed with a view to displacing either Cork or Westwood, but he hasnt been fit enough or showed enough form to allow it to happen.

You'd think so, but a lot of our transfer dealings haven't exactly been logical recently have they?

[beddie]

I'm pretty sure getting injured in a fight in a nightclub and being injured and so, being unable to perform your job is classed as gross misconduct, a sackable offence in any role.

It certainly is. Perhaps Dyche thought that by giving him a second chance he could get the best out of him and it showed he had some faith in him. I still think some club is going to benefit from him being in their squad. I still think a few 90 minute games would have shown what he's all about.

[Flying Without Ings]

What's Dean Marney doing these days?

[TVC15]

It certainly is. Perhaps Dyche thought that by giving him a second chance he could get the best out of him and it showed he had some faith in him. I still think some club is going to benefit from him being in their squad. I still think a few 90 minute games would have shown what he's all about.

He had them for the u23s and I went to watch one of them against Huddersfield.
What I discovered he was “all about” is that if you sit on your arse for 2 years earning tens of millions it’s pretty easy to lose the motivation to play football again.

He’s nearly 30 now - he had a great season for Leicester when they won the league but it’s probably no coincidence that in pretty much his only good season in the premier league he had Marhez and Kante next to him. I reckon Mark Yates and Mark Ford could have looked half decent in that midfield !!

[dermotdermot]

The fact that it seems to be his decision to leave indicates that Sean Dyche would have perhaps extended the loan period. So, after getting him match fit to the tune of over a million pounds, he ups and leaves for maybe Aston Villa or Watford. Pretty rum.

[ashtonlongsider]

A shambolic bit of business in my view. The lad's never been given a chance, like so many others. He'll end up going to one of our relegation rivals and having a good second half to the season.

[beddie]

Fair enough TVC15 but wouldn't Dyche have had in depth reports about him prior to taking him on loan?

[Zlatan]

The fact that it seems to be his decision to leave indicates that Sean Dyche would have perhaps extended the loan period. So, after getting him match fit to the tune of over a million pounds, he ups and leaves for maybe Aston Villa or Watford. Pretty rum.

If he does, I’m sure Ben Mee will knobble him asap

[jrgbfc]

The fact that it seems to be his decision to leave indicates that Sean Dyche would have perhaps extended the loan period. So, after getting him match fit to the tune of over a million pounds, he ups and leaves for maybe Aston Villa or Watford. Pretty rum.

Maybe he realised the centre midfield at Burnley is a closed shop and he was wasting his time being here?

[claretcarrot93]

A shame, but not a disaster.

It is a move that clearly hasn't worked out as it might have - he appeared a decent signing on paper but his self-inflicted injury set him back months and he's not been able to displace Cork or Westwood since. I don't think too much blame can be apportioned to Dyche or anyone else for that.

The priority now is to replace him in the squad Clearly you'd now expect us to be heavily in the market for a central midfielder as well a right back this window. Three options is simply not enough, and as a minimum we need cover, potentially in the shape of a younger player who can develop into a replacement for Cork or Westwood in due course.

I am though worried about the stick that Cork is being given, both on this thread and elsewhere. We're talking about an experienced player who has played over 250 premier League games in his career, which in itself demonstrates that he's rarely been anything other than a regular since he arrived at this level with Southampton 7-8 years ago. For my money he's been in decent enough form this season overall, which is why he's kept his place ahead of Drinkwater, and I find the extent to which players like him are now being written off to be a troubling trend. We take these sorts of professionals for granted at our peril.

"The priority now is to replace him in the squad Clearly you'd now expect us to be heavily in the market for a central midfielder as well a right back this window. Three options is simply not enough, and as a minimum we need cover, potentially in the shape of a younger player who can develop into a replacement for Cork or Westwood in due course."

This your first rodeo? Its the hope that kills you

[SGr]

A transfer that was on the face of it a good one, and for circumstances mostly beyond our control hasn’t worked out.

Oh well, I’m sure we’ll have a great replacement lined up and will be getting right on it*



*

[tarkys_ears]

"players choice"

Is that before or after our offer to keep him?

...did we offer to keep him?

[aggi]

What's Dean Marney doing these days?

I think Jones is still training with us. Cometh the hour, cometh the man.

[Granny WeatherWax]

I think Jones is still training with us. Cometh the hour, cometh the man.

Without googling to check im pretty sure he signed for Oldham.

[TVC15]

Fair enough TVC15 but wouldn't Dyche have had in depth reports about him prior to taking him on loan?

Yep you would think so.
And I was not complaining about the signing either - I was happy about it at the time.
It’s only now looking back on it and thinking about it logically that I’ve thought that was he ever all that ? His career does not suggest he has consistently been anywhere near the level he achieved in that season.
And the other main factor is I don’t think there are many examples of players who are out of action for a couple of years not playing competitive first team football and then suddenly regain their previous form when signing for someone else...and it’s never really a matter of giving them game time - they just seem to lose the edge and end up often dropping levels quickly. Jack Rodwell and Scott Sinclair are both similar examples to Drinkwater - both had great seasons and then go to a big club for big money on long contracts and can’t get in the team.
They end up going from being the star man at their old clubs and playing every week - getting picked for England etc to not even getting a game or a place on the bench. They stay there because of the money and when they do eventually leave they are just not the same player - or anywhere near.

[MrMeeseeks]

We were put in this situation by our failure to secure the centre mid we desperately needed earlier in the summer.

Seemingly ended up taking Drinkwater on as last resort when time was running out.

As has been mentioned, there were fairly well known questions about his character and he showed just how committed he was by the fact he was out on the **** in Manchester at all not long after signing.

But this is failure of our transfer activity from early in the summer and once again we’re dangerously short in centre mid.

[wilks_bfc]

Yep you would think so.
And I was not complaining about the signing either - I was happy about it at the time.
It’s only now looking back on it and thinking about it logically that I’ve thought that was he ever all that ? His career does not suggest he has consistently been anywhere near the level he achieved in that season.
And the other main factor is I don’t think there are many examples of players who are out of action for a couple of years not playing competitive first team football and then suddenly regain their previous form when signing for someone else...and it’s never really a matter of giving them game time - they just seem to lose the edge and end up often dropping levels quickly. Jack Rodwell and Scott Sinclair are both similar examples to Drinkwater - both had great seasons and then go to a big club for big money on long contracts and can’t get in the team.
They end up going from being the star man at their old clubs and playing every week - getting picked for England etc to not even getting a game or a place on the bench. They stay there because of the money and when they do eventually leave they are just not the same player - or anywhere near.

We'll see how well Rodwell does, he's just signed for Sheff Utd
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/50981210

[Granny WeatherWax]

We were put in this situation by our failure to secure the centre mid we desperately needed earlier in the summer.

Seemingly ended up taking Drinkwater on as last resort when time was running out.

As has been mentioned, there were fairly well known questions about his character and he showed just how committed he was by the fact he was out on the **** in Manchester at all not long after signing.

But this is failure of our transfer activity from early in the summer and once again we’re dangerously short in centre mid.

There’s been a failure in our transfer activity for a number of years now. 2017 was the last time we signed someone who has gone on to be a regular in the first 11.

[TVC15]

We'll see how well Rodwell does, he's just signed for Sheff Utd
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/50981210

Yep saw that...and Wilder might well get something out of him...but he cost Man City £25m a number of years ago. Probably equivalent of £50m in this market. Recently he stooped as low as playing for Blackburn !
Another one season wonder who has generally been pretty crap for the subsequent 7 or 8 years.

[superdimitri]

He clearly wasn't interested since day one. You could see that straight away on clarets player in his signing video. I remember mentioning it at the time and many said it's normal and some footballers never come across well but something really stood out for me..

I expect he carries the opinion he's better than everyone due to his wage and medal but that was then and this is now. I'm not even sure Dyche had the chance to properly meet him because I'm sure he would have noticed straight away.

We all wanted it to work out but I don't think it's bad management from Dyche not playing him. You can't play the bad egg over your loyal choices if you can tell he's got no interest in staying here.

[Tall Paul]

We'll see how well Rodwell does, he's just signed for Sheff Utd
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/50981210

I expect he'll do as well as Ravel Morrison who they signed in the summer.

[aggi]

Without googling to check im pretty sure he signed for Oldham.

Dammit, you're right. Another sign of our lack of ambition.

[Goobs]

A shambolic bit of business in my view. The lad's never been given a chance, like so many others. He'll end up going to one of our relegation rivals and having a good second half to the season.

Or like so many others he'll end up at a level below us or doing next to nothing in this league for the rest of the season.

[Belgianclaret]

Return to sender.

Clearly has a mentality problem, strange we couldn't have known in advance, unless SD thought he could handle and motivate him. Unfortunately not.

People moaning about Defour may now realize what we are missing. I'm not saying we should have kept Defour (who realized his injury would no longer enable him to reach the levels and fitness required for the PL), we should have looked for an adequate replacement for which we clearly have the resources

[NewClaret]

Would imagine his loan deal was structured that our contribution to his salary increased if he played, with SD not seeing enough in training to warrant the extra cost. That or he had attitude problems. Who knows, since nobody on here saw him in training?

Disappointed it didn’t work out but the writing was on the wall after his drinking incident. Glad we will now be forced to sign a player (hopefully permenant) that might improve our midfield.

[SkiptonClaret]

Charlie Adam has hit form. Two goals in the last two games for Reading.
Alot of the lads know him, good character, right age. Now’s the time Sean, work your magic.
#shapeshape

[ksrclaret]

Charlie Adam has hit form. Two goals in the last two games for Reading.
Alot of the lads know him, good character, right age. Now’s the time Sean, work your magic.
#shapeshape

Something to do with an omelette

[claretonthecoast1882]

Charlie Adam has hit form. Two goals in the last two games for Reading.
Alot of the lads know him, good character, right age. Now’s the time Sean, work your magic.
#shapeshape

When something isn't funny for the first 50 times don't you get the message by attempt 250

[SkiptonClaret]

When something isn't funny for the first 50 times don't you get the message by attempt 250

Omelette ?

[SkiptonClaret]

Seriously though, it wasn’t difficult to work out the direction in which Drinkwater’s career was heading. Bit like Lennon, etc. When are we going to stop wasting money on these types and invest in some youth ?

[Cleveleys_claret]

With us having Cork and Westwood and Hendrick who can play in midfield surely we can let another one of them go.

[kentonclaret]

If Drinkwater had a "bad attitude" as some on here appear to be claiming then an even bigger surprise that he wasn't sent packing straight back to Chelsea following the nightclub fracas. It appears that Dyche never intended to play him, however poor our midfield was performing, so it was just more time and money wasted.

[NewClaret]

With us having Cork and Westwood and Hendrick who can play in midfield surely we can let another one of them go.

[Sarum]

I am though worried about the stick that Cork is being given,...We're talking about an experienced player who has played over 250 premier League games in his career, which in itself demonstrates that he's rarely been anything other than a regular since he arrived at this level with Southampton 7-8 years ago....

Jack's experience is invaluable, but in our set-up he seems to get overrun at times (that's hardly his fault). He would probably benefit from being paired with a more creatively minded partner.

There is, however, a history of Jack losing his place as a first choice midfielder at both Southampton and at his next club Swansea City. This led to him deciding that a move elsewhere would improve his chances of playing regular first team football again. (As expressed by Jack/his clubs at the time of both transfers).

Prior to losing his place in the relegation-threatened Swansea side Jack had spoken to the press about how confidence plays a huge role within a squad. Hopefully his/ours will return as quickly as it did after we'd beaten West Ham at home last season.

[NewClaret]

If Drinkwater had a "bad attitude" as some on here appear to be claiming then an even bigger surprise that he wasn't sent packing straight back to Chelsea following the nightclub fracas. It appears that Dyche never intended to play him, however poor our midfield was performing, so it was just more time and money wasted.

Did his loan agreement allow us send him back? Pretty grey area legally, I’d imagine - in his own time, probably had the following day off and no firm evidence he did anything wrong (sure he claims he was set upon whilst innocently enjoying a night out).

I’d imagine we’d have had to pay up his loan agreement to get rid, in which case we may as well have kept what we were paying for.

[boatshed bill]

Did his loan agreement allow us send him back? Pretty grey area legally, I’d imagine - in his own time, probably had the following day off and no firm evidence he did anything wrong (sure he claims he was set upon whilst innocently enjoying a night out).

I’d imagine we’d have had to pay up his loan agreement to get rid, in which case we may as well have kept what we were paying for.

Very likely, this.

[CombatClaret]

Seriously though, it wasn’t difficult to work out the direction in which Drinkwater’s career was heading. Bit like Lennon, etc.

Bit like Joey Barton?

[SkiptonClaret]

Bit like Joey Barton?

That was sometime ago. Latterly we’ve barely moved the team on at all, arguably not since 2017.
Summer was another poor window in a succession of them. Who did we get last January ?
Crouch ? By his own admission merely “a head on a stick” for our most rudimentary of tactics.

[bfcmik]

Did his loan agreement allow us send him back? Pretty grey area legally, I’d imagine - in his own time, probably had the following day off and no firm evidence he did anything wrong (sure he claims he was set upon whilst innocently enjoying a night out).

I’d imagine we’d have had to pay up his loan agreement to get rid, in which case we may as well have kept what we were paying for.

The deal was only until Jan 6th. We had, allegedly, an option to extend until the end of the season. Although that was probably tied to a permanent deal once his Chelsea contract ended

[NL Claret]

All these bad loan signings under Dyche or is it that the first team have kept them their place based on performance? 4 seasons in the PL isn't to be sniffed at.

Struggling to think of loan players that have made much difference over the years. David Reeves , Gerry Creaney Djemba Djemba.

Expectations / realism have gone out of the window on here. As CT says , there is a bad smell on here at the moment.

[Nonayforever]

Maybe Dyche stating that we probably won't be buying anyone this window is down to the fact that he may have thought Drinkwater was staying with us until the end of the season and therefore told Rigg not to bother looking for a new signing.

[NewClaret]

The deal was only until Jan 6th. We had, allegedly, an option to extend until the end of the season. Although that was probably tied to a permanent deal once his Chelsea contract ended

I think Dyche wanted the lad from Leeds and was hopeful that a £20m + add-ons bid would be enough to secure him. When it wasn’t, or he didn’t want to come, he took Drinkwater as backup until January. I suspect we paid a set loan fee, with additional payments based on appearances, limiting our risk but making it worthwhile for Chelsea.

I would imagine Dyche was open-minded about his playing time when he joined, but expected him to come in, work hard and earn his place in the team. Or, put another way, make it worthwhile paying the appearance fees to Chelsea. I have no problem with that; I would not want our own, committed players being displaced by a loanee unless they were working hard to earn a place in the team.

After the nightclub incident he was injured anyway, but pretty sure Dyche will have decided immediately that he had no future at the club. There was no point sending him back because the loan fee would be committed and so it was sensible to retain him as cover for injuries/suspensions until the new window opened and we could replace.

So we decide not to extend the loan but agree with him that we position as his decision. He isn’t publicly embarrassed by not having his loan extended and other clubs/players aren’t deterred from doing loan business with us in future.

All decisions seem very logical to me? Apart from maybe not securing our key permanent targets in the first place.

[Rileybobs]

I think Dyche wanted the lad from Leeds and was hopeful that a £20m + add-ons bid would be enough to secure him. When it wasn’t, or he didn’t want to come, he took Drinkwater as backup until January. I suspect we paid a set loan fee, with additional payments based on appearances, limiting our risk but making it worthwhile for Chelsea.

I would imagine Dyche was open-minded about his playing time when he joined, but expected him to come in, work hard and earn his place in the team. Or, put another way, make it worthwhile paying the appearance fees to Chelsea. I have no problem with that; I would not want our own, committed players being displaced by a loanee unless they were working hard to earn a place in the team.

After the nightclub incident he was injured anyway, but pretty sure Dyche will have decided immediately that he had no future at the club. There was no point sending him back because the loan fee would be committed and so it was sensible to retain him as cover for injuries/suspensions until the new window opened and we could replace.

So we decide not to extend the loan but agree with him that we position as his decision. He isn’t publicly embarrassed by not having his loan extended and other clubs/players aren’t deterred from doing loan business with us in future.

All decisions seem very logical to me? Apart from maybe not securing our key permanent targets in the first place.

Yes, but to post what you have actually takes a level of intelligence and thought process. Unfortunately you’re hard-pressed to find those attributes on here.

[ksrclaret]

Yes, but to post what you have actually takes a level of intelligence and thought process. Unfortunately you’re hard-pressed to find those attributes on here.

Ah, so posters you don't agree with lack intelligence and thought process. Interesting.

[NewClaret]

Yes, but to post what you have actually takes a level of intelligence and thought process. Unfortunately you’re hard-pressed to find those attributes on here.

That’s why I’ve joined the board. Thought I’d mix it up a bit

[boatshed bill]

Yes, but to post what you have actually takes a level of intelligence and thought process. Unfortunately you’re hard-pressed to find those attributes on here.

Yes, you'd have to possess a very high IQ to realise that Danny Drinkwater has been a waste of space.

[Rileybobs]

Ah, so posters you don't agree with lack intelligence and thought process. Interesting.

Not at all. Just read back through the thread and you will see countless posts exhibiting a lack of thought and/or intelligence.

[Rileybobs]

Yes, you'd have to possess a very high IQ to realise that Danny Drinkwater has been a waste of space.

You’re making my point for me. I don’t think anybody has claimed that Drinkwater hasn’t been a waste of space. How could anybody claim otherwise? Those criticising the signing using hindsight, those criticising his lack of game time and those making comments like ‘why didn’t we just send him back’ without any regard for the nature of a contract are showing a lack of thought or intelligence. It’s not my fault they’ve done this, I’m just pointing it out.