Bates Baby
Well-Known Member
Anyone else think he's due a run in the team? Big fan of his attitude & looking at our options right now I can't really see why he's been kept so far out of the picture. He didn't exactly set the heather alight earlier in the season, but he wasn't terrible either & it was clear he was still getting to grips with the Scottish game, which would be way different to what he is used to in Portugal. Also another thing worth mentioning is that neither Martin or Bates are guaranteed to be our players next season, depending on contract situations. Cardoso could easily be.
Russell Martin - For me he's been poor so far. The defending at times was terrifying against Hamilton and hasn't looked assured in any of his games. Squad option at best.
David Bates - A player with potential for sure, but he isn't good enough to be undroppable right now, especially if he is refusing to sign a contract extension & trying to get better offers elsewhere. Worth persevering with if he chooses to stay, but we should be feeding him to the swans right now until he signs that extension. Not worth developing effectively someone else's player at this stage in our season.
Ross McCrorie - Seems he has suffered a setback and unlikely to feature for a while.
For me that leaves Bruno Alves (just coming back from injury) & Cardoso. I would be looking to make both our first choice pairing as quickly possible. Some might argue that Bruno has been a bit of a let down from what we were expecting, but it's clear at this stage that he still offers us a lot more than our current options regardless.
Russell Martin - For me he's been poor so far. The defending at times was terrifying against Hamilton and hasn't looked assured in any of his games. Squad option at best.
David Bates - A player with potential for sure, but he isn't good enough to be undroppable right now, especially if he is refusing to sign a contract extension & trying to get better offers elsewhere. Worth persevering with if he chooses to stay, but we should be feeding him to the swans right now until he signs that extension. Not worth developing effectively someone else's player at this stage in our season.
Ross McCrorie - Seems he has suffered a setback and unlikely to feature for a while.
For me that leaves Bruno Alves (just coming back from injury) & Cardoso. I would be looking to make both our first choice pairing as quickly possible. Some might argue that Bruno has been a bit of a let down from what we were expecting, but it's clear at this stage that he still offers us a lot more than our current options regardless.