Jack Grealish

[NickNack]

I think the bigger issue for us as a team is a total lack of pace out wide (left and right) rather than a famous and easily recognised footballer being papped any time he goes out.

[Evertonian418]

Reminds me a bit like when Walter Smith signed Gazza.

[Goaljira]

As a side note, who thought it was a good idea to have the end of season awards event before the end of the season?

[AjaxAndy]

Reminds me a bit like when Walter Smith signed Gazza.

I understand what you're saying, and I absolutely despised that signing... but as much as I think we're signing Grealish (on loan hopefully) without much hope he'll play more than 50% of games, he's still got a lot more left in the tank than Gazza had.

[Bob Sacamano]

Didn’t realise we were signing Ben Sanderson

[Bob Sacamano]

As a side note, who thought it was a good idea to have the end of season awards event before the end of the season?

Spurs are laughing their arses off. Easiest game of the season for them.

[sam of the south]

'Excessive alcohol consumption can contribute to stress fractures in athletes. It acts as an indirect catalyst by negatively impacting bone density, slowing down the body’s natural recovery process, and disrupting the nutritional balance required for healthy bones'.

So unfortunately whether directly or indirectly alcohol does affect players bones.

He's just going to fall to bits as an athlete, maybe we'll get another 6 months out of him, either in one chunk, or split over multiple injuries across the season, but I think that's as much as he's capable of given the last few years appearance rates, and it'll only get worse in the following years.

Caveat: you can offset all of this (and more) by resistance training and an excellent, nutrient-dense diet.

[sam of the south]

Caveat: you can offset all of this (and more) by resistance training and an excellent, nutrient-dense diet.

Genetics also play a major part, and one look at his calves and gorgeous face will tell you just how pristine his genetics are.

[AjaxAndy]

Caveat: you can offset all of this (and more) by resistance training and an excellent, nutrient-dense diet.

Yep, I don't think we can say the lifestyle caused the issue, it could purely be caused by playing regularly when he's not done so for a couple of seasons, or it could have been a blow to the foot that weakened the area.

I also don't think we can rule it out, but in the main the point is that his lifestyle will create injury and leave his body more susceptible to breaking down. That in itself is a huge concern given how long he'll have been out before kicking a ball in anger again.

He may well play another 6 months without issue before breaking down, or he might only manage 6 games.

As long as we sign a Fatawu or a similar low cost understudy it's not a deal breaker, but if we go in to the season in blind hope he can play more than 20 games I think it's a bit of a disaster in terms of squad building.

I think Moyes use of him is also a huge issue, flogging him to death playing almost every minute, and having him grinding up and down the left for 90 mins vastly increases his chances of breaking down.

If we had someone like Glasner who plays a 3-4-2-1 and Jack was one of the dual 10s you could have legs around him and manage his workload... But we know Moyes isn't going to ever do this, or just play him as the 10 in a 4-2-3-1 for some reason.

[Evertonian418]

I understand what you're saying, and I absolutely despised that signing... but as much as I think we're signing Grealish (on loan hopefully) without much hope he'll play more than 50% of games, he's still got a lot more left in the tank than Gazza had.

True and better looking than Gazza.

[brap2]

I’ve completely made my peace with it.

It is a bit Ginola, Gazza…but I’ve made my peace. He raises the team. I will allow myself a little CL quality and ball iq, as a treat.

[TheRam]

Head says nah, heart says yeah.

I could not be more bored with this football club at the moment so I don’t mind having a player like Grealish even if deep down, I know how it’s going to turn out.

[Bluebridge]

He’s nowhere near the Ginola/Gazza levels of passed it, far from it.
It’s all been sorted for a while I reckon, just going through the motions medical and media wise.

[Silas]

His lifestyle has hardly changed, if we get a couple of years out of a great player because they've got off field stuff going on I'll live with it. Give me a a Grealish or Rodriguez over a reliable but dull player, I've had my fill of that

[AjaxAndy]

His lifestyle has hardly changed, if we get a couple of years out of a great player because they've got off field stuff going on I'll live with it. Give me a a Grealish or Rodriguez over a reliable but dull player, I've had my fill of that

Weirdly I can't take to Grealish but absolutely adored James, and I know that makes absolutely no sense.