blueToffee wrote: ↑Mon Feb 02, 2026 4:58 pm
Largely agree with the above, but just to say I don't think you have to go overboard on the cup cameo, but I do think it challenges the narrative that he's unsuited to the league and arguments along those lines. It doesn't really gel with what we were seeing that game, ok it was a small sample, late in the game etc but I think most would say he did well. So how do you follow that up? Doesn't mean he starts, maybe he plays higher up aka "the Coleman" to get used to the league, or maybe he goes on loan...the point being though we can at times (not always) be a bit conservative with bringing players through but we do have to strike a balance to give them some chances to prove in game what they can and can't do. Aznou should've really had another cameo in one of the games McNeil was playing just to try and keep the development going.
Clubs like us have to be good at bringing through talent to ever really kick on.
Just to add, I didn't see the cup game, I'm only going in what's been said on here where there's been a sudden clamour for him to play. Maybe it's just experience but we've seen this umpteen times before where a youngster puts in a brief, reasonable perfomance and suddenly he's seen as the answer to all our problems. Most of them are hovering around the lower leagues now.
If we spent 10 million I'd like to think we'd have had a bit of a look. He's had plenty of bench time, I'm suprised he hasnt been chucked on for a bit more time when chasing games to be honest.
He probably needs a loan, but he feels more like an academy player in terms of where he is viewed and that suprises me. For the money paid, I thought he would be closer to Tim or Alcaraz in terms of looking for time on the pitch to give the manager options.
Maybe if he'd had a few more minutes, we could have secured a domestic loan move for him. Much rather he had a run at a Championship team, as a defender, to get used to the pace and physicality week in week out.
I know it was just one game, etc but outside of Grealish (and aside from George as he was played) we've had one player this season off the left wing that's looked dynamic/direct and had any sort of wild card threat and that was Aznou's cameo. Really not trying to go overboard with one 30 minute performance, but it's so odd to me that we shoehorn in CMs into the wide role that doesn't suit them, and they don't offer creativity or width rather than give these players 20 mins or whatever. Particularly when we see them doing well last time out. Similar with Rohl, played arguably really well and probably his best game against Villa then disappears. I get they need to show it in training consistently but where is the carrot to go with the stick here?
So frustrating to watch at times, more so as we seem to give certain players endless chances to play and often mess up and others not so much.
