Same stuff, different day.
Yes, I had to clean the quote up a bit, but you get my point.
It might be a weird thing to think about during the Brentford game, but for large parts of the second half, I found myself thinking, ‘where is Ian Poveda during all this?’ Now I knew that he wasn’t in the team, I was thinking more big picture than just what was going on at Griffin Park.
Since moving to the club towards the end of January, the young winger has failed to make a single appearance for the first-team, being on the bench for the first two games, and then out of the matchday 18 altogether for the next two.
Now I find myself questioning the move, for one of two reasons.
Either he’s not fit, in which case why did they bring him into the team when they knew he wouldn’t be available for the first few games? Which is also something you can put on their shoulders for the whole Jean-Kevin Augustin affair.
Or, he’s not ready for the first-team, which means that the club spent time and money chasing someone that isn’t going to help our promotion charge this season, and is instead a signing for the future. And if that’s the situation, then what was the point in bringing him in in the first place when, as I’ve hinted at before, so much of the club’s future is dependent on us getting promoted.
When I said this moved smacked of yet another Eddie Nketiah, I was referring more to his lack of minutes before he came to the club. Now I find myself wondering if there’s going to be a lack of minutes whilst he is actually at Elland Road, the same way that Nketiah did.
Will Poveda influence our promotion challenge?
Yes
No
Either way, there is something that just doesn’t sit right with me about how this move has been handled and looks set to be handled moving forward. If he doesn’t at least get a run out in the next couple of games, then you may as well put this whole thing down as a bust.