Leon Bailey - signed

[OCD]

Makes more sense. Ta.

[mike]

Well done Leon. Maybe we shouldn't keep writing off players before giving them a chance.

Yep - both Buendia and Bailey were written off way too quickly by some.

I don't think anyone especially wrote him off for his talent, he just seemed to be crocked the whole time and we all remember 'Concrete' Ron. Well, most of us do.

[cdbearsfan]

There's absolutely loads of people writing him off for his talent in this thread, just go back to end of April.

[Dave]

There's absolutely loads of people writing him off for his talent in this thread, just go back to end of April.

The last dozen or so match threads had so much shit thrown at Bailey you'd think he was Danny Drinkwater.

[cdbearsfan]

The pretending to be injured conspiracy theorists were fun.

[brontebilly]

There's absolutely loads of people writing him off for his talent in this thread, just go back to end of April.

The last dozen or so match threads had so much shit thrown at Bailey you'd think he was Danny Drinkwater.

He was absolutely dreadful in fairness. The night Smith got sacked he turned out one of the worst individual performances I've seen in a Villa shirt. He didn't improve all that much afterwards but it was clear he was doubting himself.

I don't think anyone was doubting his talent though. We could do with some genuine pace in the team. 

[PaulWinch again]

There's absolutely loads of people writing him off for his talent in this thread, just go back to end of April.

Yep. Who knows what will happen with him, but he’s massively talented and offers us something no one in squad does. I think Gerrard is fully aware, but he’s a real asset and if we can keep him fit will make a big difference for us.

[Ads]

At Wolves he was barely trying. Right in front of us, half heartedly making his way forwards and backwards at a crawl. You can tolerate a lot a fan, but not an absence of effort. He rightly got stick.

[Ian.]

I wonder how he managed to pass as fit last autumn, early winter. He didn’t look fit at all, he looked crocked still and his head was certainly not right. The player we saw after the injury at Everton was so far different to what we had seen it was odd.

[eamonn]

Leon's goal against ManUre was great on so many levels. The winning of the ball in a mass of bodies by Kamara, the breaking ball to Bailey, his jinking double step-over run, the beautiful arced finish into the corner of the net and the coup de grace - the look of disgust on De Gea's face when he stood-up and realised his shirt and glove from the side he dived-on were all covered in shit/dirt 

[PaulWinch again]

At Wolves he was barely trying. Right in front of us, half heartedly making his way forwards and backwards at a crawl. You can tolerate a lot a fan, but not an absence of effort. He rightly got stick.

You might well be right, but who knows what was behind the perceived lack of effort. Main thing is he’s getting the preseason he needs behind him and hopefully we’ll see the real potential he has now.

[Lastfootstamper]

I have to think that having televisually  witnessed him this preseason, there must've been more than met the eye to some of his efforts last season.

[RamboandBruno]

Worried about getting injured, so floating around the pitch, hoping to avoid getting hurt, combined with rock bottom confidence. Im guessing this was some of it.

[LeeB]

Worried about getting injured, so floating around the pitch, hoping to avoid getting hurt, combined with rock bottom confidence. Im guessing this was some of it.

And also anxiety about convincing a new manager, and a teammates with those issues in play.

I think the fact he choose to give up his additional leave to come back in and prove himself says a lot about him, will be appreciated by the manager, and on the evidence of the other night will pay dividends for all of us next season.

[Brend'Watkins]

At Wolves he was barely trying. Right in front of us, half heartedly making his way forwards and backwards at a crawl. You can tolerate a lot a fan, but not an absence of effort. He rightly got stick.

You might well be right, but who knows what was behind the perceived lack of effort. Main thing is he’s getting the preseason he needs behind him and hopefully we’ll see the real potential he has now.

The club is equally at fault. If you invest £30 million on a player you need that payer at his place of work if there’s some underlying injury/fitness issue going on. Even more so if it’s a new player. To then bust a gut to get him involved and then watch him break down with an injury from kicking a ball is pathetic from both the player and the club. We have the doctors/physios/scientists etc why wasn’t this picked up and sorted? 

It appears that Bailey has got his head down, whether it’s words from Gerrard or whoever who knows. Smith as the manager then, and or his team of backroom staff were piss poor with their handling of Bailey.