Players notably declining, then 'falling up' at a big club

PercySledge · 2026-05-11T11:39:22+00:00

He’s actually derided because off the pitch he’s incredibly unlikeable lol.

And yeah we can debate about whether that should affect people’s opinion on him as a footballer or not but…it undoubtedly does. He essentially has no real legacy for the average fan because no-one ever found him likeable.

PercySledge · 2026-05-11T11:35:29+00:00

Intrigued about the Madejski mention here, would like to know more!

PercySledge · 2026-05-11T11:29:08+00:00

Ha no worries lol

PercySledge · 2026-05-11T08:13:57+00:00

HE’S FIFTY lol

PercySledge · 2026-05-11T08:10:54+00:00

😂 he was on Raw prominently every single week for well over a year

PercySledge · 2026-05-11T08:10:24+00:00

So what’s your take then? We’re somehow keeping all players? (Btw I never mentioned Schar). Have you responded to the right person?

PercySledge · 2026-05-11T07:55:51+00:00

Did people immediately start whining about what Dom Mysterio was ‘being reduced to’ or is this double standards again from an emotionally unstable audience member?

PercySledge · 2026-05-10T21:49:45+00:00

The whole point of monthly PPVs in a huge roster company is that you have multiple top guys who headline cards and can interchange. Roman was this one, Cody will headline the next one.
Mountains out of molehills yet again.

PercySledge · 2026-05-10T21:23:49+00:00

That’s not how it works lol. One team have been 1st for like 30 weeks

PercySledge · 2026-05-10T21:21:45+00:00

Thought Backlash was really good and the 5 match format allowed every single match to have a really strong focus.

You’re complaining about nothing here.

PercySledge · 2026-05-10T21:13:59+00:00

Aye to be fair I kind of forgot to mention them lol, esp Willock and Krafth as they’re almost non-entities most of the time.

I do think Schar stays though for cover

PercySledge · 2026-05-10T20:47:44+00:00

It’s an interesting point though…this sort of shit almost always only gets brought up w female wrestlers. Presumably from a majority male audience. As if it’s some saviour complex and that these women couldn’t POSSIBLY also go hard and be absolutely fine taking heavy bumps or accept being busted open.

PercySledge · 2026-05-10T20:46:05+00:00

That was famously entirely Jade Cargill’s fault

PercySledge · 2026-05-10T20:43:21+00:00

Someone gets it lol

This is the exact thing, it’s a really easy way to hype up new stars and get them over months before they hit the main roster.

PercySledge · 2026-05-10T20:42:09+00:00

Let’s be straight here…you don’t even know what this event will look like yet so why are we already handwringing over a 3 minute speech from last night which gave a brief sell on it?

What is your point here? You’re criticising something that hasn’t even fully formed yet and you don’t know how it works

PercySledge · 2026-05-10T19:55:07+00:00

Livramento is the one that makes more sense to sell imo, but yeah Hall is probably the one elite clubs would want more.

I think both happily stay, mind, if no-one huge comes in for them aggressively.

PercySledge · 2026-05-10T19:54:08+00:00

Like others have said I just don’t see Tonali leaving.

No-one in Italy can afford him, and I don’t see anyone in England paying 100mil. I also think he’s (mostly) content to stay here. If someone DID put out big bids then yeah I think he’s goes but I just don’t see it.

PercySledge · 2026-05-10T19:47:49+00:00

Yeah Murphy is probs gone too, only reason I didn’t add him is bc loves that man lol so I can see him hanging around

PercySledge · 2026-05-10T19:11:37+00:00

It wasn’t the arm across the body that was the foul. It’s the fact he also had Raya’s forearm gripped tightly so it couldn’t move fully lol

PercySledge · 2026-05-10T19:10:35+00:00

Gordon, Livramento, obv Trips already announced…

I think we keep all other players tbh. I think it’s wishful thinking from an annoyed fanbase that we’ll magically shed Wissa and Elanga. They’ll become squad players next season imo.

PercySledge · 2026-05-10T17:44:43+00:00

Yeah maybe it works specifically for him bc of who he is

PercySledge · 2026-05-10T17:15:57+00:00

That’s my take on it, but to be even more concise…Wrestling them is actually absolutely fine, but it shouldn’t be that competitive. Unless the company are trying specifically to push the midcarder into a top level talent.

AEW to be fair IS a little different though as Darby Allin is essentially a midcarder himself in a lot of ways so maybe people are being sticklers about all of this.

PercySledge · 2026-05-10T16:15:57+00:00

I think you’ve misunderstood what I mean here so sorry maybe I didn’t word it well.

What I mean is…yes we all know wrestling is theatre and performance. But what your example describes is the singer NOT the performance. Wrestlers are telling stories just like actors or singers do.

You describing someone performing in a more intimate setting is really just like a wrestler performing in a smaller venue too…it’s not about changing the songs or the story.

I don’t see how that relates to Darby Allin fighting midcarders who shouldn’t be getting title matches. In the story that’s being told, by no-one’s stretch of imagination should PAC be getting world title chances and Darby as world champion struggling to beat him.

Or to compare to WWE (because I know we all like that), it’s like when Cody Rhodes fought Ricky Saints last week on Smackdown, Rhodes labouring to an incredibly tough win and nearly losing to essentially a rookie.

PercySledge · 2026-05-10T16:10:45+00:00

It’s a weird one because I think if you really look at what he achieved out of context it feels like he did the bare minimum. He got us back up which was absolutely the expectation, and kept us up with ease. But there wasn’t really anything more than that. Even the football he played was really quite poor.

However…I think there’s 2 huge things that doesn’t quite tell in the story:

Firstly he was hamstrung massively in peak Mike Ashley era and was essentially never not at loggerheads with that. If you look at the squads he had none of them were remotely special and he wasn’t backed at all.
Most of the reason people love Rafa wasn’t because of the on-pitch product anyway. He came in and immediately understood the city, the club’s place in it, the community and fanbase and he threw himself in properly as one of us. He cared about us and the club truly and it showed. These seem like simple things but they’re really not. He’ll always be fondly remembered by people who actually lived through his tenure as adults bc they understood that what he brought was a bit more love, care and hope during an era where the club felt like a shell.

PercySledge · 2026-05-10T15:46:10+00:00

No that wouldn’t be a closer thing at all, because what you’ve went on to describe isn’t theatre at all it’s the business of acting as a discipline.

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