Jake O'Brien

[NickNack]

The fact we fucked up by not getting a RB last season went massively against Jake as he got shoved out there. We’ll never know but he might well have got in the team instead of Keane if the club had done what they should and bought a RB. That we still haven’t a year later almost defies belief

[StirlingBlue]

Jared gets injured and we are back to Keane and tark at the back can’t see how anyone can have decided he isn’t a good center half when he has only played there about [emoji6[emoji640][emoji637]] times for us and did well when he played

I don’t think they have, but if he wants to be first choice now or leave then he’s gotta go as Moyes ain’t dropping Tarks after making him captain

[Cereal Killer]

With the new squad cost ratio rules making swap deals more appealing I wonder if Palace are interested in a swap (plus they pay us a bit) for Munoz.

They need a CB and have too many RBs.

Then we get Acheampong in from Chelsea on a loan to buy to cover the Branthwaite athletic CB role.

It’d be a shame as a like O’Brien and think he deserves a go at CB but Moyes ain’t dropping Tarks

They’ve already got rid of him once…

[Juanito]

It’s not if Branthwaite gets a substantial injury it’s when. And when that happens, hello Keane and Tarks camped on the six yard line with a massive gap between them and the midfield.

Dinosaur, just go.

[Brownie]

Watching JB on Saturday I winced every time he went down. That kid is not lasting the season

[Raptor]

Selling JOB doesn't mean we can't buy another centre back, or that Keane will automatically play.
In fact, JOB was probably behind Keane so selling him gives Moyes the chance to get a player he wants that will hopefully be better than both

[MPLS Toffee]

Yeah awful decision if we are indeed selling him.

Would be interesting to see what we'd get for him though, got to be around the £30m mark surely?

With this and the Keane rumour it suggests we must be in for an RB who can play CB when need... Ben White maybe? Or possibly we've made some progress on the Chelsea player.

Why do we still believe we can get Ben White. he literally just started for arsenal. He would never come here.

[Bumble]

The Chelsea kid is playing tonight too, so that looks unlikely.

[brap2]

Had we got a rb last year Jake would have just sat on his arse instead.

No idea if he’s any good. Looks good to me tbh but I couldn’t say for sure. Doesn’t seem to start for ROI so I mean…?

Goodbye and good luck, shame. We’ll have to go and spend another £20m+ on someone to sit behind Michael Keane for two more years I suppose.

[AjaxAndy]

Why do we still believe we can get Ben White. he literally just started for arsenal. He would never come here.

Yeah probably unlikely but we were linked.

[Toddacelli]

Yep 25, hasn't nailed down a starting role at CB, 2 years left on his contract, and the possible doubling of what we paid if we could get £35m for example for him.

It's not what we wanted to see, as we hoped he'd had his Lescott year and would now go on to be just as good as he was... but if he's not actually deemed good enough, and we can shift for good money, replace and also buy an RB with the funds, well it's not as outrageous as some are suggesting.

It's a bit disappointing as we all had high hopes for him, but I bet there's plenty of CBs we could buy for less than we'd get for him who are equally good if not better.

Sometimes you just have to sell a player at the right time, and this may well be it.

But he’s not come the usual route has he? Irish league, then Swindon, then Belgium, then France, then the Premier League. Fair play to the lad, that takes some time over seasons and impressing enough each time to get a move upwards. It’s not like he’s been surplus to requirements in Chelsea’s youth setup for ages - he’s been out there learning and playing first team men’s football.

[Raptor]

But he’s not come the usual route has he? Irish league, then Swindon, then Belgium, then France, then the Premier League. Fair play to the lad, that takes some time over seasons and impressing enough each time to get a move upwards. It’s not like he’s been surplus to requirements in Chelsea’s youth setup for ages - he’s been out there learning and playing first team men’s football.

All the moves you alluded to were loans from Palace to really minor leagues, until they finally sold him for 1 million pounds.

That doesn't really read that he impressed enough to get move upwards, it was more Palace sending him to whoever would take him, he clearly didn't do enough at any point to convince palace then got sold to Lyon for a minimal fee.

Fair play to him for grafting away and getting the move, but maybe their is a ceiling for him, and it's been found

[StirlingBlue]

It's a tough one because two managers known for making good CBs have pretty much refused to play him at CB so I'm inclined to trust their judgement.

The issue is that me (and many others) are so ready to be annoyed at Moyes so we're jumping on an opportunity to criticise him as we don't trust him, if we had a manager and transfer team that we trusted then moving him on for a profit and replacing him would be fine.

[Granite]

Yeah, too small a sample size to know if he’s actually any good or not.

Moyes generally knows his CBs, so will defer to him on this one.

Tarks was always gong to play and would under almost any manager we’d bring in, it’s not just because he’s one of Moyes’ faves.

As good as he is, Branthwaite isn’t a leader. He’ll lead by example with performances but won’t be bollocking everyone around him.

While Tarks has dropped off a bit (and has the potential to drop off a cliff in the next year or so), he’s clearly the kind of leader every manager relies upon.

During a break in play in the Palace game, he went over to Rohl and had a minute long chat with the lad. He’d been all over the shop those first 15 mins and Tarks just told him to calm down a bit and after that he settled and was great. Sure, Tarks needed a have a word with himself after that Mateta chance after 3 minutes. People will say intangibles are bollocks but you only really notice them when they’re not there.

JoB isn’t particularly vocal and certainly isn’t a leader. I just don’t see him and Branthwaite as a pairing.

It’s a shame but these things happen when you’re trying to actually build a squad. It’s something we’re not used to as fans.

I’d hate for Keane to get JoB’s minutes at CB but if one is willing to be a squad player and the other isn’t, it is what it is.

Could see JoB going somewhere like Fulham and having a solid PL career, but that’s his ceiling. Zero chance he goes on to play for a top team, imo.

[AjaxAndy]

Some great points in the 3 posts above

Add in the fact we bought him for a relatively low fee and will likely get at least £25m for him, and that we can reinvest that in an RB who will actually play, plus a probably equally competent CB and I just don't think it's a big issue, and potentially good use of an asset we don't really believe in.