Jake O'Brien

[Audrey Horne]

I think if we had competent secure CBs then yeah he needs to earn his place. But right now our defence is a disgrace so..... put him the fuck in

[Shogun]

I assume he went to Lyon for £1m because Textor has his grubby hands in both clubs...

[Paddockoldie]

Get the lad on in a 3 with Tark and Branthwaite... 2 WB's... I'd go with Garner on the right. No other option that Myko on the left. He's not improving on the bench

[bigmanbob]

He'd improve us by just replacing Keane with him

[Cods]

Keen to hear what attributes he has that place him ahead of say Reece Welsh, another young 6'6" imposing centre back, beyond transfer fee alone.

A good season in France, ok, but I'm wanting to hear something solid that might add to my hopeful yet confident excitement from the day that we signed him.

Almost everyone, including me, seemed to be thinking Jarrod MkII, "right, that's CB sorted then".

Have we any right to hope for this, or even place this huge pressure of expectation on him? After last weekend I can bet he's feeling it.

[Raptor]

As this progresses without him getting a starting place over Keane then the more and more you have to question the transfer. He might be a good option for the squad, and maybe that was only ever the intention, which ordinarily would be fine. However, given our current issues at right back and left back you would really need to question Thelwell as to why we prioritised a squad player over a huge gaping hole at right back.
I was never that confident in this transfer, hes not the fastest, not great with his feet and was sold for only a million the year before from a team that have a pretty decent record at bringing players through. I think they hoped we would shift Holgate and Keane and that O'Brien would be an adequate backup, but with Keane still here I think hes further down the pecking order, which makes in a pretty poor signing imo

[brap2]

Keen to hear what attributes he has that place him ahead of say Reece Welsh, another young 6'6" imposing centre back, beyond transfer fee alone.

A good season in France, ok, but I'm wanting to hear something solid that might add to my hopeful yet confident excitement from the day that we signed him.

Almost everyone, including me, seemed to be thinking Jarrod MkII, "right, that's CB sorted then".

Have we any right to hope for this, or even place this huge pressure of expectation on him? After last weekend I can bet he's feeling it.

Well he's played first team football so no he's streaks ahead of Reece Welch already.

[Audrey Horne]

Honestly baffled that you're asking how he is ahead of Welch!!!!!

He was fantastic for Lyon. And had been said to be the catalyst for their change in fortunes last year. He was very loved by fans. He scored in the cup final against PSG, he was very well thought of.

Signed to be back up CB but very quickly was one of their most important first 11.

You cant just ignore that because it's the French league!!

[Bornblue88]

He’s the long term successor to Tarkowski and I think we’ll get to see a Branthwaite O’Brien partnership at some point this season which I’m very much looking forward to. I think Branthwaite will probably come back before Jake gets a chance though

[Toddacelli]

2022/3 - Molenbeek - 30 apps - 3 goals
2023/4 - Lyon - 27 apps - 4 goals
2024/5 - Everton

It’s there. Nearly 60 first team appearances, pops up with a handful of goals each season, still only 23 yrs old.

No reason he shouldn’t get a chance after 2 seasons of doing well at men’s football.

[Escalator]

No wonder Textor is a big fan of multi club ownership, in just two years he takes O’Brian from Palace , part owner,for 150k
Through RWDM Molenbeek, owner, to Lyon, Owner for 1m then to Everton, wannabe owner, for 15m

24/25
Jul 30, 2024
Olympique Lyon

Olympique Lyon
Everton

Everton
€12.00m
€19.50m
23/24
Aug 15, 2023
Palace U21

Palace U21
Olympique Lyon

Olympique Lyon
€700k
€1.00m
22/23
Jun 30, 2023
RWDM

RWDM
Palace U21

Palace U21
€700k
End of loan
22/23
Aug 26, 2022
Palace U21

Palace U21
RWDM

RWDM
€150k
loan transfer

[Cozzie]

That Ernest Nuamah we targeted also was at Molenbeek before moving on to Lyon.

I expect we will see a lot of this sort of thing if he gets the keys here.

[Juanito]

That Ernest Nuamah we targeted also was at Molenbeek before moving on to Lyon.

I expect we will see a lot of this sort of thing if he gets the keys here.

Julian Laurens was talking about him saying Textor tried to force him to move to Fulham and Everton, so he went missing. He wanted to stay at Lyon and develop his game in France before a move to track Coleman’s runners.

[Cozzie]

Julian Laurens was talking about him saying Textor tried to force him to move to Fulham and Everton, so he went missing. He wanted to stay at Lyon and develop his game in France before a move to track Coleman’s runners.

Seems like an awful fit for us doesn't he. Just seems well over the top.

[UnsyisaRhino]

A bit premature to be having this discussion, how dodgy was Branthwaite before his loan spell? Let’s judge his capabilities when we’ve properly seen him in the flesh, in the first team.

I agree, but in the same way we can't judge him, it doesn't make sense to push for him to start as if he's going to magically fix stuff.

All we can do really is trust he'll be given a chance and that he takes it.