We’re closing in on ten days since we got to watch our team play, thanks to whims of the football authorities. The FA does seem to breed incompetence and arrogance faster than an asexual, single-cell organism.

The only noteworthy thing that happened was the closing of the transfer window. The arrival of Libor Kozak was a bit curious as a big target man doesn’t seem to be a priority, let alone one who represents the club’s biggest expenditure of the summer. I suspect he was eyed as a Benteke replacement, and when the club were able to buy him at what they felt was a bargain price they pounced.

The whole episode reminded me of when I purchased my iPad. I worked in the electronics department of a major US retailer at the time. I had a laptop PC which I hated and longed for an iPad. I schemed in my head how I would pay for a new iPad. Then, one day somebody returned a 64GB WiFi iPad in black and we had it marked down 33%! It was cheaper than a new, unopened 16GB! I swallowed hard and spent every dime I had on that thing because it was too good of a deal to pass up. I ended up shipping my laptop to one of those scam websites that advertises cash for used electronics and got peanuts for it, not unlike most of the players who left Villa Park this summer.

Most of the bomb squad did end up leaving. I wish Barry Bannan nothing but the best and think he can help Palace. If there was ever a player meant to play Ian Holloway football, it’s Bannan.

The perception of Bannan will always be that he was yet another academy graduate who disappointed at the first team level. In the sense that he never became a cornerstone of the team like many hoped he perhaps was.

The Academy doesn’t have to churn out a Gary Cahill or Gabby every year to be successful. Barry Bannan made 61 appearances for the club. Those appearances were uneven for sure, but the only cost to the club were his wages. If Bannan wasn’t there to make those 61 appearances the club likely would’ve had to buy somebody to make them. That player would also likely would’ve been on much higher wages. That the Academy produced Bannan, who for a while filled a role with the first team, saved the club several million pounds.

The only Bomb Squad members left are Shay Given and Alan Hutton. It will never happen, but I wouldn’t be entirely opposed to either being integrated back into the first team setup. Neither seems to have had an attitude problem or been a distraction, and both have said all the right things publicly.

When I saw a headline today “Hutton Ready for Belgium” I literally thought we were going to loan him to the Belgian league. Right back is one spot the club don’t have cover for other than utility types like Bacuna and Herd. Hutton played well with Mallorca and with Scotland. If we’re going to pay him £30k a week we might as well see if that form can carry over for us if anything ever did happen to Lowton? Then again, he would probably get red carded within five minutes on the pitch.

The same goes for Given. There isn’t a club out there that will pay his wages and let him be their number one. As good as Steer has looked, he barely has any first-team experience. If Shay were reintegrated, Steer could go out on loan and get more regular game time.

The manager strikes me as a man who once he makes up his mind that’s it. I don’t see a way back for either, but it is interesting to think about. Sadly these days that’s all we have until the 14th.

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