Martinez not prepared to risk Pienaar

The guy is past his best, great little player in his younger days but heÂ’s finished now, he has had two injury-ravaged seasons and hasnÂ’t scored a goal since December 2013.

How will next season, which is a mere 3 months away, be any different whatsoever to the last 2 years???

Martinez is basically saying he doesnÂ’t trust any of them to start, unless one of the regulars (who have been shite for most of the season) get injured.

No wonder Garbutt hasnÂ’t signed a contract.

Thanks for the memories, Stephen, but we need to move on.

Rumours of Bolasie, continual scouting of Rafa Silva, and continuous links to Januzai to me means he has identified the need to buy a left-sided attacker.

I have no problem at all with a fit Pienaar being back up to one of these next year.

Phenomenal.

Brian, 6, a 21-year-old defender isnÂ’t the answer to any of our problems. DonÂ’t turn this thread into another dull "If only that mercenary would... etc" thread. He doesnÂ’t want to commit, so fuck him.

The one thing I disagree with RM about the experimentation is in this respect. If each place in the EPL is about ٟ.5 million and we can realistically only move up two places, and maybe down two, and a proven centre-back and striker is going to cost us ٤-12 million each, or more, then why not give some of the younger guys a chance by subbing them in the remaining games? Not so much for Garbutt as he is already a known commodity regarding his strengths and weaknesses. If they show something then perhaps even if we lose out on ١ to 6 million in place money, we make up for it by saving on transfer fees and the risk that RM brings in another dud.

Just a thought but it might work out and besides, given the Villa performance, can it be worse? Does mean though that Kone and McGeady and Alcaraz will have to be left off of the substitutes bench.

Regarding Pienaar I loved watching him in his heyday but heÂ’s been finished for a while and we shouldnÂ’t have spent the money we did bringing him back from Spurs.

No need to get rid of him because he is 33. HeÂ’s a good athlete, and as long as he can stay fit, heÂ’s a good asset to the squad. Barkley for one could learn a lot from the likes of Osman and Pienaar.

As for our fans, fuck me. IÂ’m not joking, reading some of the posts on here regarding some of the players makes me question the intelligence of posters. Maybe thatÂ’s summed up by the "I donÂ’t watch any other football" brigade. But, seriously, some of you are fucking clueless.

YouÂ’ve all seen the difference Pienaar (and Osman) make to the team and yet you still persist with... well, IÂ’m sure youÂ’re aware of the bollocks (sorry, insights) you sprout so I wonÂ’t remind you.

The problem starts when these playmakers retire and you replace them with straight-line runners like Lennon, Bolasie stay etc you end up with zero creativity. The midfield two will never give the wingers the pass they want to free them into space. Instead, they get it on the halfway line back to goal. Add in a Number 10 like Barkley or Naismith who donÂ’t create anything either and you have the current team, one of the most boring in the league.

With Pienaar and probably Osman going soon, and Gibson never fit, Martinez needs to find his new Arteta to play in the middle. When you have that natural footballer in the centre, they can make any run-of-the-mill winger look good. The current midfield isnÂ’t good for anything though.

I agree about Pienaar and Osman. I would keep them on the squad literally until their legs fall even if they canÂ’t play full games or back to back games. The impact of each is significant. I watched when Osman (who is not even close to Pienaar in foot skills) came in versus Villa and he was surrounded by three defenders at the top left of the box and he dribbled the ball around and away and was able to get off a pass to an open player (because his man was trying to stop Osman) who then, of course, did nothing with it. The calmness and vision of both players amaze me along with the skill.

CanÂ’t imagine how much of an asset they are at training in educating the younger players, even if those players donÂ’t get into the game day squad. I donÂ’t see Leicester complaining about 34?-year-old Cambiasso being too old and he is a master general on the field and at training and makes everyone around him better. That and he still has amazing skills.

ps: I agree with the assessment of some posters, especially those who want Baines to play a midfield role, when he is the freaking starting England left back!

Likewise in the game against Swansea, you could see a greater valance in our play on the left during PienaarÂ’s time on the pitch. ItÂ’s ability and fitness that count, not age, and both these players have the ability to change a fame for us if their skills and contribution are utilised correctly. Martinez does need to learn that they require more than ten to fifteen minutes in order to influence a game, then we might be getting somewhere.

My question is, what about next season when both are older again? It is possible but probably highly unlikely that all of a sudden, after two injury-ravaged years that Pienaar will become available more often, if he was 25/26 when the body recovers more yes, but even Darron Gibson is struggling to put more than 7 games together at a younger age than Pienaar.

You are correct, both he and Osman are intelligent players and yes we have missed what they once could do, but perhaps are no longer capable of doing.

I love Pienaar and Ossie, we donÂ’t have other players to replace the type of style they offer, but thatÂ’s where Martinez needs to come in and start showing his ability in the transfer window, much like Moyes did.

If we are in fifth place pushing for top four? Fourth or fifth from bottom trying to stay up? Mid table not going up or down in places by much?

Answers on a postcard to RM

Therefore I reluctantly agree with his point on experimenting.

LetÂ’s win the next two and see where we are.

Our pedestrian midfield need players like this to move it about instead of the tippy tappy chuckle brother "me to you, to me, to you" shite we have had to suffer for about 85% of the season.

60 minutes here and there at the start or 30/35 at the end and this will pay dividends and protect them somewhat from injuries occurring too often. Keep em both and play them when fit.

I love how we turn against players, we call others mercenaries but as soon as some think a player is past his best, itÂ’s all, "Fuck him off, heÂ’s a drain on our resources" ..... whoÂ’d be a footballer eh? (me)