*Done Deal - Left Back Ben Purrington on loan from Rotherham*

hoof_it_up_to_benty said:

cafcfan1990 said:

hoof_it_up_to_benty said:

killerandflash said:

PaddyP17 said:

hoof_it_up_to_benty said:

killerandflash said:

Lincsaddick said:

Purrington is a terrific defender and does his little bit going forward .. I hope we sign him permanently .. Page is decent, but it'd be Purrington for me every time  (and Purry has the priceless asset of staying fit and healthy)

I'd be happy to sign him if we are still in L1

Not so sure if we go up though, someone not considered good enough for Rotherham is a bit concerning

Rather go by whether he's performed for us.

Indeed. Simon Francis (for Bournemouth from us) and Yann (for us, from Leicester) come to mind.

Anyway, anyone who's casting aspersions on Purrington seems to be wilfully ignoring that we haven't conceded more than one goal in a game in which he's played; we've now won four on the bounce; and our defence has a much better shape.

Is he the next Roberto Carlos? Obviously not. But we're in League One and he's helping the team do what can only be described as the business right now.

I did say I'd be happy to sign him if we are in L1 next season, just not convinced he can step up both from the Rotherham experience and what I've seen

Francis had a decent career before joining us, he even had England youth caps. 

Our fans completely wrote Francis off so I wouldn't say they were the best judge of players.

I'm not really sure why there is such a focus on Purrington. We've had left backs in the past who were supposedly far better players yet we were shipping a lot more goals.

He may not be the best left back around but I think he's a lot better than a lot of our fans give him credit for.

So you have never got any judging of a player wrong? Not all fans can be like Steve Gallen ffs! We have had hundreds of players under Roland alone, you can’t get them all right and that statement is idiotic. Francis was written off because he was pony for us, end of. 

I didn't think Francis was anywhere near as bad as some of our fans made out. The relentless heckling of him by some of our 'fans' destroyed his confidence - hopefully it makes these sad inadequates happy.

MuttleyCAFC said:

He was scapegoated a bit because the team was struggling. He cost us a few goals by trying to make something happen and to be fair failing and losing possession cheaply. I thought he had all the attributes and would have looked better with better players around him. 

I do recall explaining why I preferred him over Solly, which was around his athleticism and height and may have started the Charlton Life height test inadvertantly. Having said that, Solly a few years ago was one hell of a player and for me the best defender in the Championship. Francis has been doing a decent job in the Premiership though.