Ex Player Joel Cooper

Gavin Whyte has 19 months left on a championship contract. He will earn well over £1m sitting on this contract, so won't want to give that up too quickly. A loan deal us all we can hope for, as with Browne.
 
All the best to Joel whatever the issues are. Peoples wellbeing is always the priority.

What a bloody disaster this season is turning into from a football perspective!
It is a good example of what's gone wrong this season, as compared to recent seasons. Imagine if Gavin Whyte had played a couple of games and then disappeared back home.
 
Whilst that's true, if the 'personal issues' are something like homesickness then it's pretty poor form from a 24 year old man. He signed a three year deal with an employer in July on wages that most other young people could only dream of right now. I know so many people that age who have recently lost their jobs or who are struggling to find a full time position anywhere due to the current climate. He's made a commitment to his employer, who paid a fee to sign him too, and in less than 5 months he's decided he wants to return home. For me? That's not good enough from a professional footballer.

That's if it is just homesickness, but if it is something more serious than him simply missing home then you can disregard the above.

I think that's all massively unfair. I heard something back in October that I haven't shared, and still won't, but it's something that would test anyone. Had his family been closer then he may have been able to remain at the club and had the support he and his family needs. However they are in another country and the uncertainty about lockdowns could have meant that he may not have been able to get home or back again for weeks on end.

We focus on results, but I'm actually proud of the fact that the club puts the players first and I hope that Joel continues to have the time and space needed to get things right. Football is secondary right now.
 
Whilst that's true, if the 'personal issues' are something like homesickness then it's pretty poor form from a 24 year old man. He signed a three year deal with an employer in July on wages that most other young people could only dream of right now. I know so many people that age who have recently lost their jobs or who are struggling to find a full time position anywhere due to the current climate. He's made a commitment to his employer, who paid a fee to sign him too, and in less than 5 months he's decided he wants to return home. For me? That's not good enough from a professional footballer.

That's if it is just homesickness, but if it is something more serious than him simply missing home then you can disregard the above.

KR has alluded to it being more than that. He said ‘two issues’ in a recent interview about it. Whatever the second issue is, this is more than a Joey Beauchamp-style ‘homesickness’ issue.

Obviously from a club position it’s a massive frustration and disappointing that we can’t make use of the services of a good player, but we can be emotionally intelligent about it. I think the club have gone about things in the right way and if he can secure a loan move back in NI, it’s the right thing to do.
 
Whilst that's true, if the 'personal issues' are something like homesickness then it's pretty poor form from a 24 year old man. He signed a three year deal with an employer in July on wages that most other young people could only dream of right now. I know so many people that age who have recently lost their jobs or who are struggling to find a full time position anywhere due to the current climate. He's made a commitment to his employer, who paid a fee to sign him too, and in less than 5 months he's decided he wants to return home. For me? That's not good enough from a professional footballer.

That's if it is just homesickness, but if it is something more serious than him simply missing home then you can disregard the above.
Nothing to do with that..
 
The fact that you spent 90% of your post criticising someone about something you know nothing about.

I actually think this response is massively unfair Scotch... It was quite clear in the final para that Batman was very careful about disregarding all previous comments if this was more than homesickness.

If it was just homesickness, I would agree with all those comments, but as it is clearly more than that then fair enough the comments are irrelevant.

You have to understand that we do not have access to the information you clearly do.
 
Whilst that's true, if the 'personal issues' are something like homesickness then it's pretty poor form from a 24 year old man. He signed a three year deal with an employer in July on wages that most other young people could only dream of right now. I know so many people that age who have recently lost their jobs or who are struggling to find a full time position anywhere due to the current climate. He's made a commitment to his employer, who paid a fee to sign him too, and in less than 5 months he's decided he wants to return home. For me? That's not good enough from a professional footballer.

That's if it is just homesickness, but if it is something more serious than him simply missing home then you can disregard the above.
I suppose when Joey Beauchamp wanted to leave West Ham, because of the travelling you had the same perspective then as well.

In this world we live in, it is not for us to question what the circumstances are of his return home, or to question KR as to why he let him go.

Even if it is homesickness, there are many labels floating under that surface, many surrounding mental health issues, which affects many young men of his age. It could be depression, anxiety. I've worked with young adults, who seem the most confident people you could meet, yet scratch beneath the surface and you see the real person. Sat in a room with a youngster with their life in front of them, trying to help them is hard, and that could be the situation with this young lad.

It's probably our support he needs not criticism.
 
I actually think this response is massively unfair Scotch... It was quite clear in the final para that Batman was very careful about disregarding all previous comments if this was more than homesickness.

If it was just homesickness, I would agree with all those comments, but as it is clearly more than that then fair enough the comments are irrelevant.

You have to understand that we do not have access to the information you clearly do.
But even if it is homesickness, there is clearly something causing it. As you allude to we are not privy to the real reasoning behind it.
Don't you think though, regardless of the reasoning behind the homesickness, if that is what it is, we should be supporting him not having a go at him. Remember with Joey, did you criticise him for wanting to leave West Ham for similarly homesick reasons?
 
But even if it is homesickness, there is clearly something causing it. As you allude to we are not privy to the real reasoning behind it.
Don't you think though, regardless of the reasoning behind the homesickness, if that is what it is, we should be supporting him not having a go at him. Remember with Joey, did you criticise him for wanting to leave West Ham for similarly homesick reasons?
I hope when he returns with us next season he is in the right place mentally. From what I’ve seen of him so far with the jump to full time with Oxford and his dribbling with the ball, he looks like he will be a good catch for us.
 
I suppose when Joey Beauchamp wanted to leave West Ham, because of the travelling you had the same perspective then as well.

In this world we live in, it is not for us to question what the circumstances are of his return home, or to question KR as to why he let him go.

Even if it is homesickness, there are many labels floating under that surface, many surrounding mental health issues, which affects many young men of his age. It could be depression, anxiety. I've worked with young adults, who seem the most confident people you could meet, yet scratch beneath the surface and you see the real person. Sat in a room with a youngster with their life in front of them, trying to help them is hard, and that could be the situation with this young lad.

It's probably our support he needs not criticism.
Bloody hell thats very different from your usual posts. Good insight - but it sounds like there’s something else going on, maybe family illness.
 
I suppose when Joey Beauchamp wanted to leave West Ham, because of the travelling you had the same perspective then as well.

In this world we live in, it is not for us to question what the circumstances are of his return home, or to question KR as to why he let him go.

Even if it is homesickness, there are many labels floating under that surface, many surrounding mental health issues, which affects many young men of his age. It could be depression, anxiety. I've worked with young adults, who seem the most confident people you could meet, yet scratch beneath the surface and you see the real person. Sat in a room with a youngster with their life in front of them, trying to help them is hard, and that could be the situation with this young lad.

It's probably our support he needs not criticism.

A very welcome change in tone, and something I completely agree with you on.
 
I agree with Scotchegg, you can’t go on a rant about the situation basically telling JC to man up without having any idea of what’s gone on, then end it with ‘unless my wild theory is wrong, in which case ignore my post’

May as well just not make the post in the first place
 
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