[rebel23]

Rashid is right in his basic premise that we need players who will "become" better than the likes of Bentley, we cannot buy top class like Kaka (or can we?) so we need to buy players who will become the next Kaka (or Ronaldo etc) or at least get close to that level.

Bentley essentially isnt anywhere near them and blocks the development of a player who could well get to that level, so we end up with Bentley in the team for a few seasons, yipeee, what does it do for team development? he will keep us 3rd/4th and that's it, then he'll eventually get moved on probably? I dont know, I can't tell the future but he's 24 and i doubt will get any better

then you have players like Fernandez, Nasri or even Ben Arfa who can develop into something better if we're patient enough, the trouble is we tend to make these functional buys and aren't patient enough, the best players grow at their clubs, what will Bentley grow into? he's already hit his level I think...

the problem for Rashid though (and most under pressure managers) is he wants to win stuff now, in that case, functional players like that who come in and can do a job or bridge a gap may help in that regard, might help us attain more points or deliver a trophy, whereas the opposite approach of growing a talented player might leave someone like Rashid and other fans very frustrated for a few years....

team development needs to be taken seriously over a 4/5 year period, that's why I call for talented youngsters from abroad because it means the team develops into something better in the medium to long term, players like Bentley will not be sufficient in my opinion

think about team development for a second... who honestly believes SG will be maurauding around as a 2nd striker at 32/33?!