This thread probably saddened me more than any other thread ever on the Caf. It was basically a safe meeting space for an all out attack on literally every single aspect of his being - his football, his attitude, what drives him, what his motivations are, his professionalism and more - and because it was an echo chamber - nobody was holding anyone to any sort of standard. No requirement of any real basis of attack, you could turn up with a new theory today, and declare that this is what you have against Pogba - and then off you go, and receive almost unanimous support. The OP was inciting, but was met with widespread sympathy, to a point where I can’t see anyway back for many of the contributors in terms of liking the player. You can’t sustain that sort of 360 attack and then all is well again.
Really does make grim reading. I probably had the most posts in the thread and that was trying to fight on behalf of the player against almost everyone. Even after his comments in Japan last summer, it wasn’t this bad on here. Perhaps because he was still on the pitch. Still the best player in pre-season etc. As soon as he wasn’t able to defend himself (due to injury), dogs were off the leash, and now that he is able to speak for himself on the pitch again, they have disappeared again. Quite cowardly to me.
Even after his comments last summer, I was maintaining on here that I expected him to sign a new deal. It was clear to me that he clearly has a great deal of affection for the club, and if we looked like we were heading in the right direction, he’d be happy to stay. It was also clear that despite his comments last summer, he was hardly being kept kicking and screaming. He didn’t kick up a fuss in the window. To me, it is that many had never taken to him, so was a convenient little episode to bring out a lot of what lay beneath, and now that it is out, and it looks like the situation was not as irreparable as they though, it is a little awkward for many because what has been said has been said.
Hopefully we can draw a line under all this for good. The guy is still our player. If he leaves he leaves, if he stays he stays, but it won’t be down to him hating the club, being money grabbing and having an attitude problem like all the character assassinations suggested. I’ve never read anything like it about someone who, by all appearances, is actually one of football’s genuine good guys, especially at his very small level of superstar status. That’s the huge irony. Pogba isn’t only not this arsehole, he seems the total opposite!