Calvin Bassey’s Disastrous 15 Minute Cameo And The Dangers Of Spending On Hype.

Calvin Bassey made his debut for Ajax tonight.

They were drawing 2-2 in the Dutch Super Cup.

By the time he left the field – 15 minutes later – it was 4-2 to PSV.

He wasn’t hooked, which would have been bad enough for whoever sanctioned that spending on him. He was sent off.

Never happened in Scotland, you’ll note, in spite of opportunities aplenty.

You don’t get much worse debuts than that.

I haven’t seen a minute of it, but their collapse suggests that the substitution played at least a part in the defeat.

His subsequent red carding is the mark of a immaturity – the sort, perhaps, that saw him fined by the Ibrox club for breaching COVID regulations, which you never hear about anymore.

Honestly, the hysteria that surrounded this guy all summer long … I could not believe that any club was going to fall for it, and then along came Ajax with their chequebook.

They freely admit that they bought him based on “potential.”

The decision is truly honking.

A club’s reputation, in terms of selling players, depends on those players being at least modestly successful. Bassey, far from helping the Ibrox club into a brave new world, is going to be part of what tarnishes that rep.

And for Ajax, their manager must already have a sinking feeling.

It is one of the largest fees their club has ever paid for a footballer. When you spend that sort of money you have to be sure.

Ha! We were all sure, that’s a fact.

And we still are.

It is, in short, the kind of signing that gets managers sacked.