I went to watch Chesterfield play Bolton yesterday.
The Chedler - he was obviously the main one I was interested to watch. What I saw was a footballer who has some class, above that of most around him in this league. Every time the ball came to him, he killed it with one touch and was ready to lay it off or move off with it at his feet. Even balls hit at him at shoulder height, it was a quick shimmy of the chest and it was down there at his feet, waiting to go. His calmness on the ball and ability to lay it off to others was excellent.
He looked a threat up front when the ball came to him, but, he spent almost the whole game playing on his own up front and didn't have hardly any support at all as everyone else was spending most of their time defending.
Towards the end of the game, when Chesterfield were clinging on to a slender 1-0 lead, Ched was defending from the front, he was literally running his bollocks off trying to close down defenders on the ball to stop them passing it out. Matty Done fans on here would have loved it, because it was just like watching Matty Done, running like a mad dog from one player to the next, but not getting anywhere near the ball.
Just occasionally yesterday, he let himself down with little mistakes, or a lack of anticipation, that wasn't part of his game before. And I watched and felt a bit sad really that this lad had obviously lost some cutting edge compared to what he was - but it's perfectly understandable why he has.
The question is: Has he still got it? And I would say, yes definitely. But, he hasn't got that speed and match-sharpness which he had in the last season he played for us. I'd say he's about at 70% of what he was back then. Can he ever get that form back again? I honestly don't know. He has been out of the game for such a long time, I think it's a gamble whether he will get anywhere near the standard that he was. But, the other BIG question is, "How much of a gamble is it?"
If Chesterfield are thinking they can line their pockets and get big money for Evans then I think they are dreaming tbh - because he's not quite setting the world on fire at the moment - and he's missed quite a few games through injury - which I suppose is natural considering the length of time he's been out.
I think United could get him for not a lot of money. He's only on a small wage at Chesterfield, I hear it's £2k a week, so the wages shouldn't be an issue. And I think he's still got that ability on the ball, he's got something we don't have in our team at present. You could tell he's a player of a much higher standard than most of those around him. I kept thinking to myself, if he was playing in our team now he'd look good, because he'd have much better players around him.
I don't see any disadvantage to making a punt for him in Jan. As long as our fans are not expecting him to be the unstoppable goal machine he was when he left us. At least, not for a while yet until he's had a full season and a pre-season's training, behind him. But definitely a player that, this time next year, could be getting back to his best, for someone.
I hope it's us.
