Agree. It's how it was in the old days. If I remember correctly, even new signings hardly ever went straight into the first team. You had to spend a few weeks on the sidelines, and a couple of bench appearances at least to earn a first team place.
If I recall correctly, Ian Rush barely played in his first season despite his hefty transfer fee, and he was so fed up with it he was tempted to move away. Ok, LFC was a much stronger club, but he had to earn his place. These days if you cost more than 5m you're immediately first team material, and if you don't work out you get sold just as immediately and no one even notices. I believe that Henderson would be a better player if he'd played half as many games as he has - once it was clear he wasn't a good RM he should have gone back to waiting for chances at CM the way Shelvey has since he came back from loan. Ditto Charlie Adam.
People missing games at the beginning of the season tend to take it in their stride. People missing games at the end of the season when they have been regular starters (like Adam, Downing, Carroll, Maxi, Kuyt) will lose heart as they can see their names on the transfer list rather than the team sheet.
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