I must admit I googled to confirm what I thought I knew -

Ward and Clyne? or Bonnie and Clyde?

55 years on the Palace rollercoaster!

If we could play both at the same time in a 12 man team - possibly correct, possibly.

Red and Blue Army!

Underrated comment.

Whilst there is rarely smoke without at least a tiny little fire, I should imagine that the link between us and AWB comes about largely because he is an ex-Palace player and product, rather than because it is a logical transfer otherwise. Nobody is suggesting we are after Brandon Williams or Axel Tuanzebe for instance - two unwanted United fullbacks of a similar age and pedigree to AWB - or linking us with other fullbacks.

If we did get AWB back then he could of course represent an upgrade on Ward or Clyne, although I have the following reservations:

1. Our reliance on Ward and Clyne is no problem whatsoever as far as I can see. Two good pros who do a good job.

2. We want young and hungry, not just young. AWB would reduce our average age, but whereas Eze, Olise, Guehi, Mitchell et al are young players stepping up to play for Palace in the Premier League, AWB would be stepping down. Some players are doubly motivated by the rejection of a big club (Zaha), but many more seem to accept that their shot at the big time has been and gone, and settle into a life of average performances for big money (Benteke, Cabeye, Sakho, PVA). I'd look AWB square in the eye and ask him why he wants to come back before even thinking about this deal.

3. The previous policy of giving established top-flight players market rate salaries eroded the correlation between performance and pay. Tomkins and Ayew (for example) were twice as productive as Sakho and Benteke for half the wage. What did that do for motivation, and culture in the club? It's no wonder the squad went a bit stale - that isn't healthy in a workplace. If AWB wants the same money United are paying him then that's probably two or three times what Guehi or Mitchell are getting. Is he really going to be two or three times better than them? Are we going to give the others a pay rise to match, or are we going to return to a pay structure that is not based on merit? There are complications in bringing in well-paid players.

4. Predictably to anyone who actually watched him play for us (and I still doubt if United ever really did), AWB has come unstuck at the top level because his use of the ball is average. Does that really suit what Vieira is trying to do? For me, the question is not whether AWB is better on the ball than Ward or Clyne, but whether AWB is better on the ball than whoever else we might sign for that much money.

5. We've just signed Richards. If we sign another defender then we are reducing the hours Richards will play, and restricting his development. That seems a strange way to treat an investment.

If we sign AWB either on loan or permanently, I think it is complete madness.

He's on massive wages, especially in comparison to our squad in his role and what he would bring to the team.

We have 4 players plus youth players that can all play at Rb and he isn't a significant improvement on any of them - Clyne, Ward, Richards, Ferguson etc.

We need reinforcements in other areas of the pitch and his cost eats away at our needs to bring in a couple more midfielders and an attacker.

We have 1 LB compared to 3+ RB's, why recruit another one.

Given our squad and finances, if our second highest paid player is a right back who is solid defensively but offers little else, then somethings gone wrong. I'd rather give Guehi, Eze, Olise, Anderson and Mitchell an extra £15k a week more each and signed on long term deals than spend it on him.