You have no idea if he is a better option than Pask, Drysdale or even Williams. He has more experience for sure, but that's it. Unless he is being brought in as a starter what's the point of wasting what is likely to be a tight budget on signing him. Young players with promise have to get their opportunity at some point, normally through first team injuries, and blocking those opportunities could prove counter productive to a club like ours that looks to get by through its own means.
The only point I will concede on is if it turns out that we do sign him, then MR's record warrants giving him the benefit of the doubt, which I would then do. At the moment though we haven't signed him, so if I think he looks like a potential crap signing I will say so. Given his performances against us, and that he is not a ball playing centre back, I will be very surprised if MR is interested anyhow, and this smacks me as an agent led story, designed to put his name in manager's minds. By the way my 'hate' for this guy isn't because he plays for Sunderland, I have no time for our bullshit rivalry, but because when I've seen him play he hasn't been very good.