I would imagine it might be on medical/insurance advice. The club have been royally screwed over by the purchase, although it would appear someone on the medical side didn’t do good due diligence.
Downes living on a tightrope. Ref giving him a chance there when a yellow was likely.
Russ has not worked out that you start building a defence from the front. He just packs the defence randomly and hopes for the best.