Without the momentum of that goal, as you seem to recognise, it is indeed feasible that we wouldn't have necessarily gone on to win 2 of the last 3; it gave the players a big lift and seemed crucial. We got promoted that season and Bournemouth didn't - that's already one huge way in which the deal worked out better for us. Also, Pearson only played 875 minutes for Muff this season in the Championship, so he's hardly been that great of a signing for them either. He'd probably get as many minutes for them in the Prem next season as Gosling did for us this one.
