It’s easy to write off old players but we all know how important Ian Taylor was to us and Wes Hoolahan was pivotal to Cambridge getting promoted at 39. I don’t think I would have gone for Chambers or Sears but who knows.
Signing older players is a bit of a dilemma - you never know if you are getting them in the season that is just beyond where they should have stopped playing, where either their legs have gone or they start picking up niggling injuries that mean they are rarely available. That said, if you get lucky, you get a very good player that you may not have been able to otherwise afford who brings experience, a calming influence and a lot of nous, not to mention a player that just wants to keep playing football.
I guess it's just a case of being prepared to flip a coin and seeing which one you get!