You work to earn money, Football is a Job, and essentially Poyet has taken a promotion, Cant blame him. Give me a choice between 10k and 40k and I'd take 40 everytime. Really cant blame someone for bettering themselves.
yeah but at this level you're adding a couple of extra zeros to that figure (if we're talking salary) and when it gets to that much obscene amount of money its greed, simple.
If someone offers me a couple of Extra Zero's to do the same job I already do I wouldn't turn it down, Yes I'm gutted He's left but you can't blame a kid for having a shot at the big time, Put in the same situation I'm sure many of us would do the same ...
realistically he was probably 500k a year here or 700k in the prem, how many people in the world would kill for 500k a year job?! thats £2 million over a 4 year period, if you spend that money wisely it can set you up for life. The premier league offers absolutely silly money these days, its greed, pure and simple
Its hard to be critical of the club for not putting Poyet in the 1st XI sooner and spending cash on Hughes/Gower - the reality is that sometimes players come from nowhere and take to senior football like they have played it all their life whilst others never really come to terms with it.
Lee Bowyer was very much in the former category, came in as a 17 year-old and bossed games from the start whereas other young players for whom there were high hopes cant make the jump.
You work to earn money, Football is a Job, and essentially Poyet has taken a promotion, Cant blame him. Give me a choice between 10k and 40k and I'd take 40 everytime. Really cant blame someone for bettering themselves.
yeah but at this level you're adding a couple of extra zeros to that figure (if we're talking salary) and when it gets to that much obscene amount of money its greed, simple.
If someone offers me a couple of Extra Zero's to do the same job I already do I wouldn't turn it down, Yes I'm gutted He's left but you can't blame a kid for having a shot at the big time, Put in the same situation I'm sure many of us would do the same ...
realistically he was probably 500k a year here or 700k in the prem, how many people in the world would kill for 500k a year job?! thats £2 million over a 4 year period, if you spend that money wisely it can set you up for life. The premier league offers absolutely silly money these days, its greed, pure and simple
If Poyet goes to Chelsea like the Rumors suggest he could be on almost double that 700k, Triple what he'd earn at Charlton. Ruben Loftus-Cheek has made 1.7m without even getting near the Chelsea first team , Madness...
I thank Diego for his sterling performances and effort and for showcasing the skills of the coaches at cafc who develope and produce such good youngsters
I am sorry that he chose to ignore the cost and the effort that aided his career thus far that he chose at the first opportunity to turn his back on the club that gave him so much the fans who adored his style of play
I think he deserves to be told how people feel if it's abusive so what that's football in the year 2014
I also think that Diego is no where near going to gain as much experience or football know how , understanding how to win how to actually play football As quickly as he would've staying with us for another season
I don't buy the short career, it's too hard to turn down
It's all about kudos and cash we may have cash but cafc has little kudos for players like Diego
For Diego unfortunately his career will tail off for a season or two he will be loaned out and will proberly be in a team facing us next season
Those saying it's not about money your right
It's about money and stature of club
Diego has done no wrong in theory but morally and out of respect to our club he has done a lot wrong and deserves thevplaudits for his performances but deserves his critics for his behaviour
Personally it's a thanks for your help last season see you, now you have the career you wish for I bid you good fortune but I care not one jot about Diego and where his career takes him
Great player, but replaceable. Could go all the way, so a real shame Charlton won't make any money from him.
Not sure you can slag him off for not signing a contract though - could it be that the changes in the transfer system with FFP mean rich clubs are now less likely to take a punt on a contracted youngster??
You work to earn money, Football is a Job, and essentially Poyet has taken a promotion, Cant blame him. Give me a choice between 10k and 40k and I'd take 40 everytime. Really cant blame someone for bettering themselves.
yeah but at this level you're adding a couple of extra zeros to that figure (if we're talking salary) and when it gets to that much obscene amount of money its greed, simple.
If someone offers me a couple of Extra Zero's to do the same job I already do I wouldn't turn it down, Yes I'm gutted He's left but you can't blame a kid for having a shot at the big time, Put in the same situation I'm sure many of us would do the same ...
realistically he was probably 500k a year here or 700k in the prem, how many people in the world would kill for 500k a year job?! thats £2 million over a 4 year period, if you spend that money wisely it can set you up for life. The premier league offers absolutely silly money these days, its greed, pure and simple
If Poyet goes to Chelsea like the Rumors suggest he could be on almost double that 700k, Triple what he'd earn at Charlton. Ruben Loftus-Cheek has made 1.7m without even getting near the Chelsea first team , Madness...
its pure greed, it has nothing to do with "getting as much money as you can because its a short career" that you could've said maybe 10-12 years ago. Plus, footballers are playing for longer, their conditioning and sport science could mean we'll be seeing a lot more ryan giggs type players who can adapt to stay at the top level for a lot longer.
your missing the point its not about the money good luck to him if he geting 3 or 4 times as much but he owes charlton aleast a 2 year deal if not happy he can go at xmas at least we get some money so we can buy someone it could be the difference staying up or going down
Very disappointing obviously. I wouldn't blame either the player, the current owners or the previous owners though.
However, there is one aspect of this situation which puzzles me and I do wonder whether we've been unlucky, whether we made a major error of judgement about his ability and likely short-term development last summer or whether a very self-assured young man simply refused to be tied down.
Perhaps somebody ITK can tell us how the Club evaluated him this time last year. It's easy to suggest that the previous owners were too mean to offer him a long-term deal last summer, but I believe other young players were signed up and central midfielders Hughes and Gower were offered one year contracts using what, I'm sure, was scarce budget. The implication would seem to be that the Club's management simply didn't recognise what a gem they had.
In that's true, then depending on your perspective, we've either been unlucky or are guilty of a serious error of judgement on the footballing side. It would appear that a player who, at the beginning of the season, wasn't considered good enough to be part of the first team squad ended the season as the best player on the books. That's really quite extraordinary. Moreover, we're not talking about an exciting young player, playing out wide and with the pace and confidence only youth can deliver, offering erratic brilliance, mazy dribbles and a few spectacular goals, but a very organised footballer, who patrolled the space in front of his back four, read the game, tackled, intercepted and passed the ball with vision, awareness and with high completion.
Poyet was a mini Xavier Mascherano during the run in. How on earth did that transformation happen? How was that ability missed this time last year? Jimenez and Slater may be the devil incarnate as far as many fans are concerned, but they still injected £8.5m into the Club during the first season in the Championship and they didn't make many footballing errors. I find it hard to believe that if they had known what they had they wouldn't have paid up. It would have been in their interests to do so.
I'm puzzled, as I said, even if nobody else is. Any thoughts, anybody?
I think Poyet would have been more difficult to tie down than the others, not least because he in a more secure position than others not to sign, given his father's status in the game. He was always going to get another club. Don't think there was an question over his quality.
I doubt if he's left solely or even mainly for money. We have to face the fact that objectively we are currently an unstable club. Whatever view you take of what is going on and however optimistic you are about Peeters, the latest signings or RD in general, the immediate future is difficult to predict. The recent past has been a mess. We'll stick with it because we're Charlton fans and whatever happens we'll be here the other side of it, but Poyet can opt out and if he isn't confident about what's going to happen next it's not surprising that he would.
Many thanks for the reply. If you're right that there was never any question over his quality (and I'm very happy to take your word for that) then perhaps the problem was simply that he was hard to tie down.
I'd describe myself as open minded about Charlton's immediate future rather than either optimistic or pessimistic, but I do believe we are now at least as stable as many other clubs at our level. It would be a real shame, therefore, if Poyet has left because he thinks otherwise. I guess we'll see where he turns up. If he signs for another club in the Championship I'd be very disappointed.
Very disappointing obviously. I wouldn't blame either the player, the current owners or the previous owners though.
However, there is one aspect of this situation which puzzles me and I do wonder whether we've been unlucky, whether we made a major error of judgement about his ability and likely short-term development last summer or whether a very self-assured young man simply refused to be tied down.
Perhaps somebody ITK can tell us how the Club evaluated him this time last year. It's easy to suggest that the previous owners were too mean to offer him a long-term deal last summer, but I believe other young players were signed up and central midfielders Hughes and Gower were offered one year contracts using what, I'm sure, was scarce budget. The implication would seem to be that the Club's management simply didn't recognise what a gem they had.
In that's true, then depending on your perspective, we've either been unlucky or are guilty of a serious error of judgement on the footballing side. It would appear that a player who, at the beginning of the season, wasn't considered good enough to be part of the first team squad ended the season as the best player on the books. That's really quite extraordinary. Moreover, we're not talking about an exciting young player, playing out wide and with the pace and confidence only youth can deliver, offering erratic brilliance, mazy dribbles and a few spectacular goals, but a very organised footballer, who patrolled the space in front of his back four, read the game, tackled, intercepted and passed the ball with vision, awareness and with high completion.
Poyet was a mini Xavier Mascherano during the run in. How on earth did that transformation happen? How was that ability missed this time last year? Jimenez and Slater may be the devil incarnate as far as many fans are concerned, but they still injected £8.5m into the Club during the first season in the Championship and they didn't make many footballing errors. I find it hard to believe that if they had known what they had they wouldn't have paid up. It would have been in their interests to do so.
I'm puzzled, as I said, even if nobody else is. Any thoughts, anybody?
I think Poyet would have been more difficult to tie down than the others, not least because he in a more secure position than others not to sign, given his father's status in the game. He was always going to get another club. Don't think there was an question over his quality.
I doubt if he's left solely or even mainly for money. We have to face the fact that objectively we are currently an unstable club. Whatever view you take of what is going on and however optimistic you are about Peeters, the latest signings or RD in general, the immediate future is difficult to predict. The recent past has been a mess. We'll stick with it because we're Charlton fans and whatever happens we'll be here the other side of it, but Poyet can opt out and if he isn't confident about what's going to happen next it's not surprising that he would.
Many thanks for the reply. If you're right that there was never any question over his quality (and I'm very happy to take your word for that) then perhaps the problem was simply that he was hard to tie down.
I'd describe myself as open minded about Charlton's immediate future rather than either optimistic or pessimistic, but I do believe we are now at least as stable as many other clubs at our level. It would be a real shame, therefore, if Poyet has left because he thinks otherwise. I guess we'll see where he turns up. If he signs for another club in the Championship I'd be very disappointed.
I think stability is something you can only demonstrate over time. There is currently a large turnover of players, for a start, and we won't be stable if things go awry on the field and Peeters is gone before Christmas. That's not a prediction, but so much change is not really consistent with stability, and we can't assume success. We can only be optimistic about it.
One other factor with Diego, on reflection, may well be the relationship between Gus and Jimenez, bearing in mind other things that were going on in TJ's affairs last year.
It's not about money being an unstable club it's about being the right club to maximise Diego and his career plan
Being a first name on the team sheet for charlton doesn't look nor sound as good as Chelsea Diego poyet to Diego
It's the whole package big bucks and a Stella club
Playing is not the biggest part
For every Jon jo or jenko there's a poyet and a Bostock
Get off the fence fatso!
I know you've mellowed with age but spit some bile where its due. We all know why he's gone and thats what makes us sick. I loved watching Lee Bowyer smash it at dirty Leeds playing in the champions league, were it not for him being off his lid he would have been great for England, same applies to Jonjo and Rob Lee.
This little tyrant deserves all the mocking and grief that goes his way.
We're all Charlton fans here, I don't understand how anyone can be readily accepting of this though
We have come to the end of the decision making for player retention now and have seen just three players choose to leave: Hamer, Dervite and Poyet. Since Duchatelet took over Jackson, Morrison and Wiggins have all signed long term deals to add to the other 15 or so that the club had already signed up. The club chose not to offer deals to eleven players. So three out of 37 players have gone or more importantly three out of our best 18. And two decent loan players but that leaves 13 decent players plus the two just added. At the same time we have a new pitch and planning permission for an enhanced training ground. I therefore fail to see why anyone might consider CAFC to be "unstable" unless one were perhaps xenophobic and/or an avid reader of the Daily Mail! On top of the two new signings (worth £3.5m) there has been a statement of intent to sign more players to replace the three mentioned above. Our squad who are all signed up for 2-4 years is clearly going somewhere and the pace of change will be determined by the skill and luck of Peeters together with the calibre of new signings and the speed at which the squad gels. I don't blame Poyet for going now as one injury could wreck his chances of a big move later. And I too am intrigued by whatever happened last summer but perhaps there are some things left behind closed doors, particularly if Jiminez and Poyet senior were once neighbours?! I don't blame the last owners because the current squad is down to them and they sold the club to someone who knows how to run a football club. We will see some more signings and, as ever I look forward to Brentford away where I hope to see a player who scored a goal in the world cup today! A shame Poyet won't be in the side but with the chequebook out I'm confident of leaving there with 3 points.
Yes he could have broken his leg, but guess what. When he was laid up for over a year the club never dropped him!!! I'm annoyed because he could have signed a contract, shut all of us idiots up and still got a move and we would have got a decent fee for our 19 year old player of the season.
Like Jonjo Shelvey who is not from a wealthy background did. I'm seething at this and having known it was on the horizon for a while does not make it anymore palatable.
Just arrived home from our night out with "The Commitments" & found this disappointing news.
Only read the first few posts but guess most sum up my feelings....Not a shock but hoped for another season from this young man. How naïve am I ?
So, we move on, ensure we retrieve the POTY Cup sooner rather than later & hope that Deegs makes sure he gives plenty of praise/mentions to his "birth" club when he's lauded in the media in years to come.
We have come to the end of the decision making for player retention now and have seen just three players choose to leave: Hamer, Dervite and Poyet. Since Duchatelet took over Jackson, Morrison and Wiggins have all signed long term deals to add to the other 15 or so that the club had already signed up. The club chose not to offer deals to eleven players. So three out of 37 players have gone or more importantly three out of our best 18. And two decent loan players but that leaves 13 decent players plus the two just added. At the same time we have a new pitch and planning permission for an enhanced training ground. I therefore fail to see why anyone might consider CAFC to be "unstable" unless one were perhaps xenophobic and/or an avid reader of the Daily Mail! On top of the two new signings (worth £3.5m) there has been a statement of intent to sign more players to replace the three mentioned above. Our squad who are all signed up for 2-4 years is clearly going somewhere and the pace of change will be determined by the skill and luck of Peeters together with the calibre of new signings and the speed at which the squad gels. I don't blame Poyet for going now as one injury could wreck his chances of a big move later. And I too am intrigued by whatever happened last summer but perhaps there are some things left behind closed doors, particularly if Jiminez and Poyet senior were once neighbours?! I don't blame the last owners because the current squad is down to them and they sold the club to someone who knows how to run a football club. We will see some more signings and, as ever I look forward to Brentford away where I hope to see a player who scored a goal in the world cup today! A shame Poyet won't be in the side but with the chequebook out I'm confident of leaving there with 3 points.
Xenophobia has nothing to do with this issue at all - we're talking about a player of Uruguayan heritage, after all - and is just thrown in by you because as usual you've nothing else to say except how wonderful everything is. What possible evidence is there for xenophobia in this discussion?
Obviously hugely disappointing news, but not surprising and not catastrophic in my view - looking forward to Cousins getting a good run in the centre.
I haven't read through all of the post-news stuff, but as I know absolutely nothing about the inner workings of the club, contract negotiations etc all I can say is from where I'm sitting I don't see what Poyet has done that's so wrong. He saw out his contract, didn't ask for a transfer and sulk when things were turning to s**t, the club made a better offer than he was on (fair play to the club for that) and he decided not to accept it.
The loyalty argument is overdone. How loyal has 'the club' been to heroes/fan favourites such as Clive Mendonca (allegedly selling off his medals to get by l believe) and Carl Leaburn (now a security guard) to name but two. I doubt that's how they saw things panning out when they retired, and some could justifiably argue that the club doesn't have any obligation to any ex-employee. Poyet is therefore entitled to do the best for himself, and as long as he hasn't cheated anyone or ripped them off, then he should be allowed to do that with his head held high. The club is in a better position than was looking likely thanks to his contribution, and the club will go on after he's gone.
The point l'm making is that it's a short career and as long as a player can say he gave his all when he played and wasn't stealing a living, he should be allowed to seek to better himself without rancour. If he had been injured for 3 years taking wages and then buggered off as soon as he got fit, that might be different. And the fact is, none of us know what was going on behind the scenes, his view on Powell's sacking, change of ownership etc or anything else that may have influenced his decision. But this is what l think l know:
1. Poyet was a significant factor in our staying up. 2. He didn't let anyone down on the field 3. He was playing at a level he had never played at before and still excelled 4. So good was he, he was voted POTY - couldn't do much more than that 5. When he did have a bad game at Brighton, he made a point of apologising to fans and saying his own performance was unacceptable. Didn't have to do that. 6. Never did he play as though he didn't care because 'l'm off in the summer anyway'. He would have been on other clubs' radar then anyway, so he would have had an idea of his options even then. Being in the first team would have helped, but wouldn't have changed the options available to him overmuch l'm sure.
Who knows where he will go next, but l'm sure that he won't expect to walk into the first team at a 'bigger' club and will be prepared to be a benchwarmer for a season or two - he's only 19 after all, and he has plenty of people around him who will tell him what's what, what to expect and how best to improve his footballing education.
As for some of the comments on Facebook and Twitter, some people need to take a long hard look at themselves. Digging out a kid who's trying to take a tough decision - and who is quite possibly around the same age as their own kids - is pathetic. He moves on, we move on - end of.
Ps And l'm not the secretary of the DP Fan Club by the way - I voted for Wilson for POTY!
Obviously hugely disappointing news, but not surprising and not catastrophic in my view - looking forward to Cousins getting a good run in the centre.
I haven't read through all of the post-news stuff, but as I know absolutely nothing about the inner workings of the club, contract negotiations etc all I can say is from where I'm sitting I don't see what Poyet has done that's so wrong. He saw out his contract, didn't ask for a transfer and sulk when things were turning to s**t, the club made a better offer than he was on (fair play to the club for that) and he decided not to accept it.
The loyalty argument is overdone. How loyal has 'the club' been to heroes/fan favourites such as Clive Mendonca (allegedly selling off his medals to get by l believe) and Carl Leaburn (now a security guard) to name but two. I doubt that's how they saw things panning out when they retired, and some could justifiably argue that the club doesn't have any obligation to any ex-employee. Poyet is therefore entitled to do the best for himself, and as long as he hasn't cheated anyone or ripped them off, then he should be allowed to do that with his head held high. The club is in a better position than was looking likely thanks to his contribution, and the club will go on after he's gone.
The point l'm making is that it's a short career and as long as a player can say he gave his all when he played and wasn't stealing a living, he should be allowed to seek to better himself without rancour. If he had been injured for 3 years taking wages and then buggered off as soon as he got fit, that might be different. And the fact is, none of us know what was going on behind the scenes, his view on Powell's sacking, change of ownership etc or anything else that may have influenced his decision. But this is what l think l know:
1. Poyet was a significant factor in our staying up. 2. He didn't let anyone down on the field 3. He was playing at a level he had never played at before and still excelled 4. So good was he, he was voted POTY - couldn't do much more than that 5. When he did have a bad game at Brighton, he made a point of apologising to fans and saying his own performance was unacceptable. Didn't have to do that. 6. Never did he play as though he didn't care because 'l'm off in the summer anyway'. He would have been on other clubs' radar then anyway, so he would have had an idea of his options even then. Being in the first team would have helped, but wouldn't have changed the options available to him overmuch l'm sure.
Who knows where he will go next, but l'm sure that he won't expect to walk into the first team at a 'bigger' club and will be prepared to be a benchwarmer for a season or two - he's only 19 after all, and he has plenty of people around him who will tell him what's what, what to expect and how best to improve his footballing education.
As for some of the comments on Facebook and Twitter, some people need to take a long hard look at themselves. Digging out a kid who's trying to take a tough decision - and who is quite possibly around the same age as their own kids - is pathetic. He moves on, we move on - end of.
Ps And l'm not the secretary of the DP Fan Club by the way - I voted for Wilson for POTY!
he doesn't owe us shit, he kept us up this season.....dept repaid.
you'll all be telling everyone that you saw his first 20 games blah blah blah when he's a world class midfielder banging them home for barca (4-6 years ish)
good luck diego, i feckin loved watching the start of your career
What is it Richard Murray said in that interview video when Roland took over "we need to try and keep hold of our young talent in the past we have sold to early"
Comments
Lee Bowyer was very much in the former category, came in as a 17 year-old and bossed games from the start whereas other young players for whom there were high hopes cant make the jump.
I am sorry that he chose to ignore the cost and the effort that aided his career thus far that he chose at the first opportunity to turn his back on the club that gave him so much the fans who adored his style of play
I think he deserves to be told how people feel if it's abusive so what that's football in the year 2014
I also think that Diego is no where near going to gain as much experience or football know how , understanding how to win how to actually play football
As quickly as he would've staying with us for another season
I don't buy the short career, it's too hard to turn down
It's all about kudos and cash we may have cash but cafc has little kudos for players like Diego
For Diego unfortunately his career will tail off for a season or two he will be loaned out and will proberly be in a team facing us next season
Those saying it's not about money your right
It's about money and stature of club
Diego has done no wrong in theory but morally and out of respect to our club he has done a lot wrong and deserves thevplaudits for his performances but deserves his critics for his behaviour
Personally it's a thanks for your help last season see you, now you have the career you wish for I bid you good fortune but I care not one jot about Diego and where his career takes him
You gotta laugh.
Not sure you can slag him off for not signing a contract though - could it be that the changes in the transfer system with FFP mean rich clubs are now less likely to take a punt on a contracted youngster??
I'd describe myself as open minded about Charlton's immediate future rather than either optimistic or pessimistic, but I do believe we are now at least as stable as many other clubs at our level. It would be a real shame, therefore, if Poyet has left because he thinks otherwise. I guess we'll see where he turns up. If he signs for another club in the Championship I'd be very disappointed.
Moved on already.
Being a first name on the team sheet for charlton doesn't look nor sound as good as Chelsea Diego poyet to Diego
It's the whole package big bucks and a Stella club
Playing is not the biggest part
For every Jon jo or jenko there's a poyet and a Bostock
One other factor with Diego, on reflection, may well be the relationship between Gus and Jimenez, bearing in mind other things that were going on in TJ's affairs last year.
I know you've mellowed with age but spit some bile where its due. We all know why he's gone and thats what makes us sick. I loved watching Lee Bowyer smash it at dirty Leeds playing in the champions league, were it not for him being off his lid he would have been great for England, same applies to Jonjo and Rob Lee.
This little tyrant deserves all the mocking and grief that goes his way.
We're all Charlton fans here, I don't understand how anyone can be readily accepting of this though
At the same time we have a new pitch and planning permission for an enhanced training ground.
I therefore fail to see why anyone might consider CAFC to be "unstable" unless one were perhaps xenophobic and/or an avid reader of the Daily Mail! On top of the two new signings (worth £3.5m) there has been a statement of intent to sign more players to replace the three mentioned above.
Our squad who are all signed up for 2-4 years is clearly going somewhere and the pace of change will be determined by the skill and luck of Peeters together with the calibre of new signings and the speed at which the squad gels.
I don't blame Poyet for going now as one injury could wreck his chances of a big move later. And I too am intrigued by whatever happened last summer but perhaps there are some things left behind closed doors, particularly if Jiminez and Poyet senior were once neighbours?! I don't blame the last owners because the current squad is down to them and they sold the club to someone who knows how to run a football club. We will see some more signings and, as ever I look forward to Brentford away where I hope to see a player who scored a goal in the world cup today! A shame Poyet won't be in the side but with the chequebook out I'm confident of leaving there with 3 points.
Yes he could have broken his leg, but guess what. When he was laid up for over a year the club never dropped him!!! I'm annoyed because he could have signed a contract, shut all of us idiots up and still got a move and we would have got a decent fee for our 19 year old player of the season.
Like Jonjo Shelvey who is not from a wealthy background did. I'm seething at this and having known it was on the horizon for a while does not make it anymore palatable.
Only read the first few posts but guess most sum up my feelings....Not a shock but hoped for another season from this young man. How naïve am I ?
So, we move on, ensure we retrieve the POTY Cup sooner rather than later & hope that Deegs makes sure he gives plenty of praise/mentions to his "birth" club when he's lauded in the media in years to come.
I haven't read through all of the post-news stuff, but as I know absolutely nothing about the inner workings of the club, contract negotiations etc all I can say is from where I'm sitting I don't see what Poyet has done that's so wrong. He saw out his contract, didn't ask for a transfer and sulk when things were turning to s**t, the club made a better offer than he was on (fair play to the club for that) and he decided not to accept it.
The loyalty argument is overdone. How loyal has 'the club' been to heroes/fan favourites such as Clive Mendonca (allegedly selling off his medals to get by l believe) and Carl Leaburn (now a security guard) to name but two. I doubt that's how they saw things panning out when they retired, and some could justifiably argue that the club doesn't have any obligation to any ex-employee. Poyet is therefore entitled to do the best for himself, and as long as he hasn't cheated anyone or ripped them off, then he should be allowed to do that with his head held high. The club is in a better position than was looking likely thanks to his contribution, and the club will go on after he's gone.
The point l'm making is that it's a short career and as long as a player can say he gave his all when he played and wasn't stealing a living, he should be allowed to seek to better himself without rancour. If he had been injured for 3 years taking wages and then buggered off as soon as he got fit, that might be different. And the fact is, none of us know what was going on behind the scenes, his view on Powell's sacking, change of ownership etc or anything else that may have influenced his decision. But this is what l think l know:
1. Poyet was a significant factor in our staying up.
2. He didn't let anyone down on the field
3. He was playing at a level he had never played at before and still excelled
4. So good was he, he was voted POTY - couldn't do much more than that
5. When he did have a bad game at Brighton, he made a point of apologising to fans and saying his own performance was unacceptable. Didn't have to do that.
6. Never did he play as though he didn't care because 'l'm off in the summer anyway'. He would have been on other clubs' radar then anyway, so he would have had an idea of his options even then. Being in the first team would have helped, but wouldn't have changed the options available to him overmuch l'm sure.
Who knows where he will go next, but l'm sure that he won't expect to walk into the first team at a 'bigger' club and will be prepared to be a benchwarmer for a season or two - he's only 19 after all, and he has plenty of people around him who will tell him what's what, what to expect and how best to improve his footballing education.
As for some of the comments on Facebook and Twitter, some people need to take a long hard look at themselves. Digging out a kid who's trying to take a tough decision - and who is quite possibly around the same age as their own kids - is pathetic. He moves on, we move on - end of.
Ps And l'm not the secretary of the DP Fan Club by the way - I voted for Wilson for POTY!
Good job man
Alternatively somewhere like Milan or Inter, who are under performing so he will get a chance, and in a huge stadium with so much history.
His game will also develop better as his style would suit Serie A, as he has great technique.
Little story as per the film, I guess but worth it for the renditions of the old soul faves, blasted out with expertise & loads of energy.
Cheapskates, we don't shell out on a programme but the guy who played Declan ( Deco) I THINK is Killian Donnelly was fantastic.
Enjoy !