Thetownend.com

McCrory confirms McCormack move but leaves door open for return
           
           


  SWINDON chairman Jed McCrory has confirmed captain Alan McCormack has agreed to sign for Brentford, but insisted he would still welcome him back to the County Ground with open arms in the future.

           

http://www.thisisswindontownfc.co.uk/news/headlines/10460574.McCrory_confirms_McCormack_move_but_leaves_door_open_for_return/?ref=rss
           
           
           

I really don't think we'll miss him as a footballer, what we might miss (depending on his replacement) is his presence as a focal personality who could re-energise the team.

The irony with McCormack is his supposed best attribute (his versatility) was mostly a result of not really being good enough to hold down a regular place in any one position.

My suspicion is it was largely as a result of his captaincy, a legacy of his importance to the team last season in League 2, but not really a reflection of his importance to the team this season in League 1, that the manager often felt obliged to shoehorn him in all over the park ahead of specialists in those positions (Nathan Thompson for example), sometimes to the detriment of the shape and defensive cohesion of the team.

I know I'm a negative Nelly but I was disappointed with McCormack saying he had heard very little from the club regarding his contact before receiving a last minute offer of a 2 year extension. Also thought he said there we no improved terms.. May have misheard.

We'd have probably lost him anyway as Brentford seem to have put together a better package, but it seems poor form not to try a bit harder..

I think it's fair enough. We know we cannot retain roughly 50% of the current squad, and so can't be picky, anybody who we can move on will move on until a base line is hit.  Obviously a lot of fans haven't yet quite come to terms with this, so the Board spin it as best they can.

Of what's left, then Williams, Collins and Foderingham, look the most likely to be next in no particular order.

That's nice of Jed to leave the door open. I doubt Jed will be here in two years time to honour that TBH.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/22769194

Alan speaks a bit in this article.

can't disagree, but my point was I desperately want to see what the board says and what the board does match. Genuinely.

In this case "did all we could to keep him" = "little to no contact,  verbal 11th hour offer.", assuming Macca/his agent is being honest.

Who will we sing the Alan McCormack song to now? Do any of the current players' names fit into the song?

yes Navarro

Archie, Archie, Archiebald Henville, Archiebald Henville, Archie Archie!!!!!

I think we've already seen enough to know the 2 don't very often and probably won't very often match.

I live in hope.

I will remember him for not getting the ball and smashing it into the net in that penalty shootout.

Strange he ended up at Brentford  :hmmm:

Dont reckon the board was that sad to see him go.

The way Jed is going on about offering him a role in the future makes him sound like a club legend.

Anyway, this was his finest moment by a mile and a superb PdC moment:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoBCx93TCcY

Me and you have the same theory i reckon

That was an unbelievable moment.

I wouldn't want him back here. Bottler.

Thanks....pretty good player.

Northampton will always stick in my mind.

Hope he lunges in when we play the bees.

One of my very favourite STFC moments, and I have been supporting them a long time.

I had moved to the side stand at half time to be with friends we bumped in to, so wasn't in the end stand behind the goal.  Such was the mentalism of the goal celebration in the stands that I completely missed PDC's run down to the end.  Just heard about it on BBC Northampton on the way back.

A real shame to see him leave.  Very good L1 player, not spectacular, but a real positive influence and he’ll be missed.

It seems we made little more than a token effort to keep him. 

Not sure, if I read it correctly but it appears he was offered a better deal pre-takeover than the one year extension cited in today’s Adver?

Judging by the amount of interest in the player it is pretty weak that all we could offer was a one year term to our club captain.  Offering a verbal deal is meaningless and its hard to blame the player for taking up the offer of a three contract and improved terms in the face of our one year deal.  It shows the naivety by the current board and highlights a lack of trust between the players and new regime.

No players irreplaceable but it smacks of parallels to the same sort of situation with player contracts and the inevitable press releases of the Diamandis era.  However, once we sign a fantastic experienced replacement I’ll gladly swallow my words.

Aren't Brentford operating on a similar budget to we were last year? Money talks and we were never going to compete with what Brentford can offer unfortunately.