Still baffles me as to why we let him go at the end of the prem season. I’m still angry about it even after all these years. What other players baffled you, that the reds let go (not transferred to another club like Ashley Ward)? Got to be someone who the reds released.
It's not always about what the club wants though is it,more often than not it's about what the player wants. Can't remember the details but he could have been at the end of his contract and didn't want to renew after we'd been relegated. Probably knew he could get a better contract elsewhere. He left us in 1999 and joined Wigan that year, must have been when their chairman was chucking his money about
Did he not join pompey after us? Or was that after Wigan? Your right joined Wigan then pompey after that.
If you listen to Hammill's Undr the Cosh interview, he explains why he was released at the end of that season. To be honest he was treated quite shabbily.
I've always felt there was a different motive as to why Steele was released. I'm sure it happens at other clubs too, but we seem to have too many examples of treating some of our legends in a pretty shoddy way. Though probably more examples of players treating the club and fans in an even shoddier way.
John Stones to Everton, at the time i thought they've got a worldie, what a fantastic credit to the Club an Tarn.
Then joined Wigan again after Portsmouth... He is a legend at all 3 clubs. Not many achieve that - although Liddell (also Wigan & Oldham) and Paul Futcher (Luton & Grimsby) also did.
From a slightly different perspective, I will always be mystified as to why we didn’t sign Russell Latapy when we had him on trial. I saw him playing in a reserve game during his trial, and he was clearly a special player. Hendrie reckoned he was too much like Marcelle (who was actually a friend of his). A few years later I heard Terry Butcher, commenting on a European game, where Latapy was playing for Glasgow Rangers, state that Latapy was the ‘only genuinely world class player on show’.
Eaden, Arjan. Liddell (I ******* loved Liddell). Breaking that team up was crazy. Fjortoft. Stuart Gray. Mark Robinson John Beresford Carl Tiler. - Clive Baker
I always feel sad that my hero, Brendan was let go when he was. Would have been great to have him as part of the legendary promotion squad.
The John Stones that Cryne said they didnt know how good he was and were worried nobody else would offer decent money for him - even afer Hassel had outed him as a rolls royce of a defender in the chron.... man dont get me going on that one.
Don't get me started on Cryne The Winnall and Hourihane contract debacle. Hourihane. "Never offered a new contract". Cryne, "never offered him or Winnall contracts because he knew they wouldn't sign them". When Hourihane left. Cryne "the club offered Hourihane the highest paid contract they'd ever offered a player but Aston Villa were too big an opportunity for him to turn down". Those statements cant all be true.
I remember being surprised when George Williams was released. I know he spent the first half of the 15/16 season on loan at Barrow but he played most games after he came back in that fantastic 2nd half of the season. Unless I'm missing something?