I wouldn't be. We shooed Wednesday away on the strength of offering Andy a new contract. Not that I'm suggesting results deserve one, but to dangle an incentive in front of someone only to withdraw it at a later date is poor practice.
completely agree mate this is a disasterous position to be in. no coincidence that we put in an apathetic performance today.
Agreed.. contract "offer" just smacked of not letting him go to Fowls. Although GS says if he wanted rid he'd have let him speak to Fowls LOAD OF TOSS
Results have got worse since the Chairman stated he was looking at extending AR's contract. I would think any extended contract now would be utter folly.
We were doing well when it was 'offered'. And Wednesday were kept away because of the 'offer'. So, Ritchie was prevented from speaking to a bigger club (and they are, let's face it) but didn't throw his teddy out of the cot because it was in the understanding he'd be getting better terms. Now the Chairman's not so happy, that no longer stands. Agree about the results, but to be prevented from furthering a career on the strength of a promise that never turned out to be one? I'd be well narked.
No fan of Shepherd's but.. If my memory serves me correctly, I don't remember any suggestion from him that he was going to offer Ritchie another contract. My recollection is that he said words to the effect that there were still 8 months to run on the present contract and he saw no reason to do anything other than had originally been promised, ie to begin talks in the autumn of this year. This promise has now been fulfilled. He rejected Allen's request because he believes that contracts should be honoured. For that reason, I do not expect him to dispense with Ritchie's services before the end of the season. I personally think that may be another mistake but he's the Chairman and both he and the club will (in a business sense) live or die by his decisions.
