RND new contract

[Wards]

I think the contract was a 'reward' for us paying him little more than peanuts on his last contract. Probably some way of ensuring he makes a few quid before retiring or dropping down the pyramid. Onbviously can't say with certaintly but it feels like there was an element of sentiment or pity in dishing that out.

 

[Blade56]

When he was on the up and looking like a PL prospect the deal was a shrewd move to tie him down or cash in. If we hadn’t tied him down, he hadn’t had career ending injury and seen out his contract we would all be complaining.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing. Really sad for the lad, hope same fate doesn’t hamper Arblaster

 

[S64 Blade]

Can’t really add much more than has been said. The injury seemed to end his career at a top level. Missed out on going to the World Cup with Wales and then hasn’t been nowhere near the same since returning for us. Odd he was given as contract for so long.

 

[Nick Jansky]

When he was on the up and looking like a PL prospect the deal was a shrewd move to tie him down or cash in. If we hadn’t tied him down, he hadn’t had career ending injury and seen out his contract we would all be complaining.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing. Really sad for the lad, hope same fate doesn’t hamper Arblaster

The current 3 year deal was offered and signed less than 10 months ago as he was coming back from the 2nd potentially career ending injury. Had it been offered before the 1st one, or even a shorter deal before the 2nd one, it would have been more understandable. As it is, it was a strange deal. Only right that we honour it, but looks like another Wilder masterstroke.

 

[Slim Man]

Well, we don’t have much choice with that anyway given that he still has 2 years. I hope he can get back, but we’ll see.

Get back to what? He's a mile off what we have now at left back, and he's not a centre half. He's a left centre half in a 3 at best.

 

[Gin&Juice]

Keep him. He loves a pint and has a UK passport.

 

[Davalon]

Hope I'm wrong but I believe RND is done in league football, in this country anyway.

Feel really sorry for the lad because he had the potential pre-injuries to play top Champ, maybe even low PL, for years to come. He'll also have made little from the game in relative terms for the level he 's played at.

Everything I've heard points this way and more notably, what I've seen with my own eyes backs it up.

I think we can all agree that we've had a few years where there's justifiable questions about the conditioning of players and the amount of soft tissue injuries, but some players have also had some cruel luck in that time too.

 

[dexter101]

If we can get him fit again, we may at least get a transfer fee for him?

I know it probably shouldn't mean much but if I was a youngster and I saw a club "looking after" it's players as opposed to turfing them out when they get injured, might make the difference to where I choose to sign.

 

[loyalblade95]

If we can get him fit again, we may at least get a transfer fee for him?

I know it probably shouldn't mean much but if I was a youngster and I saw a club "looking after" it's players as opposed to turfing them out when they get injured, might make the difference to where I choose to sign.

Hope so, as any sort of fee for him is pure profit as he is an academy player.

We looked after O'Connell while he was injured, pretty sure he was given full use of Shirecliffe facilities to help his recovery.

He only retired in 2023 following the expiry of his contract, after we got promoted to the PL (just under 3 yrs after his injury?), he still kept the No. 5 shirt all that time as well.

 

[robbiez666]

If we can get him fit again, we may at least get a transfer fee for him?

I know it probably shouldn't mean much but if I was a youngster and I saw a club "looking after" it's players as opposed to turfing them out when they get injured, might make the difference to where I choose to sign.

I doubt we'd get anything more than a token fee for him unless he proves he can play games again at this level. His wages will be more than any fee.

 

[Badger Blade]

If he gets through his injuries, he might do alright in L2 but his days at this level and for Wales I feel are sadly long gone

 

[bonobo]

He was a talented player on the up, who we had invested in. Players do make recoveries from pretty rough injuries these days. Brewster remained fit for most of last season without any re-occurence, having played very little football foe the previous 2 years. I doubt we are paying RND a fortune, so dont see it as such a bad move to offer him the contract we did at the time. I would not write his career off because of his performance last season, but I would also be surprised if he has much future with us, whatever happens its going to take time and we are likely to moved on, by the time his contract is up at the end of next year.

 

[John Street West Terrace]

We got the best out of him as a left sided centre back under Hecky but after the injury at Hull he hasn’t looked anything like the player he used to be . He’s never really had enough pace for me a full back . I’ve gotta say I’m very surprised we offered him a new contract , there’s no sentiment in business & he’s taking up wages that could have been reinvested from my perspective