West Stand Mancmonurz
“We shall see what happens this week. There is a possibility that there will be talks between Alex, his representative and Nick Hammond. When I first made the decision to leave Alex out (his contract situation) had no bearing whatsoever.
“Alex has a choice to make and so does his agent. Sean Morrison is now in the team, proved a point and proved he can play at this level. [i]He is very much in contention to play because we know he can do it. He’s committed and has a three-year deal.”[/i]
The implication is pretty obvious here.
Not to me. There are 2 issues raised in that statement. One is that Alex Pearce is in discussion over a new contract. The other is that he is in the squad but not in the team. I do sense that there is a lot of supposition in many of the stories that excite so much attention of here and that this might also be such a case.
As has been said, we are not in a great position in the league at the moment. Why would any manager not pick a player he thought was best for the team simply because he might not have him in th squad in 2 - 3 months time? Maybe, just maybe, in this case the manager doesn't think he is the best option at present? We may not agree but we don't pick the team.
Well put mate.
And it could well be that the reason why Brian doesn't think Alex is the best option is because of the player's reaction to the "sounding out" by bigger, rival clubs. His "head" could be in the wrong place. Sidwell saw life beyond Reading, and dealt with it positively. Other players we had at the time didn't.
For me, having the manager mention by name a rival for Alex's shirt in an interview about Alex speaks volumes. Brian's rattling sabres.