Sadler has my permission and I’m sure a lot on here to talk to as many clubs now as he wants to regards his upcoming employment in the very near future .I will even consider letting him go early .like William and Allen we shouldn’t stand in his way .this is one thing I’m sure all Sadlers In or Out can unite on .
Remember it well. Getting rid of Martin O’Connor was a big mistake. I remember lee saying after a match we need an O’Connor to run through a brick wall for us. placing merson in charge we all know how that went. I think if lee was still in charge he probably would have had the nous to just about keep us up.
God is (apparently) omnipotent so he sees everything.
How do you or anyone else know what really happened? there are an awful lot of folk on here who seem to know what went on between MS and Williams. Maybe Williams did not act properly in the matter or maybe as a lot think MS is automatically to blame. I don’t know what happened myself so until told I will not criticise either Williams or MS. I hope the lad gets a contract sorted soon though whether it be with us or St Mirren or some other outfit.
Agreed mate we simply don’t know. What i will say it was a terrible mistake leaving him out. One of the reasons we lost out on promotion
I find this “How do you or anyone else know what really happened?” Particularly interesting since you stated back in April “If it is true Williams has signed a pre contract agreement with a Scottish Club then I can see why he isn’t playing. He clearly would not be committed to our cause.” I pose the same question to you since you want to defend Sadler by questioning other poster’s assumptions, how do you clearly know that .?
Notice the word"if" my friend .That is the point I didn’t know and neither does anyone else. If it is true then I can see why he wasn’t picked.
It’s a bit disrespectful to assume he wouldn’t be committed to the cause, even if he did think he was leaving at the end of the season. There are different levels of professionalism, but I think most players would be committed to trying to win an honour (League 2) His performances when he did play confirmed this to me. As I said before, he is one of only a few that came out with any credit, in the end.
I’d be amazed if McEntee wasn’t discussing his move at the same time. All went through pretty quickly when the season ended.
The decisions were Sadler’s to make for whatever reasons he chose. Not selecting our best defender must have had some consequences. And he was our best defender, better than Allen at defending, even if not as rounded as a player.
“He clearly would not be committed to our cause.” My friend clearly an assumption on your part .
We know that Mat Sadler said he left out Williams because he felt the other options at his disposal were better. We also know that Sadler was wrong because we conceded more goals with his preferred options in the team than when Williams was in, and generally looked shambolic at defending the most rudimentary situations such as long throw ins.
We conceded just under 2 a game in the spell he was left out and 5 goals in 7 when he came back in.
He wont be the only reason for that but the defence always seemed far better for him being in it.
Whether he was in talks with other teams from January i really doubt that effected his commitment
Well said, JJ. Sadler got a lot right last season, before he got a lot wrong - I hope he learns from his mistakes. But the more that comes out, the more I think the players should take at least half of the blame. And as for Notts County, they are just managing by committee - I struggle to see exactly what say their new manager will have!
Why is that then?
Just asking but is it not possible that Williams was either injured or not in the right state of mind to play?
“How do you or anyone else know what really happened? .”
Point I’m trying to make is some think it’s wrong to make assumptions and have opinions that are negative towards Sadler and call them out on it .
Yet those same people make assumptions and give opinions in positive support of him and that’s fine and don’t like to be called out
And it’s absolutely fine by me this is a forum of personal opinions mostly based on assumptions.
Bit pot kettle black I think
I think it did affect his commitment, and that of the likes of Jellis, McEntee and Stirk. Even if it was only 5-10%, it was enough. I’m sure if you know that you are leaving at the end of the season, your first thought is self-preservation, even if it is a sub-conscious thing: don’t get injured!! I know Williams did get injured, but it wasn’t through going into a full-blooded tackle, he just over-balanced!
Anyway, assuming his injury does mean months out, surely no one would sign him for next season, so he either has a contract with us or nothing. If it is with us, it should be at least be 1+ 1 option in the club’s favour. He is not as fragile as the Priest but he has had his fair share of absences.
If he’d been fully committed it would have been the wall that needed to miss a few matches!
Not even after the Barrow capitulation? Half the team looked like they had jacked it in that day!
I think Sadler left Williams out because he thought it was affecting his performances - Sadler had the opportunity to see Williams in training every day - perhaps he wasn’t putting the effort in and other players were!