Sparkes and Verma leave

[kerswellgull]

People seem to be forgetting all Williams did before Xmas was pick up bookings, never actually busting a gut, but I can understand the manager not having faith in him then
Agree he came good in the end but whether that was his attitude or the playing system who knows

[Dazza]

You can always spot the player leaving by the way they leave the pitch on their final home game. I suspect Nicholson knew that as well which is why he wasn't on the retaining list. Williams the player clearly annoyed/ frustrated Nicholson - that was evident from sitting in the stand as well.

[CP Gull]

How come its KN's mistake??

Actually, I think that's a very fair comment by TLP. Whichever way you cut it, Nicho got it wrong with Brett Williams! EIther he was wrong to sign him in the first place - was it poor research on his part? He SHOULD have known what type of player he is/was (KN himself likened him to Berbatov very early on in the season) before he signed him on what it's safe to assume was a pretty decent wage! Having signed him, he was also WRONG to think he could change a player's attitude/ style of play/work rate .... when the player concerned is 29 years of age!!!! He was also wrong to leave him out of the team for a large part of the season - he is/was our best striker all season (apart from Kieffer Moore) and was easily our best source of goals - to pick the likes of Harrad and Reid ahead of him for a fair chunk of the season was a mistake. He ( and all of the fans too!) should also be grateful for the fact that it was ultimately Brett Williams goals that saved us our NL status - without those, in my honest opinion, we were sunk .... regardless of what Nicho did as Manager in the last couple of months.

At the fans forum back in November/December my brother made some very valid points ( along the lines above) to Nicho about the signing of Williams and was shouted down by some idiot on the front row with a typical "Nicho knows best, that's why he is a Manager and you're not" type of comment ... well in my opinion on this occasion he didn't, and if KN was being totally honest ( and he generally is) I would suggest that the signing/handling of Brett Williams was indeed one of the "loads of mistakes" that he has admitted to making this season!

As for releasing him, well time will tell as to whether that is another mistake by KN. If he brings in a replacement that is cheaper and scores more goals .... well no one is going to complain are they? But, like I say, criticism of Nicho over the whole episode of Brett Williams time at TUFC is perfectly fair in my opinion!

It would be easy to blame GI and the "budget" for Williams moving on but I suspect that ultimately KN chose to offer him less money, safe in the knowledge that he wouldn't accept it. He could surely have "found" the money if he REALLY wanted to keep him? He will also be aware that Williams had become something of a fans favourite amongst certain supporters and had ultimately become something of a "problem" for the Manager and the work ethic within the group (as dictated by Simon Jeffery at Winners!) and so moving him on was almost an inevitable outcome in my honest opinion.

[Burnhamgull]

People seem to be forgetting all Williams did before Xmas was pick up bookings, never actually busting a gut, but I can understand the manager not having faith in him then
Agree he came good in the end but whether that was his attitude or the playing system who knows

Diego Costa picks up bookings regularly but ask any Chelsea fan if they want to get rid of him.

Goal scorers are the hardest thing to find in football and we've just let one go. Disappointing.

[nickbrod]

Letting a proven goalscorer leave is a huge mistake. Let's hope Nicholson has a ready replacement. For me it's the role of the Head of Recruitment who is the key person in all this.

[SBP]

How do we know that KN didn't try to keep Williams, players and managers fall out regularly, there didn't seem to be a problem over the last few months between them. Maybe Williams wanted to be somewhere else or has already been offered a far better deal.
I don't think any of us know how GI and KN go about contracts. Maybe it was KN that didn't want him, I don't know. Maybe Harrops got a 30 goal striker hidden up his jumper??