Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Ending On A High

Andy Dorman has undertaken a number of interviews over the past couple of weeks and has explained how important it is to finish this season strongly and take momentum in to next year. Is the Crystal Palace loanee hinting at wanting to be around next season or simply just suggesting that it's in the best interests of everybody to play well?

The latter I think is certainly the case, but in this instance I'd say Dorman is discretely attempting to alert Mark McGhee of his interest in signing a permanent deal here. The sheer volume of interviews he's done where he's said the same thing, referencing next season, would suggest he wants to stay. He's made no secret of the fact he's enjoyed playing first team football over the past few months after being overlooked for the majority of his time at Palace, so why would he want to go back to Selhurst Park just to sit in the reserves?

Wages would be one reason of course, as would the fact they're a Championship club and we're League Two, but he admitted that "footballers live for games on a Saturday and if Saturday comes around and you're not playing - or you're sitting on the bench - then it's not great. It's been good for me to get out and play and I've enjoyed my time here". I think that says a lot about his hopes for being signed here, but it also shows him as a footballer in a good light - he wants to be playing and is not just content to sit in the stand and take his wages.
Dorman striking the winner in our 1-0 away victory over Rotherham United
Anyway, enough of the speculation on his future. The recent match-winner raises a very valid point and it's vitally important we finish this season strongly in order to push on again next campaign.

We have a number of games coming up over the course of the next 2 months, including a couple of tasty West Country encounters with Swindon Town and Plymouth Argyle, so every player will want to stake their claim for the shirt. Next season could be a big one for the club and everybody's going to want to be a part of it.

All except Joe Anyinsah that is, if reports are to be believed. The winger was hauled off against Torquay for a passionless, effortless second-half substitute appearance and was the subject of some stick from a section of Gasheads for his lack of determination. According to unconfirmed rumours, McGhee was far from happy with the ex-Charlton forward following his display and did confirm in his post-match interview that the player may have a '[problem] with me but I won't comment on that'. One thing is for sure, the gaffer won't accept any player not giving 100% for the team and having witnessed Anyinsah seemingly refusing to put a shift in on Saturday, his days could be numbered. He's failed to live up to the hype that surrounded his summer signing and although he's got the ability, if he's not going to try his best he's not worth keeping. It's all very well having the talent, but you've got to have the desire and hunger to go with it. You can get by, to some degree, without the former, but if you go without the latter two, you have no real future and will get found out very quickly. Unfortunately it seems Anyinsah is one of those players.

His wage must be relatively large for League Two, so along with Byron Anthony and Gary Sawyer who have been rumoured to be among the players McGhee will release (and are also on very good League One wages), they could free up funds for several quality League Two players in the summer. I wouldn't be against this from happening to be honest.

Either way we're still 6 or 7 weeks off the time a retained list will be devised, but you can be sure McGhee and Shaun North are well on their way to deciding who it is they want to keep and who will be shown the exit door. It's going to be interesting to see who survives the player cull.

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