To me its common sense

Alan gave his all for this club and owes us nothing, he`s got what he desired a move down South into a league team and we in return have received a more than adequate fee for him.
I hope that he continues to score for them as he did for us and I for one will keep a weather eye on his progress, full marks need to go to JF for his astute business in closing this deal and holding out for something that satisfies both club and player.
As a matter of interest it would nice to know the thoughts of a poll of Fishy`s regarding this transfer

I think its a good deal for Grimsby + Alan, he wanted the move and after he knew there was inteerest, bang. Like everybody else does? But i think we need another goalscorer up there, because its going to look empty up front without him. Oh well. Promotion still is ours.

Good move but don't understand all the malarky about him wanting to move back down south, maybe if he was that concerned he shouldn't have moved up here...

No brainer for me, decent money, he wanted to go there and he can't hurt us! fair play fenty. We have the poor mans tevez anyway (hearn) lol

Quoted from Garth

Alan gave his all for this club and owes us nothing, he`s got what he desired a move down South into a league team and we in return have received a more than adequate fee for him.
I hope that he continues to score for them as he did for us and I for one will keep a weather eye on his progress, full marks need to go to JF for his astute business in closing this deal and holding out for something that satisfies both club and player.
As a matter of interest it would nice to know the thoughts of a poll of Fishy`s regarding this transfer

I think it is a good deal all round,

We have got a good fee , Connell has got his wish and Swindon have got a good player,

Connell was never going to repeat last seasons goals total imo,  the managers have some money to bring a quality striker in,

IF  they think we need one.

Good luck to the lad hope he scores a bag full for them hope he remembers he was one of the best forwards at B.P and a big thanks to Neil Woods

Hope he never scores again.
He has had the most succesful season on a personal note of his career and wants away despite having a season left to run, shows no loyalty so i neither shall i. Thanks A.C but hope you rot in the reserves.

Quoted from moosey_club

Hope he never scores again.
He has had the most succesful season on a personal note of his career and wants away despite having a season left to run, shows no loyalty so i neither shall i. Thanks A.C but hope you rot in the reserves.

There is no loyalty in football anymore - money talks nowadays!

There will always be the brain deads who think the club should have kept him, whether he wanted to go or not.

as good as he was for us he didnt seem to work as well with the new formation employed by the bosses

Quoted from The Grim Reaper

There will always be the brain deads who think the club should have kept him, whether he wanted to go or not.

I don't think that stance is brain dead at all.  Did Connell sign for Town last pre-season because he wanted to play for GTFC, or so he could fill in a gap in his career because Bournemouth didn't want him?  The former will have been the case face-to-face with Woods and Fenty, but the actual truth will have been the opposite.  Let's not kid ourselves that Connell was the finished article straight out of the blocks; I'd imagine that, as maligned as he is, Woods the coach had a lot to do with Connell improving as a player.  Town would never have got him if he was as good a year ago as he is now.

Connell might not owe GTFC anything, but if that's the case he should have signed a 1-year deal and he would have left us today with our blessing, even if it was for free.  I don't think he's shown us any respect this pre-season at all.

Quoted from samg

There is no loyalty in football anymore - money talks nowadays!

There is....... fans!!

Disappointed fans are turning on Connell - do you really think the club wanted him here on his wages ?  I don't !

In terms of their words and actions they certainly didn't throw the boat out to encourage him to stay.
Bottom line, we could have said "not for sale end of" and we'd have got a good year out of him.

Same old story, blame the player never the club.  

Quoted from 1600

Disappointed fans are turning on Connell - do you really think the club wanted him here on his wages ?  I don't !

In terms of their words and actions they certainly didn't throw the boat out to encourage him to stay.
Bottom line, we could have said "not for sale end of" and we'd have got a good year out of him.

Same old story, blame the player never the club.  

why hasnt connell been in the papers then , saying please please dont sell me i want to stay here

Quoted from 0ld timer

why hasnt connell been in the papers then , saying please please dont sell me i want to stay here

Probably because he's a professional footballer who wants to play at the highest level he can. At his age he wants a last chance to show he can "cut it" at League level, not unreasonably IMO.

I think AC has maintained a dignified silence this close season, and he gets credit from me for that. I get rather tired of footballers spitting out their dummy and running to the press to air their grievances.

BTW, does anyone know if Town's contract contains a clause forbidding players to speak to the press without the club's permission?

I read a fair bit about loyalty - but how loyal are the fans to the player? One minute he's God and the next they're calling him for leaving. AC goes with my sincere best wishes, and my thanks for helping GTFC avoid a sticky relegation fight in its first season in the BSP.

Quoted from CarlitoBrigante

I don't think that stance is brain dead at all.  Did Connell sign for Town last pre-season because he wanted to play for GTFC, or so he could fill in a gap in his career because Bournemouth didn't want him?  The former will have been the case face-to-face with Woods and Fenty, but the actual truth will have been the opposite.  Let's not kid ourselves that Connell was the finished article straight out of the blocks; I'd imagine that, as maligned as he is, Woods the coach had a lot to do with Connell improving as a player. Town would never have got him if he was as good a year ago as he is now.

Connell might not owe GTFC anything, but if that's the case he should have signed a 1-year deal and he would have left us today with our blessing, even if it was for free.  I don't think he's shown us any respect this pre-season at all.

Please, please tell me you're joking.

Alan Connell did a quality job on the field last year.

He can't help being homesick - ask any travelling contractor if they want to work away from home for months at a time... no ...they work for the money !

Move on - good fee in the bank... good business for GTFC..... now the fans want another striker in his place.

Too early to tell if Hearn is the man... we may need to dip into the market to strengthen the front line.

There are several good strikers at this level and just below who are itching to move from their present clubs to either play higher or go full time.

We don't know the inner workings of H&S but they have lined up good players so far..... on paper... perhaps their pc's have been sending mails to interested parties behind the scenes this week , knowing that Connell was going... they don't seem to advertise until deals are signed and sealed... that's good in my book!

Proof will begin today! I hope the game is played in a serious manner, but with no injuries picked up.

I'll be interested in fan comments on today's game when they have seen a live situation against higher opposition.

Quoted from moosey_club

Hope he never scores again.
He has had the most succesful season on a personal note of his career and wants away despite having a season left to run, shows no loyalty so i neither shall i. Thanks A.C but hope you rot in the reserves.

HE probably wanted to get away from all you MORONS that slag him off

good luck to AC and a big thank you his goals total last season will be a target for a while,  he has been a class act and dignified throughout his time here, a marked contrast to some of the dross we have signed in the past few years,we will miss him but I for one can`t blame him for wanting to play at a higher level especially at his age , his goals for us have earned him a decent contract and town a decent fee. Wishing connell all the best for the future

Quoted from codcheeky

good luck to AC and a big thank you his goals total last season will be a target for a while,  he has been a class act and dignified throughout his time here, a marked contrast to some of the dross we have signed in the past few years,we will miss him but I for one can`t blame him for wanting to play at a higher level especially at his age , his goals for us have earned him a decent contract and town a decent fee. Wishing connell all the best for the future

Well said, don`t see any reason whatsoever to slag him off, I hope he scores another 20 plus for Swindon

Not really bothered what he does at Swindon he just joins our enormous list of ex's. Time to move on.

Thanks AC... you gave us a good year for nothing , and have given us a good return on your departure...

hope you come back to us with Swindon in the FA Cup and we stuff you...     

Quoted from SNOOZE

HE probably wanted to get away from all you MORONS that slag him off

Where and when did i slag him off?

Quoted from moosey_club

There is....... fans!!

Unfortunately even fans aren't loyal nowadays. If Town are going for the Championship, what do you think the attendances will be at the end of the season compared to a 9/10th place finish. Even some fans will only support success and I know a few myself.

Quoted from 1600

Disappointed fans are turning on Connell - do you really think the club wanted him here on his wages ?  I don't !

In terms of their words and actions they certainly didn't throw the boat out to encourage him to stay.
Bottom line, we could have said "not for sale end of" and we'd have got a good year out of him.

Same old story, blame the player never the club.  

I think that on this instance NOBODY has to take any blame. Alan wanted to play at a higher level and it appears we got a decent fee for a player who only had 1 year left on his contract and had a record of 1 good goalscoring season. He could have scored 10 next year, he could have scored 30, he could have broke his leg. Who knows, it's all a lot of if's,but's and maybe's now.
I don't know if he would fit into this 433 formation that Hurst was going on about in the Gy Telegraph (can't really see him being an Anelka, Drogba or Malouda type player  ) I can see all the other forwards fitting in. (we may very well see Eagle as our own Malouda  )

Quoted from GrimRob

Not really bothered what he does at Swindon he just joins our enormous list of ex's. Time to move on.

GTFC: the footballing slag.

Quoted from tashee69

Unfortunately even fans aren't loyal nowadays. If Town are going for the Championship, what do you think the attendances will be at the end of the season compared to a 9/10th place finish. Even some fans will only support success and I know a few myself.

Well they are not fans are they, fans - short for fanatic , Adj.     1.     fanatic - marked by excessive enthusiasm for and intense devotion to a cause or idea; 2.fanatic - a person motivated by irrational enthusiasm (as for a cause); 3.a person whose enthusiasm or zeal for something is extreme or beyond normal limits

the ones you describe are glory hunters, end of. Dont care when they first attended a game its attendance through the barren years that count.

Quoted from mariner91

GTFC: the footballing slag.

I love that !! Worthy of a flag and an unofficial club crest.

Quoted from tashee69

I don't know if he would fit into this 433 formation that Hurst was going on about in the Gy Telegraph (can't really see him being an Anelka, Drogba or Malouda type player  ) I can see all the other forwards fitting in. (we may very well see Eagle as our own Malouda  )

I'd like someone to explain to me how a 4-3-3 formation matters when you've got a striker knocking a large proportion of his goals in from 25+ yards, not that I understand the rationale anyway. Does anybody have any idea why he wouldn't fit into a 4-3-3 ?

As for the GET piece(thanks for reminding me to read), another carefully crafted piece of propaganda with all the right boxes ticked.

"Hurst said: "Alan handed in a transfer request yesterday morning and it moved very quickly from there."

I bet it did !!!  

"There has been a lot of speculation and attention on one player in the media."

A reasonable amount of it was from Hursts own mouth - "Bosses deny issue with top man Alan" indeed !  

"It's possibly been a little unfair on the rest of the team."

Ah well, too late now, he's gone...  

"After Alan had handed in a transfer request, it made it more difficult for us because if we then turn the offer down you are left with a player who doesn't want to be here."

How convenient he put in a tranfer request right at the last minute. Makes you wonder why he didn't before...

"He wouldn't have been in the right state of mind and that's the last thing we wanted."
I just don't buy that - not only was he considered a model professional by many but pretty sure Fenty started the ball rolling by saying words to the same effect at the backend of last season even before Connell said he was happy to stay here at the POTY awards.
Of course I accept it's entirely possible that Alan himself wanted away all along, but again, why didn't he hand in a transfer request beforehand ?

"It's hard to replace those goals if he goes and would cost us a lot of money to do so."
So is you're gonna spend the money why sell in the first place ?
Because he wouldn't have been happy, I forgot.
Well according to his twitter he was happy right up until the moment an acceptable offer came in.
Geez, what a terrible bit of "sods law" bad luck at the last moment for GTFC !

Now I'll be opening myself up for abuse here(doesn't really bother me so fire away if you so wish) but I want to be honest.
I do feel slightly guilty because I know many fans don't agree with me/hate me/like me talking about it, I didn't actually want go on about it all again.
But frankly, giving fans the whole dog and pony show in the media to paint themselves as helpless victims with tied hands makes me slightly annoyed.
And yes, after today it still do still think we'll miss Alan.
For what it's worth, I won't go out of my way to say any more about it unless someone wishes to have a debate (until the fans forum should anything else crop up).
At least that will please most fans.

just because we (may have) made £100k+ for connell doesn't mean it's a good deal for the club.  i'd argue that losing your 30 goal a season striker and best player just before the new season starts is not a good deal whatever the club.  as for fenty being astute, jesus wept...

Quoted from moosey_club

There is....... fans!!

If that was the case then where are the missing thousands from a few seasons back ? Or more to the point the 25,000 who went to see the JPT final ?

Quoted from 1600

I'd like someone to explain to me how a 4-3-3 formation matters when you've got a striker knocking a large proportion of his goals in from 25+ yards, not that I understand the rationale anyway. Does anybody have any idea why he wouldn't fit into a 4-3-3 ?

As for the GET piece(thanks for reminding me to read), another carefully crafted piece of propaganda with all the right boxes ticked.

"Hurst said: "Alan handed in a transfer request yesterday morning and it moved very quickly from there."

I bet it did !!!  

"There has been a lot of speculation and attention on one player in the media."

A reasonable amount of it was from Hursts own mouth - "Bosses deny issue with top man Alan" indeed !  

"It's possibly been a little unfair on the rest of the team."

Ah well, too late now, he's gone...  

"After Alan had handed in a transfer request, it made it more difficult for us because if we then turn the offer down you are left with a player who doesn't want to be here."

How convenient he put in a tranfer request right at the last minute. Makes you wonder why he didn't before...

"He wouldn't have been in the right state of mind and that's the last thing we wanted."
I just don't buy that - not only was he considered a model professional by many but pretty sure Fenty started the ball rolling by saying words to the same effect at the backend of last season even before Connell said he was happy to stay here at the POTY awards.
Of course I accept it's entirely possible that Alan himself wanted away all along, but again, why didn't he hand in a transfer request beforehand ?

"It's hard to replace those goals if he goes and would cost us a lot of money to do so."
So is you're gonna spend the money why sell in the first place ?
Because he wouldn't have been happy, I forgot.
Well according to his twitter he was happy right up until the moment an acceptable offer came in.
Geez, what a terrible bit of "sods law" bad luck at the last moment for GTFC !

Now I'll be opening myself up for abuse here(doesn't really bother me so fire away if you so wish) but I want to be honest.
I do feel slightly guilty because I know many fans don't agree with me/hate me/like me talking about it, I didn't actually want go on about it all again.
But frankly, giving fans the whole dog and pony show in the media to paint themselves as helpless victims with tied hands makes me slightly annoyed.
And yes, after today it still do still think we'll miss Alan.
For what it's worth, I won't go out of my way to say any more about it unless someone wishes to have a debate (until the fans forum should anything else crop up).
At least that will please most fans.

If you honestly believe that a player who has been denied a dream move back to the FL,with a club nearer his roots is just going to shrug it off and knuckle down to life in the BSP,then you are more stupid than i thought.

He may not have put in an official tranfer request 'til this move surfaced but he has always wanted away and expressed an interest to do so at the end of the season if the right deal came along for all concerned parties.The Swindon move was that right deal and the club were right to go with it.

I really can't see what going over every utterance from the player and club will achieve.I didn't want him to go but he has and that's football in a nutshell.

Think it's about time we all forgot about Connell,said thanks for his goals and the cash we made on him and moved on.

Quoted from moosey_club

its attendance through the barren years that count.

Yes, there's something to be said for that.  It could be a definition of loyalty...and also madness, perhaps.

Quoted from tashee69

we may very well see Eagle as our own Malouda

Even counting myself as a bit of a Rob Eagle fan I found this a somewhat incredible comparison