Craig Clay

I know this has been debated quite a bit recently, but I'm really surprised and disappointed that Hurst let Craig Clay go.  He's maybe not a world beater, but I think he's solid, does the ugly stuff well, and earned the right to a new contract, personally.  His departure is the only one I'm gutted about, the others made more sense.  In Hurst we trust, of course, but on this occasion I think Clay would have fitted right in with the squad we need for the League 2 battle.  I may be wrong, but I think he deserved the chance to prove himself at League level as he did well for us in the Conference and certainly played his part in a successful season.  I said last season that he deserved to play in the Bristol Rovers final over Scott Brown, and I stand by that.  He stuck his penalty away too, when he did come on......

I really hope he sorts himself out with a good contract, at a good club, at a decent level (top-end conference, minimum, maybe even a League 2 rival).  If you're reading this, Craig, good luck for the future, you were one of my favourite players, and you'll get a good reception from me when you next play at Blundell Park.  Maybe you'll even wear the black and white again one day, who knows.......

UTM.

Agree. He was very solid in the play off final, and that was a game we controlled from the midfield.

It is to be hoped that Hurst has his sights on bringing in experienced L2 or L1 players, but even so I would have thought Clay would be a useful squad member.

I wouldn't be surprised if he ended up at Wrexham.

His agent is Jake Speight who used to play for Wrexham and they have already signed a couple of his players.

Quoted from Les Brechin

I wouldn't be surprised if he ended up at Wrexham.

His agent is Jake Speight who used to play for Wrexham and they have already signed a couple of his players.

Wrexham would be a good fit for him, I'm sure.  Wrexham and Tranmere for promotion next season, I reckon.  Mind you, I never even considered Cheltenham to be a rival last pre-season, so there's bound to be some surprises in there somewhere.

If Clay were to sign for Lincoln, I'd hate them slightly less than normal, but Tranmere or Wrexham is more like what he deserves.

The jake speight who did a bit of bird ?

I think he deserved a chance in the league with Town.
Hope he gets fixed up.
He was a big reason Town were promoted, big thanks and all the best to the lad 👍

Right decision for me. Decent, hard working player but think we can do better. Good luck to him though and he will always be one of the squad that got us back up.

Think he'll end up back at York personally!

My worry is that hurst might've given himself a bit much to do in the transfer market, specially with nolan going, and wanting a bigger squad aswell. Not every signing hurst makes fits into our system, whether its attitude or style, so to be left with one ageing midfielder, means he's gonna have to sign 3, and we surely havn't got the financial backing to be able to sign 3 midfielders who are of the quality that we can be 100% sure they'll be a success, and then to stick one or two of them on the bench alot too.

Think clay would've really appreciated a chance with us even if it had been back up, and the team seemed better with him in. Just expected we'd add a few quality players to our core promotion squad and maintain the good feeling, but now feels like a bit of a rebuild and a leap of faith. Just need the signings to start rolling in and current players to sign their contracts and i'll feel better.

Quoted from Heisenberg

I know this has been debated quite a bit recently, but I'm really surprised and disappointed that Hurst let Craig Clay go.  He's maybe not a world beater, but I think he's solid, does the ugly stuff well, and earned the right to a new contract, personally.  His departure is the only one I'm gutted about, the others made more sense.  In Hurst we trust, of course, but on this occasion I think Clay would have fitted right in with the squad we need for the League 2 battle.  I may be wrong, but I think he deserved the chance to prove himself at League level as he did well for us in the Conference and certainly played his part in a successful season.  I said last season that he deserved to play in the Bristol Rovers final over Scott Brown, and I stand by that.  He stuck his penalty away too, when he did come on......

I really hope he sorts himself out with a good contract, at a good club, at a decent level (top-end conference, minimum, maybe even a League 2 rival).  If you're reading this, Craig, good luck for the future, you were one of my favourite players, and you'll get a good reception from me when you next play at Blundell Park.  Maybe you'll even wear the black and white again one day, who knows.......

UTM.

Decent player, decent pro, decent lad and he will get a decent club. If Scott Brown can get a shirt at Accrington (no disrespect meant to Scott) it's not all over for Craig Clay by a long chalk.

I'd love to know whether PH knew Nolan was leaving before Clay was released. I'm assuming he must have which to my mind means that he must know what his midfield targets are already as I'm sure he wouldn't have risked being so light in that department otherwise..

Every team at every level needs a Craig Clay. Hope Hurst finds us a better one for League Two. Not a player to stand out but last season we were better as a team with him in it..

Why does a non league player need an agent ?

They can apply for a job like the rest of us surely,

This is not having a go at Clay but can not understand the need

If Clay wasn't deemed good enough to hold down a place in the fifth tier, why would we keep him for the fourth tier? Have we forgotten a week last Sunday?

Quoted from ginnywings

Right decision for me. Decent, hard working player but think we can do better. Good luck to him though and he will always be one of the squad that got us back up.

I agree with this. Clay did a good job but at times was a little slow in thinking and was dispossessed and hurried. A step up and he may have been found out a bit more.

Several times during the last couple of years Hurst tried to r place him until he finally got Nolan in.

No disrespect to Craig whatsoever, he played his part and I wish him every success in his career

Quoted from 672[b

]Why does a non league player need an agent ?
[/b]
They can apply for a job like the rest of us surely,

This is not having a go at Clay but can not understand the need

They need agents for weeks like this.......  

Well i have this gut feeling he's alreaxy offer deals to Josh Payne and Nicky Deverdicks 😋

Quoted from Meza

Well i have this gut feeling he's alreaxy offer deals to Josh Payne and Nicky Deverdicks 😋

Hasn't Payne already been signed by a L1 club?

Quoted from RonMariner

Hasn't Payne already been signed by a L1 club?

My bad. he is still at Eastleigh.

No Ron he was released.  The other Payne from Dover joined Barnsley.

Quoted from Meza

No Ron he was released.  The other Payne from Dover joined Barnsley.

Ah! Cheers.

I thought I must have dreamt it  

Think josh Payne is signing for Crawley

Craig's stats:

With Clay in starting 11:

Won 50%
Lost 20%
Average points: 1.8 per game(would have finished 3rd over season)

Without Clay in starting 11:

Won 43.75%
Lost 25%
Average points 1.625 per game(would have finished 8th over season)

Plus we won both play off games which Clay started

I'd liked to have seen Clay stay.

Quoted from Bigdog

Every team at every level needs a Craig Clay. Hope Hurst finds us a better one for League Two. Not a player to stand out but last season we were better as a team with him in it..

Like Bobby Mitchell and Phil Bonnyman in other eras.  Nothing fancy but allowed others around them to play.

Solid performer who got stuck in Lincoln would not suit him much (do they use a midfield) but best of luck Craig you helped us out same goes for Robertson. Good solid performers that do the basics and don't let you down.

I was that mad when Craig was released I said I wasn,t going to renew my season ticket.  I have now calmed down a bit. I will be renewing but am still very disillusioned with the way he has been treated, not just now but through the season. It seems to me that Hurst only played him when he had to and was always looking for ways not to play him e.g. loan signing of Robinson. But that is all in the past, Hurst has other players in mind. I will follow Clays career and wish him all the best, and hope to see him at B.P. again no matter what colour shirt he is wearing.

I really liked him as a player and personally would have kept him for my League 2 squad. I guess PH possibly offered him a squad place but spelled out he would not be first choice and that`s the reason he has been let go?Good luck Craig.

I guess if he kept him but he wasn't going to be in his first eleven, then he wouldn't have offered a contract to  Venney. No one really knows how much Dis will play this season either or whether we will primarily set up 442 or 433.

Quoted from BackHeelTony

Craig's stats:

With Clay in starting 11:

Won 50%
Lost 20%
Average points: 1.8 per game(would have finished 3rd over season)

Without Clay in starting 11:

Won 43.75%
Lost 25%
Average points 1.625 per game(would have finished 8th over season)

Plus we won both play off games which Clay started

On the face of it, a very compelling set of stats and an argument i have heard used by a few Clay proponents, but i'm not buying it. No way is Clay that influential a player and if he was, he wouldn't have been released. There were obviously other factors, which are being overlooked. Anyway, it's irrelevant now as he has moved on.

Good guy, decent player, but we need to up our standard of players now.

The problem I had with Clay is that, whenever the ball came near him, he was often slow to respond and when we needed to increase the tempo of our play from midfield he usually slowed it down almost to the point of going into reverse.

Maybe a 'good lad' and a 'steady player' but we need better centre midfield players with more pace and vision.

UTM

To compete at the right end in league two paul hurst has got it spot on with craig.

He realises he isnt dealing in the bargain basement next  season and players like craig will do a job in the conference but league football might be a bit much.

Quoted from ginnywings

On the face of it, a very compelling set of stats and an argument i have heard used by a few Clay proponents, but i'm not buying it. No way is Clay that influential a player and if he was, he wouldn't have been released. There were obviously other factors, which are being overlooked. Anyway, it's irrelevant now as he has moved on.

Think the stats show that we didn't have anyone else to do the unglamorous (but necessary) midfield work Clay got through - it usually fell to the already-too-much-expected-of-him skipper to fill the void.
Nothing against Craig who generally put in a solid shift for the team, but I'd be amazed if PH can't find someone who can do that for us in L2 who's (a) quicker, or (b) stronger in the air, or (c) a more creative passer [how many assists for Clay last season?], or (d) got more goals in him.
Ideally - all the above!

This football management lark is a piece of urine (at the computer keyboard), isn't it?  

I quite like looking at these stats for players but of course they don't tell the whole story. Were we not supposed to be having that system installed at Blundell Park that monitored individual players on the pitch. I forget what it was called, or did I just make that up?

I like Clay, thought he was our best player at times in his first season.  I'm sorry to see him go but in a way pleased because it shows the level of improvement Hurst is looking to make for next season.

I too am disapointed to see Craig go. Lots of comments that he wasn't that influential yet during his 2 seasons here he was in the team when we thrashed Gateshead and Alfreton in consecutive games and this season the 7-0 demolition of Halifax and the 5-0 against Altringham. I think he was very underated and I for one will miss him.

Quoted from KK_DOG

I quite like looking at these stats for players but of course they don't tell the whole story. Were we not supposed to be having that system installed at Blundell Park that monitored individual players on the pitch. I forget what it was called, or did I just make that up?

I think the system was called  " EYES  "

Quoted from KK_DOG

I quite like looking at these stats for players but of course they don't tell the whole story. Were we not supposed to be having that system installed at Blundell Park that monitored individual players on the pitch. I forget what it was called, or did I just make that up?

ProZone?

Good excuse to bring up an excellent article from a few years back https://www.theguardian.com/fo.....anagers-data-winning

Good read.... This bit stuck out for me. Sounds very much Like Paul Hurst.

Martínez, and his chief scouts Reeves and Brown, find the suggestion that they would buy a player because of their numbers pretty funny. "You need to see a player and fall in love with a player," says Martínez. "When you see a player, you'll watch his warm-up, the way he speaks to the referee, the way he speaks to other team-mates after missing a chance, the way he celebrates a goal, the way his team-mates react when he scores. Data might help you narrow the margin of error, but the decision is still a feeling. It's a gut instinct."

Sorry to see Craig Clay leave Grimsby town. great lad always put his heart into the club. will miss him in the squad, good luck for the future Craig.

Quoted from lady53

Sorry to see Craig Clay leave Grimsby town. great lad always put his heart into the club. will miss him in the squad, good luck for the future Craig.

Do not worry Mrs Clay, Craig will get himself fixed up with a good club.

I too warmed to Clay after his initial start never a lazy player and always gave his all, had he taken all his chances that fell to him in front of goal he would still be here, I think without being too harsh that a step up for him would have been difficult though, good luck Craig

Seemed scared to shoot - main part of the game that was missing !

Has he got fixed up yet? Some of those released don't seem to have been snapped up by other clubs. York seem to be losing players hand over fist for example?

Quoted from Welwynmariner

Has he got fixed up yet? Some of those released don't seem to have been snapped up by other clubs. York seem to be losing players hand over fist for example?

York off loading expensive league players to folk on coast, and signing cheaper non league players I believe