Josh Hancock has signed for First Division North Champions Salford City.
Shades of the pre-season where JV left and it all fell apart this. Where we were eventually left with Pritch and Rod Thornley.
Josh was a bad piece of business (I like the lad and his family) but his coming back was an expensive mistake and unsettled other players at the time.
For what its worth and my two penneth I’d be amazed if Titch stayed and I’d still be surprised if Danny Andrews stays they’re both better than this standard and unless we’re making a strong statement of intent to get promoted at the first attempt why should they stay?
Just hope the new manager gets HIS players in and gets them gelling early and anyone who doesn’t really want to stay, the club should allow to leave PDQ then we can get on with the pre-season with a hint of a settled and more importantly organised squad.
During discussions with manager Scott Dundas, Josh had informed him that he did not want to drop down to Evo-Stik Division One North level again and was in fact, looking to play at Conference North level.
Josh wishes the club well in the future and hopes to see us moving back in the right direction again very soon.
Danny Andrews has already committed to the next two years with the club, he signed the new contract towards the end of last season.
Witton Albion Manager Scott Dundas, has today confirmed two more additions to his squad for next season.
21 year old Nathan Valentine joins the club after featuring for AFC Liverpool in the North West Counties League last season. He has also played for Leek Town. Nathan has played at Conference North level, is primarily a central midfielder who is equally at home in the centre of the defence. He is delighted to be signing for Witton Albion Football Club and we welcome him to the club.
The second signing is a familiar face to all Witton Albion supporters.
Following discussions with the Chairman & Witton Albion Manager, Scott Dundas the club have agreed terms with Anthony Gardner, who will officially re-sign for the club on July 1st.
Scott is delighted to have Gards back at the club as he rates him one of the best full backs at this level. Anthony, wants to be a part of the club again and has unfinished business here at Witton. He said "the past is the past and I just want to kick on now and to put this club back where they belong
Welcome back Gards ! Please to see a line drawn under that whole sorry mess.
What position does Nathan play?
Overall it looks like we are getting a solid squad together, both on and off the pitch :clap
Nathan is primarily a midfielder but can play at the back quite comfortably also.
a lad i work with knows scott and says he’ll get a team spirit at the club.thats got to be worth 10-15 points a season.
Gards back is great news, everyone is allowed to make a mistake and he will be without doubt the best fullback in that league we are certainly building a stronger squad that should be good to watch.
I certainly won’t be welcoming him back with open arms.
A fantastic player at this level? Yes.
Do I want him back after his conduct and disrespect towards the club last season? No.
Baffling.
There are 2 sides to a story and a disagreement, Gards problem was with Sully and his assistant not the club ! if not then I don’t think Mark would have him back.
So no apology required then?
“Sorry that all of my Saturdays were ‘booked up’ whilst you got relegated. I’m back now though so oh well, let’s move on.”
Doesn’t need to apologise to me ! Once Gards had been disciplined by the club and the dispute with the manager escalated then it would seem there was no way back for Gards under Sully, if Sully had left ! then I think Gards may have played again, of course there are 2 sides to the story but Gards never called or fell out with the club, I think proven by him signing again when he could easily play at a higher level and probably for more money !
I’m with Pegger on this one. No matter what you think of Sully he was trying to keep us up, as were the rest of the players and the fans and volunteers etc. Gards wasn’t.
If he’d played instead of sitting at home maybe we’d still be in the premier. But judging from his statement he isn’t sorry and wants to ‘kick on’.
Bit late for that but good to know that all our hard work to raise funds for the club will go towards paying his wages next season. Makes you think twice about bothering.
As long as he wears the shirt ill support the team but sometimes it seems like we just bend over and take shit from anyone and everyone because we’re nice little Witton. Tuck, Rushe, now Gards. What does someone have to do before we refuse to have anything to do with them?
[quote=“Left Pegger” post=59011]So no apology required then?
“Sorry that all of my Saturdays were ‘booked up’ whilst you got relegated. I’m back now though so oh well, let’s move on.”[/quote]
Yes it would have been nice to see a “sorry wittoners I don’t want to play for sully” rather than a “i’m chilling at home on the playstation” on social media Saturday afternoons as we slipped further and further towards our ultimate doom. There’s no doubt he’s a good player for the level we’re at but I kinda thought we’d moved on. Lets hope he doesn’t jump ship again.
As far as I’m aware, the vast majority of the players were fully on Sullivan’s side following the altercation. Even players that Gardner had played along side for several seasons. I think that says a hell of a lot about who was ‘in the wrong’.
Witton Albion FC, the nice guys that are constantly walked all over.
And how dare any of us question any of Mark’s decisions over the last couple of seasons! :whistle:
Just when I was thinking you know what Dundas might just workout at Witton, and then bang another Harris clueless decision smacks me in the face, to be honest the whole Tuck thing was out of our control it was the fact Shaun is brain dead, but Gardner had the chance to come back on his own accord I spoke to Sully (who for the record is one of the most genuine people I have ever met) after the incident and he didn’t go into details but that Gardner would be welcome back, and I know who’s side I believe!
Why couldn’t we just draw a line and start a fresh? With the fans getting behind a new regime? Instead we start the season with the fans divided over a player, it’s unbelievable that Harris just never seems to learn!!!
Don’t want him back agree with Ste and the others.
Gards is a quality player who clearly loves the bones of the club. What happened last season is history, water under the bridge and time to move on. Mark Harris has agreed to take Gards back on and that’s good enough for me. Welcome back Gards best bit of business to date in my opinion adding true quality to the back line. This assembly of players is looking very promising ans hopefully Titch will agree a new deal which would be the icing on the cake.
No point getting worked up its the way we do things. We’ll just get the usual mistakes have been made, but we all need to pull in the same direction to get the club progressing. Meaning show blind faith and give us your money.
Great news that Gards is back in the fold. A quality player, who was in a position that we all did not want. IE playing under a totally useless manager in Sully. Yes maybe a nice guy but simply was not up to the job, a point that Gards was fully aware of. So welcome back Gards. Now let us all get behind the manager and the team, because it is looking very promising for next season.