Aden Flint - Badly Treated? (Too many merges to mention)

[AppyDAZE]

When you eye up a sideways move and all for money (nothing wrong, his choice), this is the risk you run. Bristol City FC completely in the right.

[Cowshed]

8 minutes ago, Taz said:

So you know for certain that it's the club that wants rid, and not Flint that wants to "look at the options" so to speak?

Paid thousands of pounds a week and treated unfairly? I'd take that over my job any day....

I like Flint, hes been a big big player for us. However he has also been an ever present in a defence at this level, which has conceded a lot of goals. Whilst he has a lot of strengths, he also has weaknesses, as many players at all levels do. Even Paul Scholes, one of the greatest midfielders of his era (a lot of fellow pro's would name him in their best 11), couldn't tackle for toffee.

We have adequate cover, numbers to cover, and Flints stock is as high now as it ever will be.

So I repeat, unless you know FOR FACT, that the club is pushing him out of the door, then your post is no different to many others on the subject - your opinion and interpretation of the situation, and nothing more.

You are of course entitled to your opinion, as we all are - that's the purpose of this forum, but I think you need to make it clear if these are your opinions or whether you know then as fact.

You have underestimated Aden Flints ability. His ability to convert corners into goals is phenomenal. Its a specialised ability.

Using my low level sports psychology qualifications it is hard to work out how some of Lee Johnsons public comments are of benefit, unless the player was already leaving the FC.

[Londoner]

Just now, Port Said Red said:

But that wasn't treating him poorly of course....... 

You overestimate my importance. But thank you.

[wendyredredrobin]

Sounds to me like Aden has been offered a big payday and payrise by brum and you cant blame him for going for it.  Football playing career is very short.

Either we cant agree an acceptable transfer fee or are waiting until after the brum game to announce.

As soon as baker signed, it was clear that he was going.

I like that he wins everything in the air and scores a few goals, but he has weaknesses too.

We have plenty of good cover incentral defence now.

Good luck aden, you always worked hard and did a good job for us but you have to take these opportuniries when they arise as they may never crop up again.

Will be a loss, but not irreplacable.  Will miss seing you in Waitrose

[The Coach]

Whats the difference between a player trying to wiggle out his way to leave a club anyway they can, and a club trying to offload someone anyway they can? 

It's business.

[iamalagerdrinker]

[Cider-Head23]

Rubbish, Flint's agent pushed for a move thinking there would be a vast amount of interest from a number of clubs..

truth of the matter is Birmingham are the only club who have actually made it clear they wish to sign Flint, with bids and making it public etc. 

Aden could of easily told LJ he wanted to stay.. think he wants a big payday which is fair enough, but in my opinion LJ & MA have dealt with this issue with clubs best interest at heart,

all be it this could have a negative effect on the player but Bristol City is far greater than a single player. 

[BCFC_Dan]

1 hour ago, Londoner said:

We are trying to shuffle him out the door, not only have Birmingham unsettled him but WE have unsettled him by making it clear to EVERYONE that he is available....all be it at the right price.

But this is football? This is business? No, never have I seen such an important clog in our wheel clearly pushed, unsettled, UNDERMINED by us as a club.

 

Ever considered that we might be in a better place as a club if we'd been better in the past at identifying the right point to sell supposedly key players?

We could have got £2m for Liam Fontaine and £5m for Nicky Maynard if we'd been a bit smarter. And don't pretend like Aden Flint's a coal miner or factory worker and we're taking away his livelihood. He'll get a massive pay rise out of it and if he doesn't he won't go. It's not like he's being sacked.

Also let's forget this "loyal servant" nonsense. He's kept to the terms of his contract, nothing more. He had no qualms about leaving Swindon for their local rivals and he'd have no qualms about leaving us if the right offer comes along. Also remember that he was utter garbage in his first season and many would have got rid of him there and then. He was lucky that Cotterill found a system to accommodate him and his shortcomings.

[RedRoss]

1 hour ago, Londoner said:

A loyal servant to this club, an almost ever present over the past 3 years....one of our most talented defenders....and he has been treated very poorly by this club.

We are trying to shuffle him out the door, not only have Birmingham unsettled him but WE have unsettled him by making it clear to EVERYONE that he is available....all be it at the right price.

Got Nathan Baker in, good business, but that has just acted as a catalyst to the City's desire to get rid....regular public messages through interviews and written articles consistently telling the world he is available.....City coulsnt make it more obvious.

But this is football? This is business? No, never have I seen such an important clog in our wheel clearly pushed, unsettled, UNDERMINED by us as a club.

He will go, there is no way back....be is not in LJs plans....but let's not drag his name through mud.

 

Your consistently wrong

Your consistently negative

And also pretty arrogant

I'm not going to back up any of the statements above its self evident.

[hantsred]

"clog in our wheel" is a famous Dutch metaphor for everything was going along just fine then my foot slipped and my clog got stuck in the wheel and I fell off in Birmingham and the bike continued onwards and upwards with out me..

[Simon79]

Am I wrong in saying that it was Birmingham that leaked the offers to the press? Is it not Redknapp that has then made comments to the press about another clubs player? So City have responded to the situation, what exactly have they done wrong? Let's not kid ourselves, clubs generally don't make offers unless they think there is a chance that player would be interested in coming. LJ has Bristol City's best interests at heart, Flint has his own interests at heart. Nothing wrong with either really, but I support Bristol City. I just think this situation is another stick people want to bash LJ with. COYR

[pongo88]

Currently 19 (inc mine) "rubbish" reactions and 1 "snake" reaction to the OP. I'd say this means most people don't agree. I know it's early days for the rubbish reaction, but 19 will take some beating 

[Bar BS3]

58 minutes ago, Londoner said:

I have slated him in the past. As I have with many.

I thought so. It was a pretty damning assassination of him as a player and a person, if I remember correctly. 

You were told by many at the time that you were wrong. 

So what's this now..? Just an excuse to have a pop at the club..? 

[Phileas Fogg]

2 minutes ago, Bar BS3 said:

I thought so. It was a pretty damning assassination of him as a player and a person, if I remember correctly. 

You were told by many at the time that you were wrong. 

So what's this now..? Just an excuse to have a pop at the club..? 

I think he just enjoys being a pantomime villain on here, a bit like Robbored.

[Jack Dawe]

1 hour ago, Londoner said:

I have slated him in the past. As I have with many.

"Aden Flint - sort yourself out or **** off" was your suggestion, at one point. Looks like Flinty has decided, or is going, to **** off...

[cidered abroad]

1 hour ago, Londoner said:

A loyal servant to this club, an almost ever present over the past 3 years....one of our most talented defenders....and he has been treated very poorly by this club.

We are trying to shuffle him out the door, not only have Birmingham unsettled him but WE have unsettled him by making it clear to EVERYONE that he is available....all be it at the right price.

Got Nathan Baker in, good business, but that has just acted as a catalyst to the City's desire to get rid....regular public messages through interviews and written articles consistently telling the world he is available.....City coulsnt make it more obvious.

But this is football? This is business? No, never have I seen such an important clog in our wheel clearly pushed, unsettled, UNDERMINED by us as a club.

He will go, there is no way back....be is not in LJs plans....but let's not drag his name through mud.

 

It is possible that he wants to go for more money and I don't have a problem with that. He also knows that if a club can make a decent profit on his transfer fees in and out, and with an upward leap in salary, team prospects etc, he will also gain.

As a rider, I expect that his salary for one week may actually be more than my annual pension of £13,000 per year, for which I worked 45 years. I'm not jealous or angry but he is just another player for my Club who has no other affinity with it, other than passing through.

[Monkeh]

3 minutes ago, Phileas Fogg said:

I think he just enjoys being a pantomime villain on here, a bit like Robbored.

at least robbo is likeable and sometimes amusing 

[Bar BS3]

Just now, cynic said:

Another Flint thread which is no different to the others 

I beg to differ. The level of hypocrisy in this thread, far exceeds that on the others..!

[DaveF]

1 hour ago, Londoner said:

A loyal servant to this club, an almost ever present over the past 3 years....one of our most talented defenders....and he has been treated very poorly by this club.

We are trying to shuffle him out the door, not only have Birmingham unsettled him but WE have unsettled him by making it clear to EVERYONE that he is available....all be it at the right price.

Got Nathan Baker in, good business, but that has just acted as a catalyst to the City's desire to get rid....regular public messages through interviews and written articles consistently telling the world he is available.....City coulsnt make it more obvious.

But this is football? This is business? No, never have I seen such an important clog in our wheel clearly pushed, unsettled, UNDERMINED by us as a club.

He will go, there is no way back....be is not in LJs plans....but let's not drag his name through mud.

 

What's this shit?

[Phileas Fogg]

1 minute ago, Monkeh said:

at least robbo is likeable and sometimes amusing 

I see him as a bit of an Otib treasure - much like NTTDS or bristolcitysweden

[tts_city]

2 hours ago, Londoner said:

This is my interpretation of the situation and therefore fact.

[shelts]

The player moves . The club moves on. Simples 

[Bar BS3]

Just now, tts_city said:

You've spelt "fucktard" wrongly. 

[BRISTOL86]

You don't half talk some shit, mind. 

[Wheatus is back]

2 hours ago, Londoner said:

A loyal servant to this club, an almost ever present over the past 3 years....one of our most talented defenders....and he has been treated very poorly by this club.

We are trying to shuffle him out the door, not only have Birmingham unsettled him but WE have unsettled him by making it clear to EVERYONE that he is available....all be it at the right price.

Got Nathan Baker in, good business, but that has just acted as a catalyst to the City's desire to get rid....regular public messages through interviews and written articles consistently telling the world he is available.....City coulsnt make it more obvious.

But this is football? This is business? No, never have I seen such an important clog in our wheel clearly pushed, unsettled, UNDERMINED by us as a club.

He will go, there is no way back....be is not in LJs plans....but let's not drag his name through mud.

 

What an absolute pile of dog shite !!!!!

[Major Isewater]

22 minutes ago, Phileas Fogg said:

I see him as a bit of an Otib treasure - much like NTTDS or bristolcitysweden

I agree he should be buried on a desert island somewhere.

[Up The City!]

He ain't as good as we like to think he is.

[WhistleHappy]

1 hour ago, Londoner said:

I have slated him in the past. As I have with many.

Blimey a roofer as well, do you do dry-stone walls by any chance?

[Alessandro]

1 hour ago, Nibor said:

What we do know is that the club have spoken in public about this.  

LJ said Flint has had his head turned, and that there was a meeting where he and his agent said they were aware of interest and wanted to explore it.

SL has said that we don't need to sell and he wasn't going to discuss a price but then said more than £5m about ten seconds later.

JMc (and LJ later confirmed) that LJ was going to pick Flint for the cup game and after a conversation with him decided not to.

A fair criticism of the club is that none of these statements should have been made.  This sort of thing should remain private and talking to the press like that is unprofessional.  Why?

• If a move doesn't materialise some of our less thoughtful fans will have it in for the player, who is under contract and has always given 100% on the pitch.  This is damaging to the team.
• If more offers come in speaking about the price publicly undermines the bargaining position.  SL effectively set the top price when he said that, which is utterly stupid.
• Without knowing the full conversation we'll get more conspiracy theories about Flint "refusing to play" despite LJ confirming that wasn't the case.

All of this has been completely unnecessary, and the club should be more professional about how it conducts itself.  They'd be rightfully unhappy about players speaking to the press or a selling club they're trying to buy from doing the same, so they should conduct themselves in the same manner.

Flint is 28, and at the point in his career where he's thinking about what the most he can achieve is.  Financially, yes, and competitively.  It's reality that he'd want to explore opportunities to step up in both terms, and that's fine because he's been a good to very good player for us so there's no reason to begrudge him the chance.  The club should then seek to get the best price it can for him, all the while making sure that we don't cause problems for a player who may very well stay.  It's not even complicated.

All good and well, but this doesn't take into account the actions behind the scenes of the player or his agent, or that of any clubs enquring or bidding for the player. They have to react to their behaviour or statements. You are judging one side of the story.

Ideally, the club should keep this on the down low, but in reality it is has rumbled on all summer, and even the last two or three windows TBH, so if the club say nothing, I think the fans would be very frustrated with the silence, and nothing but constant twitter rumours and chatter.

The club have set out clearly where they stand. 

'If' the player has been manovering a move, to say Birmingham, and their manager has publicially come out about it to stir up the pot, and then made two low bids, we've  stood our ground.

I think the club are right to take a strong stance on this one, and to let the fans know and also other clubs know that we won't be pushed around in the market by agents or other clubs.

[Nibor]

35 minutes ago, Alessandro said:

All good and well, but this doesn't take into account the actions behind the scenes of the player or his agent, or that of any clubs enquring or bidding for the player. They have to react to their behaviour or statements. You are judging one side of the story.

Ideally, the club should keep this on the down low, but in reality it is has rumbled on all summer, and even the last two or three windows TBH, so if the club say nothing, I think the fans would be very frustrated with the silence, and nothing but constant twitter rumours and chatter.

The club have set out clearly where they stand. 

'If' the player has been manovering a move, to say Birmingham, and their manager has publicially come out about it to stir up the pot, and then made two low bids, we've  stood our ground.

I think the club are right to take a strong stance on this one, and to let the fans know and also other clubs know that we won't be pushed around in the market by agents or other clubs.

We don't know the actions of the player or his agent because they're private, and the club do not have to react publicly to them.  I'm judging one side of the story, yes, the one the club have put into the public domain.

They should have said "Aden Flint is an important player for us who has recently signed a contract" and left it at that.  They haven't set out anything clearly, they've muddied the waters by disclosing some small part of what's happening in private.  None of the outcomes from doing this are likely to benefit the club or the player compared to the situation if they'd remained quiet.

What you're doing is speculating which is precisely what the club should have avoided fuelling.