ONLY STARTED 9 GAMES THIS SEASON!!

[tom]

Is alex gonna end up a one season wonder (sorry nine games) &try and go billy big time sounds familiar (jon stead) i say take the money if he`s more bothered about being third choice for everton etc & not going on the journey then so be it, decent prospect but either him or agent are after big pay day!!
he's been here since 8 we gave him that chance & if murphy &mitchell had'nt decide to freshen things up he would be now on his knees begging for a new contract in't summer,where were these premier scouts at the start of the season when he was in the stiffs?
billy big time DO ONE lc and htafc are going to the prem will prob pass you on the way bench warmer!!

rant over am i over reacting?

[Tez]

It's only just been announced from the horses mouth last Saturday (Deano of Hoyle!). Let it fester for a bit first!

[LordyOfTheManor]

Hold on a minute... regarding Jon Stead being a 'billy big boots', so you wouldn't have moved to Blackburn Rovers of the Premiership from Huddersfield Town of Division 3?! Gone from playing away at Boston, Lincoln, etc to playing at Liverpool, Aston Villa, etc?!

Of course you would... if you weren't bias that is.

I can fully understand why Smithies may want to pursue a career at the highest level, although like I've stated before, I don't believe it would be in his best interests to do so.

[pozza]

Was different with Stead as he actually went and played in't first team. With Smithies chances are he wont get anywhere near a first team in the Premiership, so his move will be based on money alone.

[presidentwu]

Normally I too would let this fester a bit and see what happens, but I don't think Tom is overreacting - Smithies has only played a handful of games in the 3rd division of English football, has shown himself to be barely above average in the process and now appears to be in agreement with his agent about wanting to hold the club to ransom.
Deano might have his reasons for wanting to go public on this, but I'm not sure I would have wanted to expose Smithies to this much scrutiny now. I'm sure a lot of people involved in the Development Association are going to be asking why they should pump money into the Academy when this young man is setting a precedent in how to throw that money back in the fans' faces, with basically a big two-fingered salute and "swivel" attached to the end of it.

Hope he plays a blinder against Yeovil tomorrow, Town win and then he's shipped off asap to the Championship or Premiership for £1m - that way everybody wins !! (as long as Dracula's bizarre share in it is on top of that million).

[stevvy]

stead has played a reasonable-ish number of first team games,and went straight into blackburns first team.........smithies has barely played 10 games and would struggle to be on the bench even in the reserves (especially as its easier to get into the first team if you're a striker,seeing as normally the only time a keeper is changed is for cup games v small teams,or due to injury/suspension,so could spend 3 years on the bench and only play in the reserves

[Overton Terrier]

Drop him now.

Bring back Glennon - who did not deserve to be dropped in the first place.

In his last home game his kicking was terrible and I am sure we can survive without a kid who thinks he's made it !

We don't need this when we are going all out for a play off place !

Cash in now !

[presidentwu]

Stead going was a mutual thing where we received a large sum of money and he got the chance to fulfill his ambitions. What would make my blood boil is the scenario of Smithies leaving and us receiving a token fee which in no way would represent the 10 or so years work, effort and money that both HTFC and its supporters have put into basically building this guy's platform. And then to cap it all some agent coming along and cashing in by making a few phone calls and filling in a couple of forms.
I can see it now, Wigan Athletic come to the Galpharm for a 3rd round cup tie next year, in goal for them is Smithies having moved to Lancashire for a tribunal fixed fee of £50 000 (for the sake of argument) and a packed South stand get up and applaud him enthusiastically with the general consensus being "well I'm so glad he's fulfilled his ambitions". I don't think so - he'd be met by an ear-splitting chorus of boos and deservedly so.

[Overton Terrier]

Does he deserve the chants of "Englands No 1 " ?

Deano has gone public to put pressure on his advisors, in my opinion.

Your at the wrong club kid - we are Huddersfield Town and we don't behave like this !!!

[shawsie]

Whoever is advising that lad wants shooting!!
He is playing for his home town club whilst still a teenager in a side just starting to develop and with all the signs looking up.
He is well liked by fans and is developing his skills at a decent level where any mistakes are not highlighted ad infinitum by the tv.Why on earth would you want to go and be spurs/chelsea etc 3rd keeper with a chance of being on the bench for a coca cola cup game three times a year for 12/18m???
Also, if you want to go why not say so and let the club that has developed you for 10yrs get the best deal possible??
Wouldnt mind so much if we had taken ages to respond to his agents requests, but we have matched the offer to the penny and still he hasnt signed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Overton Terrier]

Great post Shawsie !

Agree 100%

[leedsterrier]

Jan 26, 2009 21:54:46 GMT 1 Overton Terrier said:

Drop him now.

Bring back Glennon - who did not deserve to be dropped in the first place.

In his last home game his kicking was terrible and I am sure we can survive without a kid who thinks he's made it !

We don't need this when we are going all out for a play off place !

Cash in now !

Wholeheartedly agree!

[midge]

Don't really understand why the big teams would want him anyway!!??

He's not as proven as say Joe Hart (before Man City's millions!) or the lad at Peterborough who has been in the England squad!!!

Can anyone say he is really THAT good!!??

[Deleted]

Only time will tell. Keep it in mind that he is only 18 and just broken into the first team so lets wait and see.

Also, we don't know the ins and outs of the situation so why are we all judging the kid? Anybody would think he has signed for leeds or Bradford and worn a t-shirt saying "f*ck the Town" whilst signing the contract.

Think we should all take a step back and see what unfolds before calling him some of the names and descriptions that have been said.

[whickhamterrier]

He's in demand due to the homegrown rule about to be implemented in the greedy league and the fact that at the end of the season anyone will get him cheap. He'll be nothing more than a squad member to make up the numbers.

The lad from Peterboro is a much better keeper, older, more experienced but he would cost a fortune cos they've tied him down on a contract (a mistake Town will pay dearly for)

[monkey]

Jan 26, 2009 23:22:32 GMT 1 @rjs said:

Only time will tell. Keep it in mind that he is only 18 and just broken into the first team so lets wait and see.

Also, we don't know the ins and outs of the situation so why are we all judging the kid? Anybody would think he has signed for leeds or Bradford and worn a t-shirt saying "f*ck the Town" whilst signing the contract.

Think we should all take a step back and see what unfolds before calling him some of the names and descriptions that have been said.

Good post.
He is just a kid, I would be amazed if he was as mercanary as some folk are suggesting, judging by some posters on here, 18 yr olds have a hard job stringing a sentence together, never mind negotiating a contract.

[hotdog]

lets remember one thing guys: 'footballers and even their agents are not logical people, they often think in the short term and fail to see the bigger picture'. Smithies will hopefully see this in time