I'm not so sure he had the bottle for the big games, ok player but went missing far too much for my liking. I honestly don't think he would have made it at GB level with the players he had in front of him.

Moi Moi would be a great replacement, but I really can't see that happening.

If he's thinking of going he may as well go now.

Less is more Ken, Less is more.

If Ali goes he takes a little piece of my heart with him.

It won't be the same without that big, beautiful, dark smiling face.

I think I might have a man crush, or an all out raving homosexual fixation, on Ali.

From what I've seen of Eastwood he's very Ali-like.
I think we need an Ellis-like player if he goes.
There do seem to be mixed messages in the article. On the one hand Ali talks about going home, in the next breath he's doing his cramming to fulfil UK residency requirements.
I put it all down to newspaper talk.
It could become a self-fulfilling prophecy though since it's clear that GH will not conduct contact negotiations through the media.
At his age & considering his lack of impact this season maybe the club won't be offering him a contract at all or certainly not one on increased money.

I would offer Ali another year with an option for another after that. he will probably want 2 but the 1 year see how it goes has worked for a few others of the team

I think we should wait and see what GH is offering before we completely say our goodbyes to Ali.
Afterall how many have said it's Seniors last yr in the past only for him to re-sign with us.
If he decides it's time to go home i don't think we will "replace" him because he's that good imo a similar view i hold in Seniors case also.
I'm all for promotion from within if that player shows the potential and hunger so the natural choice would be Pitts imo plus we have Young Manning to return from his loan spell and further down the line i like the look of Bravo and Clarkson plus we will still have Ablett who is still only 24.

I'm all for promoting youngsters but I don't think we currently have anyone who can replace what Ali does for us. He has more than once won us the game because of his flair, and just letting a player like that go without a replacement would be a big mistake. We need these game breaking players in the squad.

The barge a[ir[/ise?

I've already said i don't we can "replace" him plus we have Beastwood who does a similar job in terms of off-loads,big hits and game-breaking plays.
It's still a big[size IF[/sizewhether he goes or not but players like Pitts and Manning if their development continues will deserve a 1st team chance imo plus the other youngsters like Watkins,Bjb and Mcshane will be looking to have decent contract upgrades when the next negotiations start if they've lived up to their potential.
I want him to stay but if he does decide the time is right to move on we do have the squad to cope and maybe spread his contract money around a bit more.

Ali is irreplaceable.

Ali Lawit ...

Ali Lauitett ...

Ali Lewititti ...

Unspell-able, more like !

If I were Hetherington, I'd go for someone like Louis McCarthy-Housebrick. I mean, jeez, there must be about 18 letters in his name. Almost as many as Ali himself. Just think of all those fans who want to stick that name on the back of their shirts at 50p a letter. Fifty quid for the replica shirt and another tenner just to get the name and number on the back.

Why do you think they wanted rid of Andy Hay as soon as they could ?

I am of the same opinion, not to say someone couldnt come in and do a cracking job, but not in big Ali`s style

Anyone who says we need him because he's a gamebreaker has got to be kidding. When did he last break a game?

We can do better now, he had about 2 good games last year and is too injury prone.