Of course I appreciate all that you say from a business point of view. I was being somewhat rhetorical myself. It's the irony of the situation. The Head coach one day says more or less: Oh! you're such a valued member of the squad, and then the Club claims, but if there's a bit of brass in it for us you can go.

I thought that Crowther would be a player that Trinity would want to keep ??

The season just gone has been his best season for us and when so many others weren't bothered, this gut was tackling everything that moved.
Surely, he deserves a new contract - at Trinity
It seems strange to have invested so much time and effort into the lad, just to let him go when he is playing so well ??

I know one thing for certain, if he leaves he will immediately become a Trinity martyr to the very same people who only a year ago were slagiging him off as not good enough - you know who you are.

Truth is neither party owe the other anything more than good manners and respect.
So long as that takes place what will be will be.

I generally follow the idea on here that he won’t be going anywhere. I certainly hope not as you build teams around these players, I’ve always been a fan of his.

Truth is that for many players not just JC leaving your boyhood club is often the making of them. In my industry there is a saying ‘start as an apprentice stay an apprentice’ and the only way out is to move on if you have ambitions. when you’ve served your time.

It’s a tricky one for fans to accept but players being at any club at the right time is not easy to predict. JC wants to know his worth and why not he’s been a fringe player until this season, he’s earned it.

Whatever happens let’s not have the wailing and recriminations, the club will survive, new players will emerge. Hopefully he will stay, he has plenty of reasons to do so, fingers crossed but if not it is what it is.

Read between the lines mate. Nobody is letting anybody go. It’s a bit more subtle than that.

See Dboys post it’s about right. Once a player gets noticed these things happen, it’s pretty standard. There may well be an offer on the table from us but one not yet acceptable for JC, he has the right to negotiate and to do that he needs to know his worth.

We don’t own players, we effectively only rent them.

Lastly, League Express!!!

How happy are you to take their slant on it? Worst gossip mongers in the game, who pathetically get much of their content directly of these forums. I wouldn’t trust them with a weather forecast!

Stopped buying that paper years ago

I would be pretty gutted if he left.

Let's just hope it's just gossip!

I understand that.

The comment which causes concern is the allowing him to talk to other clubs when, there is a year left on his contract.
Usually, the "letting players talk to other clubs" occurs for 2 reasons, if they are not going to be required or, that they are unhappy with their contract offer ??
Mind you, with the late finish to last season and late return to next, the timings aren't perhaps as they usually are.

Crowther has red, white and blue blood and this season, for me, was possibly THE most improved player for Trinity.

He should certainly be in the 17 "every week".

Yeah but that’s the ‘slant. Nobody has actually said that if I read the OP correctly, that’s just speculation by LE at present. I mean serious who are these clubs who’ve made LE aware and why would they? Sound typically desperate for a rag that pretends it’s in the know.

You obviously never read Nosey Parker in the erstwhile League Weekly, then, Vasty owd lad!

I have to say that after the season he's just had, if JC had been on the Wigan or Leeds books he'd be being tipped for interntional honours now by all the RL journalists.

Jordan was tipped years ago for international honours by Phil Clarke no less but let's not get carried away here. JC has moved up this season from useful fringe player to first 17. That's good going and I'm chuffed for him. That's still some way off from being a hot property, especially in a position where there is a lot of competition and I mean a lot. It's not like TJ who's only real competitor at present is Makinson, I could name you literally a dozen young back-row forwards similar to JC, that's not a put-down, it's as close to a fact as you'll find on here. I mean we have two ourselves in Batchelor and perhaps another in Walker.

So no disrespect whatsoever but at the moment at least the club JC has the most value to remains the club he's at, us! The only other clubs who are likely to be interested right now probably won't be the ones he would want to go too. That may change after next season when he's OOC but for now, I can't see anyone offering a transfer fee can you?

That being the case nows the time for all to test the water. If there is a club that wants JC at all costs then et them speak now, if not then let's get the deal moving for JC ASAP.

It's odd really because I suspect the same thing happened with TJ but as that was probably a slow news day and the elitist brigade thought he'd move at the first chance it didn't make the headlines, might be wrong on that though.

Good post Fishermanscap you got it spot on in a large nutshell

Thanks, I take it as a compliment to the club's youth system that we are producing players of interest. As I keep saying the potential at our club is there, other clubs can clearly see it.

I don’t think these are the days of Gareth Ellis where we’d sell any players who others were interested in. However we have to accept that if you have good players people will be interested and people will try to unsettle them.

We like all clubs and Crowther and his advisors have to play the game. Sure it will be sorted soon enough.