As I've said on a previous post, we seem to have developed a habit of undervaluing players who are either good for the side or are 100% battlers. We're not privy to the wheres and wherefores of course but we do seem quite happy to follow this particular pattern, usually to the overall detriment of the squad complete with the attendant outcomes. As you say Hillsborough these type of player who are not particularly exceptional but professional and give value are hard to replace.

But…………..we have a top 5 budget don't forget, perhaps plans are afoot.

(I'm just and old cynic really)

I don't think Smallwood was the same player when we re-signed him back permanently. It's also not enough at their level, players need more to their skill set than sideways passing. He's hardly gone to a better, bigger club has he?, which should tell you how he's rated behind closed doors.

But thank you Richie for your contributions & good luck at Scunny

It has got very quiet down at NYS lately. I'm readying myself for another disappointment soon when Tom Adeyemi decides he'd rather play for a proper football club, then we'll wait until probably the end of July when we sign another couple of worldbeaters from the National League & Warney stating our squad is complete & we're ready to go.....(into L2)

That is a very negative series of posts on the back of a pretty average player albeit wholehearted player who couldn't get a place in a league one side last season deciding to move on.

If the owners were going to cash in on the club they would have done it a year ago, not from Leagues One or Two.

I am a bit sceptical about the prospects for next season myself, but it is very, very early days yet. Richie Smallwood leaving doesn't worry me one bit. The fact that he and others were offered new deals at all actually worried me more.

Don't get me wrong Calypso. I remain to be convinced that we are genuinely going to try and compete in League One. I don't understand the appointment of Paul Warne and if as seems to be the case we are proposing to build a team based around a core made up of the players we had last season then I am genuinely concerned because that team was so fragile and so very poor. But personally I don't think that Richie Smallwood is a significant loss and personally I wouldn't have offered him new terms at all. 100% effort is great but if it isn't channelled properly or if the player doesn't have quality to go with it, then it isn't enough. I sort of view John Taylor the same way.
A genuine player who gives his all, but a lack of the necessary quality when it counts. Frankly, 100% effort is the minimum we should expect from all our players. If Smallwood thinks he is worth more than we are prepared to pay, and if he has found a club that is willing to pay it, then good luck to him, thanks for all he has done here and both parties move on. If we replace him with similar or worse then I will be critical, but I am giving the club the benefit of the doubt for now in the hope that we can improve the squad over the summer. For me it is a case of 'wait and see', but I do understand that some see it differently and after years of following the Millers I fully understand the 'glass half empty' thing!

I for one will not mourn the loss of Smallwood. If we want a direct replacement get down the local park, loads there on a Sunday that can put in a tackle and then pass 6 foot sideways