Ex-Captain Craig: now looking for a new club
Former Shrimpers skipper and hard working midfielder Craig Easton is in in the strange situation of having left the club after his contract came to an end last month, but training with the squad so he can remain fit to slot in immediatly when another team comes calling, which he hopes will be sooner rather than later after initial speculation of Torquay United and Walsall on the verge of gaining his signature seems to have fallen through.
Many of the faithful feel he has been badly treated after helping Blues boss Paul Sturrock get through the tough close season we endured last year and helping the many new signing integreat into the team that went on to finish 13th in League One.
In an interview with the PFA's website his side of the story finally came out, and yes, it had to do with money.
He told www.givemefootball.com: "My contract at Southend was up and they made me an offer which I turned down. The contract was on reduced terms and as I said I turned it down. I was prepared to take a drop in money. I told them I would take a bit less but what they offered was a lot less and that they were working on a budget. I was the only player out of contract."
And as we heard from CEO Tara Brady there's not much room for negotiation.
Craig continued: "It didn’t appear to me that was the case. The offer was made and that was that really, there was no negotiation. I signed a year’s contract last season even though I was offered a three year deal because I didn’t think the club were in a great position financially at the time. I understand the way football works. It is unfortunate that I played 38 games last season and I was very happy with the club and my family were settled. I was hoping that we would get into the play-offs but we didn’t quite make it and finished in mid-table."
What a decent bloke who did well enough during the last campaign to be rewarded with that new deal, so much for loyalty, he could have taken that three years and left the board in an even tougher position than the they find themselves at the moment.
Not a good week for the Shrimpers spin machine, and we hope Craig finds a new club and a decent contract as soon as possible.
For the full interview, go here: www.givemefootball.com/league-two/out-of-contract-striker-is-raring-to-go
Still getting that tingling feeling? (We mean the footy) Have a vote: www.southendunited-mad.co.uk/interactive/voting_polls.asp
The Easton Saga
He wants to stay: www.southendunited-mad.co.uk
His agent says he's off: www.southendunited-mad.co.uk
No, we're still talking: www.southendunited-mad.co.uk
No, I'm off: www.southendunited-mad.co.uk
The armband passes on: www.southendunited-mad.co.uk
The Walsall link: www.southendunited-mad.co.uk
The Torquay link: www.southendunited-mad.co.uk
The Easton Files
(Player info supplied by Wikipedia, for the full article go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_Easton)