Blues former striker Wayne Gray is close to signing for Conference National side Cambridge United, now managed by another ex-player in Martin Ling.
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Wayne Gray: When Ling fancied him first time around
Cambridge boss Martin Ling not only played for the Shrimpers but managed Leyton Orient where he signed striker Wayne Gray once before.
Ling saw the trialist give his side the lead in their 2-1 defeat at Lowestoft on Saturday and after watching Gray again against the npower League One side at the R Costings Abbey Stadium he's promised to give Wayne an answer before the end of the week.Ling told www.cambridge-news.co.uk: "It's only fair that we let him know one way or the other so that, if he's not going to be with us, he can move on somewhere else. And if he is going to be here we can get something sorted out for him the best we can. I thought Wayne was up there as one of our best players. He took the goal well (Saturday), but the more pleasing part was that he ran all the time. If the ball went anywhere near him, it stayed in and around him. That meant we could build from there." Even though Gray remained goaless this time around in the 1-0 defeat to the Farmers, Ling was pleased enough with Wayne's display that if the board cough up the wages a contract is more likely to be in the offing than not.
Ling continued: "Wayne is now going to need a decision by the end of this week. I've still got to speak to the board about where we can go with it, but he did A-okay again. We're one short in that area and he has done nothing wrong, but we'll just see if we can go in the right direction.
Many believe that along with Bentley Tilly made an error letting Wayne go to Yeovil after promotion to the second tier, as his runs certainly created the space for many of Freddie Eastwood's goals in that League One championship winning year.
Gray, of course, scored the only goal in the last game of that 2005/06 season, against Bristol City at Roots Hall, that sealed the title.
And at least it looks as if he'll avoid Hornchurch!
The Gray Files
| Personal information |
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| Full name | Wayne William Gray |
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| Date of birth | 7 November 1980 (1980-11-07) (age 29) |
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| Place of birth | Camberwell, London, England |
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| Playing position | Forward |
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| Youth career |
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| Wimbledon |
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| Senior career* |
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| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
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| 1999-2004 | Wimbledon | 75 | (6) |
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| 2000 | → Swindon Town (loan) | 12 | (2) |
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| 2000 | → Port Vale (loan) | 3 | (0) |
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| 2001-2002 | → Leyton Orient (loan) | 15 | (5) |
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| 2002 | → Brighton & Hove Albion (loan) | 4 | (1) |
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| 2004-2006 | Southend United | 83 | (20) |
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| 2006-2007 | Yeovil Town | 46 | (11) |
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| 2007-2009 | Leyton Orient | 54 | (8) |
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| 2009-2010 | AFC Hornchurch | | |
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| 2010 | Grays Athletic | 8 | (1) |
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* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17:59, 20 March 2010 (UTC).
† Appearances (Goals).
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(Player information supplied by Wikipedia, for the full article go here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_Gray_(footballer)
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