Ex Player Callum O'Dowda

Where will he go if he leaves on a free next summer? From a footballing perspective he’s failed to kick on as much as most thought that he would, and if he were to remain in the cold at Bristol going forward, where would he end up? Would he appear at a big club in L1 playing against us with delicious irony, or would he find another Championship club - maybe a Luton or someone similar if they survive - who fancy him on a free? Doesn’t sound like many of their fans consider him to be a particularly dazzling player at that level, or that they’re overly enamoured with him or his dad.

Charlie was always making up absurd numbers regarding goals and assists (which were constantly highlighted as being false), while also defending the way he left the club. What’s the betting that he tries to take him to Sunderland on a loan if he doesn’t sign a new deal? Stewart always loved an ex-OUFC player at Eastleigh and there’s definitely been one or two moments like that since the takeover in the north east..

EDIT: Just to add, I would very much like COD to sign a new deal and get sold for millions at some point. The sell-on would be most welcome!
 
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Quite sad really, many of their fans seem to have (rightly or wrongly) come to the conclusion (as did a few on this forum a couple of years ago) that its his dad who is a big part of the problem. Family can cause unnecessary problems (and often are completely oblivious to it) when trying to act on behalf of, and with the best intentions, for a loved one (I work in the nhs so I see examples of it a lot).
Hopefully he will someday have more of a say in his own future and life choices, and hopefully it will give him the independence in decision making that will stand him in good stead for when his football career eventually ends (where many footballers become lost as they are suddenly left on their own without the structure/guidence of a football club/an agent). How many other young people are having their lives controlled by people who ultimately cannot provide the support and advice required for a person to develop within and (most importantly) thrive outside the world of professional football?. What safeguards are in place to stop potential situations of hidden in plain sight exploitation?
 
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God, he's now 24... doesn't seem like he's grown up much based on what was on their forum, mind you based on ours I'm not sure how reliable that is! ;)

I'm going to be seeing adverts for cider through Google all bloody week now, based on Matt Taylor and this thread I've now looked at both of the Wurzle clubs forums over the last 12 hours!! Ooooohhhhhhhh arrrrrrrghhhh!!
 
Their forum sounds much the same as this one - someone somewhere comes up with an idea about a player and then it just runs and runs ad infinitum without any actual proof or substance to the initial idea other than "...it must be true because someone else has said it on an internet forum..."

I'm sure they know just as much as we do about the influence that his agent and his Dad has had on his decisions and career over the last few years. I'm still waiting for the proof that he wasnt ill during the pre-season when he left us - but it has become fact because enough people repeated it, even despite the Bristol manager saying in an interview with Bristol media that his debut there had been delayed because he had been ill, but of course he must be lying too.

It was the same with James Roberts, who somebody somewhere decided 'had an attitude', which thus became fact on here and used to criticize him at any opportunity without any consideration of whether that was actually the case, or whether there was anything else going on in his life that might be weighing on his mind....

It always amazes me how many people are intimately acquainted with the innermost thoughts, attitudes and influences of young men whom they have never actually met, apart from watching them run around a field on a Saturday afternoon (or not actually be selected on a particular occasion, which appears to be more than enough proof of everything that they come up with).
 
As a player, COD seems to me to be following a similar career trajectory to Chris Hackett.

Good player, very dangerous on his day, but his level is probably more Championship bit-part/League One than it is any higher.

Best thing is that we cashed in for 1.6m for him, when we only got 20k for Hackett! Although that does tell a tale about how football finances have changed in a little more than a decade...….
 
Their forum sounds much the same as this one - someone somewhere comes up with an idea about a player and then it just runs and runs ad infinitum without any actual proof or substance to the initial idea other than "...it must be true because someone else has said it on an internet forum..."

I'm sure they know just as much as we do about the influence that his agent and his Dad has had on his decisions and career over the last few years. I'm still waiting for the proof that he wasnt ill during the pre-season when he left us - but it has become fact because enough people repeated it, even despite the Bristol manager saying in an interview with Bristol media that his debut there had been delayed because he had been ill, but of course he must be lying too.

It was the same with James Roberts, who somebody somewhere decided 'had an attitude', which thus became fact on here and used to criticize him at any opportunity without any consideration of whether that was actually the case, or whether there was anything else going on in his life that might be weighing on his mind....

It always amazes me how many people are intimately acquainted with the innermost thoughts, attitudes and influences of young men whom they have never actually met, apart from watching them run around a field on a Saturday afternoon (or not actually be selected on a particular occasion, which appears to be more than enough proof of everything that they come up with).

Mooro, stop being so sensible man! this forum is full of conspiracy theorists, mind-readers and frustrated managers. COD was nothing but brilliant for us and his move to Bristol didn't bother me at all. Best of luck to the lad. Haters....get a life
It seems there has been plenty of interest in him (Leeds, Fulham & Sheffield W) especially as he only has one year left on his contract. My guess is that Bristol is sticking to their asking price, 8 million is reported. COD clearly isn't signing a new deal which could be for any list of reasons. He has every right not to sign. What's he financial impact for us if he moves on a free? I assume we get nothing?
 
He was very badly advised (presumably by his Dad?).
He should have stayed with us for one season in L1.
He would have done well, and would then have been able to skip the Championship, and go straight to one of the smaller Prem clubs.
He moved too early, and looks like he will be stuck in the Championship.
Which (oddly, as he is wrong about so much else) is pretty much what Kitson said about him while he was pretending not to be The Secret Footballer
 
Yeah have to agree with that, he should of stayed another season, a club such as Watford or Bournemouth would of snapped him up. He made the wrong career choice at the time, but you can’t blame him for trying to prove himself at a higher level. It’s just the way he went about it, and it was very unprofessional.
 
COD did exactly what Kitson said he should do - went straight to the Championship from L2. Only Kitson never planned on him signing a new contract with us so that we got good money, or on him staying for the promotion season. He planned to see him off 12 months before he went, for a fraction of the price. The irony being that the chief exec he’s speaking of here, Ashton, is the person who signed him for a Championship club down the line.

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David Kitson's book the Secret Footballer is hilarious. Kitson is unbelievably deluded about his ability, thinks Wenger watched him all game wondering why he had "lowered himself" to a team playing direct football when he is such a talented footballer.

He had to call it the secret footballer, because deep down he knows he is not a big enough name to sell big numbers of books. It's deluded to the extreme.
 
Where are this extracts taken from and what’s the context?
I’ve got the book on my phone - it’s all taken directly from it. That’s Kitson talking about when COD’s dad signed a new deal with us behind his back and sacked him as his agent, and also outlining the plans he had for COD overall. Namely move him to a Championship club 12 months before he went there anyway for around a quarter of a million. Or so he is claiming, anyway. He doesn’t always come across as the most grounded of gentlemen.
 
David Kitson's book the Secret Footballer is hilarious. Kitson is unbelievably deluded about his ability, thinks Wenger watched him all game wondering why he had "lowered himself" to a team playing direct football when he is such a talented footballer.

He had to call it the secret footballer, because deep down he knows he is not a big enough name to sell big numbers of books. It's deluded to the extreme.
Whats a Dave Kitson?
 
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No worries, my mate just informed me. Have to say, I liked his song 'Fairground' though...
 
The Secret Footballer books were worth it for the stories about Tony Pulis. What a knob head that man
 
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