Steve Woods released with immediate effect ??

It's not my fault if you've got the attention span of a gnat ;D

Of course I'm right (I always am ) but I don't disagree with him setting his stall out to build a solid base for the promotion challenge utilising experience ....................and to be honest Woods has looked unusually competent this season but then maybe he should always have been playing at this level because believe me in League 1 he and Taylor were absolute shite getting taken apart week after week.

As far as next season goes (and all I could find on Google when trying to access his D-O-B was some guy on Death Row in Texas) at his age he cannot reasonably expect to be retained by a club of our standing only hope, and given the manager's dilemma of not knowing whether or not we will be a Football League club or a BSP one; there will be question marks over a few others who could not possibly expect to be kept on should we attain promotion - only hope. It seems only Mr Woods wished to pursue the issue at this time instead of taking a more intelligent attitude and his belligerence has cost him his job!

Judging by some of Hargreaves blogs over the recent weeks I cannot believe that he was offered something concrete or the same sort of terms that he would hope...... That's just reading between the lines.

Given that we have Bevan, Ellis, Todd, Brough (can't see him being here though), Hodges, Mansell, Wroe, Carayol, Stevens, Wroe, Carlisle, Thompson, Green and Sills under contract to the end of next season, it isn't a bad core of players.

Nicholson, Hargreaves, Robertson and Benyon are surely players we should look to retain if we are at BSP level (possibly at League 2 level should we make it - although Benyon for me is an essential signature). I've been massively impressed by Hargreaves - again yesterday he was excellent - probably one of the most influencial midfielders that I have seen in 20 years (IMHO).
Christie, Dsane and Rice are the remaining players that I imagine will be released whatever level we are at. I'm sure that all of those players would be keen to know where they stand - some of them would probably not have liked the rsponses they received, but the professional performance yesterday seemed to indicate that it is more or less "business as usual".

With the out of contract players, i would think it will just be a case of wait and see what league we play in next season, but things may be different in benyon's case. If we do not go up I can see some might be offered a new contract, but if we go up with expect rises in income, I can see Bucks looking to aim a bit higher and get in a few players from a higher league.

Would Benyon want another season in the BSP? I'm sure he must be attracting the attention of league clubs and while we would want to sign him, he may believe he is ready to step up into the football league. That could be with us if we did go up, but I fear he would move to a league club, if we didn't.

Well, the HE article makes it fairly unclear as to why Woods was released now, but does quote Woodsie as saying that he wanted to stay on and that he performed well when on a month to month contract in 2003.

I feel reasonably sure that when we recall Todd, Woods will go on loan to Salisbury.

.... or perhaps he might link up with the Manager who brought him to Plainmoor in the first place? Now, how would we feel about him turning out for them ... bearing in mind that we have to play them twice, would it be reasonable for us to insist that he doesnt play against us given the circumstances of his release?

I was not going to post on this thread again, but seeing we have now heard what Steve Woods has had to say, I have decided to give my views and thoughts on what I have just read in the Herald Express.

One thing that happens of forums is anyone who posts a story that the club has not released, soon gets labeled as someone who has an agenda, or is trying to undermine the club or who runs it, but that so often is far of the mark.

One member asked why those who send information via PM messages, do not post what they know on the forum themselves, well the main reason is fear of the reactions they will get. one member this week said "if i do then i will be shot down in flames" and that is what would have happened, I do often feel that some forget I'm just a member on here and have a right to be able to post my views and feelings.

You should all know me well enough by now, that I'm not the sort of person who will want to boast that I know more than you, but it will often be the case that some will want to tell me what they know. I then have to decide if I should put it on the forum, I may get that decision wrong sometimes, but then we are all capable of doing that.

I do not subscribe to the idea that a football fan should only file up to the gate on a Saturday, pay his or her money to watch the game and then file back out again and take no other interest in what happens at the club. If I did then I sure would not be a member of a forum and one that is there for fans to discuss.

The question will always be just what we as members should discuss, should it only be about the match, or who we may sign for next season, is it allowed to be able to discuss the manager? and what decisions he is making and if not, why not?

Some fans will only want to watch games, others will want to know whats going on and will question why any actions are taken by the club, I'm sorry but I feel that a fan is a very big part of the club and should be better informed on whats going on.

Yes intended player targets and things of that nature need to kept within the club, but one thing that seems to anger many fans is being kept in the dark when really the club should be being a bit more open.

MY VIEW on Steve Woods is as follows. I believe while he may have been disappointed learning he would not get offered a new contract, he still wanted to play his part in what may well turn out to be a promotion season. He was willing to carry on training and playing any part Buckle wanted him to play.

Its all well and good Bucks saying he has to make big decisions and will live or die by them, but I firmly believe he should let fans know how he come to those decisions, even more so when a player has served the club well for eight seasons and is a popular player with the fans(well maybe not Merse)

We are having to pay him until the end of the season and should we go up, Steve will miss out of the promotion celebrations and let us not forget until last week, he was playing his part and has played some of his best football for us this season and has not been on the sick bed for most of it, as some I feel are unfairly saying he is a sick-note.

Unless I hear anything different, I will hold the view that Steve Woods has not been treated very well and certainly not fitting in anyway for a loyal and long serving player of our club.

Have you considered that this is the third time the manager has moved a player on to the dissenting noises of some supporters and that on each occasion the manager has said nothing publicly that would discredit the player concerned nor in any way lumber him with what could be construed as a poor reference.

Would you prefer then that the manager publicly discloses the reasons for his unwillingness to continue with these players in his squad and maybe then renders them "unemployable" to prospective employers?

Do you not think that part of the settlement of contract negotiations that an agreement to keep one's counsel has been arrived at with the players concerned?

If YOU were one of those players would you prefer that your personal business was discussed publicly with all and sundry?

I think if you were to put yourself in the shoes of Messrs Rayner, Phillips and Woods; you would be grateful for the professionalism, integrity and confidentiality of the manager. After all it didn't take long for Garry Hill to find out all about how truculent and unprofessional Lee Phillips could be and he had him on the available for transfer list after just a few months!

Anyone observing Simon Rayner's recent mistakes and howlers for Crawley would see why he rapidly lost his seemingly safe first team place whilst with us.

As I have said before, supporters only see players in matches, they do not see them in 90% of the time the manager is working with them and they just have to take it on trust that if the manager decides to rapidly move them out there is a good reason for it.

Surely any fool can see that Paul Buckle decided to move Woods out and if they really wish to know the ins and outs of it they are perfectly at liberty to ask the player himself and see if he is prepared to answer them.

It matters not that the player might have expressed a desire to remain, the manager is the boss and the boss makes the decisions - it can only be that way or otherwise there is anarchy.

As I have said before, if Steve Woods wishes to say farewell and wave to the crowd, I'm sure the club might accommodate him and invite him to make a Fifty Fifty draw some time soon. Would you seriously suggest that Woods be retained at the expense of Ellis and Robertson, Hodges and Todd; Brough even? That might be your opinion, but it is clearly not that of the manager and as regards "Woods offer to see out his current contract"; the manager has obviously weighed that against what he perceives as the player's state of mind and might well have been formed by the player's conduct during those discussions last Sunday and in the time leading up to then.