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Hurst: Waghorn Move the Best Decision for Everyone Concerned at the Time
Monday, 20th Aug 2018 17:18

Boss Paul Hurst says Martyn Waghorn’s departure to Tuesday’s opponents Derby County was “the best decision for everyone concerned at the time” with the striker having made it clear he wanted to leave the Blues. Hurst admits he felt for the 28-year-old, last season’s 16-goal Town top scorer, during the period of limbo prior to his switch.

Waghorn eventually joined Derby for an initial £5 million fee which could potentially rise to £7.5 million at the start of the month, the Rams having beaten Middlesbrough to sign the South Shields-born frontman.

“Some people might think it sounds a bit soft but I did feel for Martyn because I think he’d a very genuine person, I really liked him as a person as well as a footballer,” Hurst said.

“But I think he found it difficult. When he spoke to me the very first time, he said, ‘I don’t really know how to handle this, I’ve never had it before’.

“Nothing personal towards myself or [assistant manager] Chris [Doig] coming in or anything like that, he just felt that the opportunities that were being presented to him were too good to miss out on.

“Realistically, I understood that. And after that, we almost had a bit of a laugh and a joke about it at times.

“He never caused an issue and I would love to see him do well but not tomorrow night and I’m sure naturally he’ll be thinking he’d love to get off the mark against his former club.”

From a Town perspective, Waghorn’s sale allowed Hurst to bring in some of his summer signings, although the Blues boss says the key factor in allowing the move to go ahead was the player expressing his desire to move on.

“That was part of it, you’ve got to weigh things up but the other thing I would say is that Martyn made it clear that he wanted to leave,” he said. “And once you get that situation it’s very difficult. I’m not saying it’s impossible.

“We had numerous chats during our short time together and, like I said, it wasn’t a case of falling out or anything like that and I genuinely do like the lad from my experience and what I’d heard coming to the club and from when I was doing my background, my research, no one would speak badly of Martyn.

“A great lad, a great character, I really liked him, but the bottom line is that he’s telling me he doesn’t want to play for Ipswich Town and as much as we can say, ‘Well, if we’d have kept him then eventually he’s got to get his head round’, would we still have got the best Martyn Waghorn possible?

“No one’s got a crystal ball so I’m not saying we might not have but there was certainly a period of limbo and I just felt he was at the point where the squad were there, he was kind of in the squad or he played a couple of games, and then I left him out. He was around but he wasn’t really here as such.

“And I think it was just the best decision for everyone concerned at the time. Now, if Martyn hadn’t come to me said about any thoughts of leaving, he’d have been in the team tomorrow night I’m sure.”

Hurst says the move allowing him the wherewithal to significantly freshen up his squad wasn’t something he had been expecting.

“That was a secondary thing because I didn’t walk in the door, I didn’t speak to Marcus or pull any of the players and say, ‘Do you want to leave because actually if we sell you I can bring some more players in’,” he said.

“I’ve been able to bring in a lot more players in than I thought and been able to change the squad around more than I ever envisaged because I expected to be working with those players.

“And that includes Adam Webster, that was one that happened very quickly but when I was doing my planning and thinking about what I’ll need or what I’d like to do, it never entered my head that those two players wouldn’t be here, two of what most people would say were the better players.

“But again, let’s not look negatively on that, let’s try and take the positive and think that we’ve brought other lads in and hopefully they’ll step up and we’ll in time forget about those lads, in the right way.

“Like I say, I’ve got no issues with either player, that’s for sure, I didn’t know Adam for long enough and Martyn we had some conversations that were always pleasant in some respects, albeit as a manager you don’t want someone telling you that they don’t really want to play for your football club.”


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jimmyjames added 17:28 - Aug 20
Could do without him and Rhodes popping up on the score sheet in the coming weeks.
6

alfromcol added 17:28 - Aug 20
Pick him up from obscurity and at the first opportunity, jumps ship.
9

multiplescoregasms added 17:31 - Aug 20
who is he?
3

jas0999 added 17:36 - Aug 20
Interesting. I wonder if he expected ALL of the money to be reinvested when he agreed to letting Garner and Waghorn go? It would seem Evans has reinvested around only half of the money received on fees. In any event, the issue here is we have ended up with fewer strikers after the window closed, which is disappointing.
-7

Swn98 added 17:39 - Aug 20
Come the end of the season he might of wshe he had stayed.
1

DurhamTownFan added 17:40 - Aug 20
Jas-did you honestly expect to get the full fees reinvested? If anyone did, you're deluded. Look at the Mings money-did we actually see any of that £8m?
5

cat added 17:42 - Aug 20
Huge slice of ‘Humble pie' for all those that blamed the club and Evans for this. It was obvious at the time due to the fact he wasn't selected that it was his decision.
Another honest assessment from Hurst, god I love this bloke, so far (lol)
11

Karlosfandangal added 17:46 - Aug 20
I don't blame him really... He knew he had a year left on his Ipswich contract and if he had a bad year, Town might not have offered a new contract or keep him for a further season.

Derby would pay more than Town and he would get a 3 year contract so he just did what we all would do .
11

PositivelyPortman added 17:57 - Aug 20
So, Waggy wanted to leave and Garner wanted to leave and get closer to home and his kids.
Didsy was well past his sell by date and injury prone and yet some people still claim that PH ‘got rid of the 3 of them them'.
8

Chicago_Blue added 18:31 - Aug 20
What worries me is that we've lost three proven Championship strikers - Waghorn, Garner and McGoldrick - admittedly with two having less than impressive injury records ...and replaced them with unproven potential from lower leagues. Also, when you look at the money that came in from player sales, versus the little money we've spent on new players, there's a glaring disparity!
4

Kesblue66 added 18:49 - Aug 20
What a understanding and straight forward guy PH is.Im sure he will be a great success here.
8

MattinLondon added 18:59 - Aug 20
Derby offered him a three year deal, better money, and in paper at least a better chance of promotion. Don't begrudge him the transfer at all.

But I will find it funny if we were to go up and Derby stayed in the championship
8

Bluearmy_81 added 19:04 - Aug 20
Why are people so defensive of Evans when he has consistently under invested and not once reinvested all sales funds? I don't get it. Please don't talk about 'wages', he's the owner of your club, making history (or not.) Is it all about that scripted interview?
0

Swailsey added 19:13 - Aug 20
BA81 - that doesn't mean he has to invest x amount though does it? I don't see anyone else wanting to buy us, unless you have a spare £7mil to invest each year?

I wish of course ME would invest more, but I'm not going to tell him how to spend his money.
5

backwiththeboysagain added 20:28 - Aug 20
Typical of today's footballers, the only loyalty in football is with the fans. Waghorn is a journeyman footballer with only one decent season behind him, luckily for us it was with us so we've cashed in. Debatable whether he has a season like last year, hopefully never again.
7

Gcon added 22:02 - Aug 20
Don't believe the hype
0

ThaiBlue added 22:47 - Aug 20
Got good money for garner and waggon don't want players at the club that don't want to be here.COYB let's get 3 points against derby as I think we will
4

ThaiBlue added 22:51 - Aug 20
Waghorn not waggon.
0

soclopath added 23:06 - Aug 20
Paul Hurst in all discussions suprisingly never mentioned agents getting into players heads.They usually enter the equation at some point.
1

Gilesy added 09:00 - Aug 21
"jas0999 added 17:36 - Aug 20
Interesting. I wonder if he expected ALL of the money to be reinvested when he agreed to letting Garner and Waghorn go? It would seem Evans has reinvested around only half of the money received on fees. In any event, the issue here is we have ended up with fewer strikers after the window closed, which is disappointing."

I do find these sort of views so massively frustrating. That money gets reinvested through running a football club at a massive annual loss.
3

robpontin added 10:44 - Aug 21
Chicago_Blue i don't know how you can say 3 proven scorers let's start with waghorn he had 1 good season here and flopped massively last time he tried to compete in championship for me it's a great deal. Now Garner he got 10 goals all season his 3rd highest ever and for a 30year old spending most of his season in leauge 1/2 thats not the best. Now Mcgoldrick in 5 years and 135 or so games he scored 36 times not a great return for the wages we have been paying him. Now to replacements, Ellis Harrison scored 44 in 185 league 1 appearances at 24 good replacement and more reliable in playing time then Mcgoldrick.
Now jackson 16 from 45 last year, Waghorn was 16 from 44 if the younger 24 year old Jackson can move that form into championship we won't miss Waghorn.

So what I'm saying is the facts say we have done good business getting a lot of money from the deals and replaceing with players who are younger and just as good
0

Bluearmy_81 added 10:48 - Aug 21
No he doesn't have to invest X amount true. Would be nice if he invested more though as realistically it seems that town are likely (ok we could do a Huddersfield but unlikely) to kick around in the championship for years to come at present investment levels. 17 years already, how long have you got? How long would be too long without a return to the prem?! Like I say I don't understand your ambivalence, it's like some of you are happy just ticking along forever? I remember playing Leicester and man city in the 2nd tier, now look at them!!
0

BlueSmith94 added 15:24 - Aug 21
We had 4 recognised strikers last season, McGoldrick (injured for the majority), Sears (out of postion), Garner (started well but faded near the end + injury) and Waghorn. Out of them we know Waghorn was our best striker.

We now have Jackson, Harrison and Sears as our recognised strikers. Plus Ben Morris forcing himself into the first team. Looking at this we are not lacking strikers, I admit at the moment we are lacking goals but this will come in time, of this I am confident.

I know these players are from Lower league, but how many other players in this league are from league 1 and 2 and doing well. Watkins for Brentford was signed from Exeter, Bradley Dack is from the lower leagues and he looks very good at this level. All these players need is a chance, I would think players from the lower league are hungrier than a player dropping down from the Prem.
0

cobboldblue added 23:33 - Aug 21
Sure maybe best for MW but not for ITFC. Where is our replacement 16 goal scorers
plus double digit assists? And that is to finish mid-table! Please, please, please someone explain to me how I have got this totally wrong because, seriously, I don't want to be right.
1


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