Tom Lockyer - collapsed again at Bournemouth, recovering in hospital (p23)

Scoham said:

KentishAddick said:

Strange move for him as I can see them struggling to stay up next season. Thought he would've been aiming a little higher than Luton

Probably aimed higher but one of the articles said other interest ended. Upper League 1 and lower Championship looks like his level to me.

I personally would prefer to keep Matthew's so happy with this. But I would also like to thank him for his efforts after lockdown, he was fantastic and have his all for us

See that some of the snide digs are going in at him on the back of this. 

Rather than being annoyed with him, how about focusing on the fact that he had the ridiculous clause in place in the first place and the fact that a club like Luton can offer 3 year deals in a division above us. 

Secondly - I don't understand what its going to take for some people to drop this whole "Can be easily replaced" comment. 

We. Are. Under. Embargo. 

Any player we lose from the first team is a hit to us if we can't replace them!

Would prefer Matthews to Lockyer.

I am guessing he just wants to play the highest level he can and fair enough.  Be surprised he is on more with them than he was with us, plus their facilities etc are infinitely worse.

Ordinarily I would not be too fussed about this one but with our current squad then losing him is a shame.

Luton stayed up last year due to their defensive quality, were a lot on loan as otherwise he may struggle to get in their team.

Garrymanilow said:

golfaddick said:

ricky_otto said:

Losing players to Luton. Get this takeover done FFS.

We didn't lose him to Luton. We lost him to a team in a higher division. That team could have been Forest (like Taylor). What you should concern yourself about is that he had a clause in his contract that he could leave for nothing if he got relegated. No incentive for him to make a last ditch tackle knowing that a goal against could mean relegation & ££££ for him. 

You've been banging this drum ever since the clause became public knowledge and it's ridiculous. Behave yourself. Lockyer played every single minute in the league for Charlton that he wasn't suspended for and was consistently good. He had some ups and downs but against Millwall it was him and Pearce who were driving forward and actually trying to make something happen when all the other players had gone into their shells. He was always committed and you could never accuse him of not making the effort. He would have been able to move on regardless of whether or not he had that clause. We were relegated; what, are we going to hold off a bid for him? Anyone who wants to leave will leave, ESI are hardly going to pin players down are they? Or would you like to point out some exact instances of Lockyer pulling out of last ditch tackles to deliberately relegate us so he could live his dream of playing for Luton?

Never said he did......but leaves you wondering if that thought is in a players head. He was one of the players on or close to the goal line when Birmingham's  equaliser went in. For me, he was there or thereabouts POTY until the restart. Had a great season up until then with some great last ditch tackles but looked a different player for the last 9 games.

I don't lmow who put that clause in his contract. I had assumed it was him (or his agent) but did read on here that it was the club so that we could offer him more in The Championship & then reduce his wages if we got relegated. No idea if thats true. I just hate knowing a player has a clause that he knows he can leave for free, get a signing on fee from his new club (and we get didly squat) if they get relegated. It just seems like a bonus for not doing well. 

Just a tiny bit depressing losing players to Luton but it's where we are

golfaddick said:

Garrymanilow said:

golfaddick said:

ricky_otto said:

Losing players to Luton. Get this takeover done FFS.

We didn't lose him to Luton. We lost him to a team in a higher division. That team could have been Forest (like Taylor). What you should concern yourself about is that he had a clause in his contract that he could leave for nothing if he got relegated. No incentive for him to make a last ditch tackle knowing that a goal against could mean relegation & ££££ for him. 

You've been banging this drum ever since the clause became public knowledge and it's ridiculous. Behave yourself. Lockyer played every single minute in the league for Charlton that he wasn't suspended for and was consistently good. He had some ups and downs but against Millwall it was him and Pearce who were driving forward and actually trying to make something happen when all the other players had gone into their shells. He was always committed and you could never accuse him of not making the effort. He would have been able to move on regardless of whether or not he had that clause. We were relegated; what, are we going to hold off a bid for him? Anyone who wants to leave will leave, ESI are hardly going to pin players down are they? Or would you like to point out some exact instances of Lockyer pulling out of last ditch tackles to deliberately relegate us so he could live his dream of playing for Luton?

Never said he did......but leaves you wondering if that thought is in a players head. He was one of the players on or close to the goal line when Birmingham's  equaliser went in. For me, he was there or thereabouts POTY until the restart. Had a great season up until then with some great last ditch tackles but looked a different player for the last 9 games.

I don't lmow who put that clause in his contract. I had assumed it was him (or his agent) but did read on here that it was the club so that we could offer him more in The Championship & then reduce his wages if we got relegated. No idea if thats true. I just hate knowing a player has a clause that he knows he can leave for free, get a signing on fee from his new club (and we get didly squat) if they get relegated. It just seems like a bonus for not doing well. 

The bonus was him signing for us in the first place despite knowing we'd only been promoted through the play-offs and wouldn't be spending any money on improving the squad. The clause was there to get him on on money we could afford. So with the Birmingham goal, you think that Lockyer decided just to let Birmingham score in the 94th minute, even though clearing it off the line would have given us the two points that would have kept us up? Purrington was near the line too he was, what, just unlucky? Do you seriously think that Lockyer's contract clauses were playing on his mind as that shot came in? Was the clause not on his mind for the other 93 minutes? If that's the way he's thinking then why even bother playing at all? Just do a Lyle Taylor and you'll be a free agent at the end of the contract. Tom Lockyer is a competitive player, there's no way he would just shrug his shoulders and let teams score, and he never did. It's absolutely ridiculous to imply something like that with no evidence

Lunged in too often, didn't cut out crosses consistently and distribution was pretty poor. Clearly he had qualities but these were significant negatives for me.

Lockyer is a good player, probably one of the better players in the squad, and I'd definitely have liked to have kept him, but if it's a choice between him and Matthews, it is an easy decision . 

Would take Mathews over Lockyer every time, had some good games but don't see him playing at a much higher level, fully expect to see him back in league one next year as can't see Luton surviving again, hopefully some creative contract extras will see the return of Naby if the takeover goes through.

I liked Lockyer. Thought he was a decent and consistent CB.

He won't be that easy to replace.

I can understand Tom wanting to play at a higher level, but to leave on a free? 

Seems like a good bloke. A limited but totally committed player who never left us in the lurch like a certain striker.
Wish him well and as others have said, will be interesting to see where he is in two years with a move to....Luton!?

Result Not a good footballer  - rather have Oztumer Centre back - 

Fair play, thought he was a good player and right now Luton are a much better bet - especially on a 3 year contract.