Matt Lench

[Irishadrian]

Statement on club website re his departure.

[Markskelton]

So pissed with this decision,yes the midfield are playing well but chances are that won’t continue for the rest of the season and Matt has openly said the wants to fight for his place,surely it’s better to keep him then let him go to a rival? Absolutely gutted right now.

[Bernie Gogan]

Really sad from my point of view. Sometimes players personify the club and Lenchy has been one of them. I felt similarly when Bakes & Unders departed.

Things change and nobody is bigger than the club of course. 

Wondering now what other squad news follows this.............

[sdelaney2308]

What a shock this morning reading that Lenchy is leaving…

Thank you Lenchy for lighting up the Rebel supporters faces with your skill and humour over the years with us.

Gainsborough game the icing on the cake that we will not forget.

Best Wishes to your parents too, was always good to see them following and supporting you and the club home and away.

 

Edited 2 hours ago by sdelaney2308

[Curtis]

Personally having watched our style of play this season I am not surprised by this decision.

I will miss Matt Lench’s flair & big personality though & will forever remember this classy performance against Gainsborough:-

https://www.sloughtownfc.net/reports/5159

[HEAVY TRUCKER]

cant help feeling that this is a money decision which will come and bite us in the bum later on in the season i think that this is a mistake we will come to regret

[Windsor Rebel]

I think you are right HT, I guess the club finances cant stretch to paying for someone with a long term injury.

Bit ironic though that the Supporters Trust has just given the club ten grand.

[SloughFlyer]

Going to go against the grain, don't see this as an issue at all and actually a commitment to move forward as a club. Matt Lench was a good servant for the club, ove the last season or so looked decent at many times BUT often times seemed to go out of games at the end (I suspect due to carrying injuries and the squad options we had at the time) and I thought started to look backwards to pass the ball many times rathe than moving things forward and being positive. Now that we have a far stronger set of midfielders and with how well they have played, Lench hasn't been missed thus far this year and I doubt (on the pitch) he will be now either.

He was clearly a fans favourite (not with us but many) and I'm sure there will be plenty of people upset about this situation, but if now with some budget having moved Lench, Ufuah and Kareem all having left we can now balance up the squad with 1 or 2 decent defenders, I think it makes us better as a team.

Totally behind the club on this one and I'm very impressed with Scott and the management of the club taking these types of difficult decisions.

[Sir Rebel1965]

And the player revolving door keeps on spinning.

We have players joining and announcements that they are the best thing since sliced bread, and then a few weeks later are let go.

A couple of weeks ago it was announced that Matt would go out and get match fit, and now he has been ditched.

Other experienced and established players also decided to move on in the summer.

There appears to be some strange recruitment and retention practices going on.

Is this down to poor selection of players coming in?

There is always the question of playing budget when it comes to squad size.

But to have a stable and successful team you need to eradicate what causes this instability and turnover of players.

The root cause needs to be addressed.

[Reading Rebel]

Let me get this right.

Our best player is on the verge of coming back from injury and because players who are currently in the side are playing well he is more than happy to fight for his place.

The club then tell him that they want to head in a different direction and that he is surplus to requirements.

To say the decision is to do with how well players are currently performing is, to be frank, a bit ridiculous when players over the course of a season will all have dips in form especially younger players. 

If the real reason is that the club are going down the younger cheaper player route that's the clubs choice but to rely predominantly on younger players at this level imo is a mistake.

This has left a sour taste in the mouth and a decision I hope the club don't end up regretting.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[SloughFlyer]

16 minutes ago, Reading Rebel said:

Let me get this right.

Our best player is on the verge of coming back from injury and because players who are currently in the side are playing well he is more than happy to fight for his place.

The club then tell him that they want to head in a different direction and that he is surplus to requirements.

To say the decision is to do with how well players are currently performing is, to be frank, a bit ridiculous when players over the course of a season will all have dips in form especially younger players. 

If the real reason is that the club are going down the younger cheaper player route that's the clubs choice but to rely predominantly on younger players at this level imo is a mistake.

This has left a sour taste in the mouth and a decision I hope the club don't end up regretting.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You got it wrong in the 3 words after "let me get it this right" RR. Lench wasn't our best player at all. Baylis is a better player in his position than Lench was in his, Henry is a better midfielder than Lench was, David Ogbonna is better in his position than Lench was. All in my opinion of course.

[SloughFlyer]

56 minutes ago, Sir Rebel1965 said:

And the player revolving door keeps on spinning.

We have players joining and announcements that they are the best thing since sliced bread, and then a few weeks later are let go.

A couple of weeks ago it was announced that Matt would go out and get match fit, and now he has been ditched.

Other experienced and established players also decided to move on in the summer.

There appears to be some strange recruitment and retention practices going on.

Is this down to poor selection of players coming in?

There is always the question of playing budget when it comes to squad size.

But to have a stable and successful team you need to eradicate what causes this instability and turnover of players.

The root cause needs to be addressed.

I'd say the retention practices are fairly spot on SirRebel. You have to look at the reasons those players left and you had Temi and Dyce leave to go full time (couldn't be offered by Slough), Goddard left for a ridiculous contract offer (club was bang on to release him), Gabe George wanted first team football (wasn't ready for that at step 2), Minhas left for more money (mercenary) and the list goes on.....

I agree about Kareem, that was a mental situation and 100% (IMO) the club got taken for a ride by him. John Ufuah was a shame but lived further away so understandable (although he must have known where he lived when he signed😂) and now Lench who was past his best and probably expensive for a squad type player who would, IMO, at best be midfielder 4 in the squad list behind Henry, Leon and John. No need to go OTT on retention if the above reasons are why the players left.