Gloucester
Spencer could be first of many through Glaws exit door
Spencer - SA-bound
By Cherry Picker
January 10 2010
With a blank weekend forced on Gloucester by the postponement of their Sunday GP game at Newcastle, the club and the fans have perhaps had time to give some thought to the long-term future – well, it makes a change from worrying about which Glaws team will turn up for the next game.
And the chances are that most people will come to the conclusion that the Glaws team for 2010-11 will not bear a great deal of similarities to the current one.
The contracts of more than a dozen senior Kingsholm players are due to end in the summer (summer, remember, it’s when the grass is green and you don’t have to wear two coats) and the silence from Kingsholm on contract extensions at a time when you’d expect at least some news of negotiations has been deafening.
And the first to hit the exit doors could be Carlos Spencer. The former All Blacks fly-half is at the centre of a tug of war between Gloucester and South African Super 14 team Golden Lions, and he could be on the way out before the end of the month after less than a year at Kingsholm.
He has never really looked at home at Glaws and there’s no doubt he will be keen on making the move in an effort to revive his career.
He has been third choice No.10 in a side which can’t find any consistency this season, so his chances of establishing himself at the age of 34 look remote.
The Lions, meanwhile, say they want him for his experience and so that he can help bring along a crop of promising young players.
Meanwhile, the conjecture on who will leave and who will be staying will probably keep the fans busy for the next four months as Gloucester try to make the best of a sad season and players who actually WANT to stay at the club try to play well enough to earn a new deal.
Meanwhile, there’s speculation that Olly Morgan has turned down a new contract, but in the current climate he possibly isn’t the only one who feels his career would benefit from a move.
With Ryan Lamb telling the Citizen that leaving home-town club Glaws was the best thing he ever did, the vibes round the club are hardly positive.
Lamb said: "Irish were the right club at the right time – they are a developing club and they are going in the right direction.
"That's something I wanted to be part of it. It's a developing process here where players come through the system and develop all the time and I felt that I could fit into that."
Is it just us, or is there some implied criticism of the Glaws et-up there?Meanwhile, Glaws are now heading for a two-week break from the Premiership as they play out their Heineken Cup games at home to Biarritz and away to Dragons – two matches for which, after previous results in the competition, it’s very difficult to build up any enthusiasm at the moment.
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10/01/2010 10:27
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Looking at Tigers going top (again) makes me wonder when we'll be serious challengers again.
Or if?
