I believe Antonio is out of contract this summer but the club has a 1 year option, which I cant see them taking up.
Didn't we do the same for Ogbonna recently, he had a ACL and we renewed his contract more out of sentiment then anything
Don't get me wrong, I don't expect it ti be triggered but it seems we have history
Would love to see Antonio in the claret and blue atleast one more time however unlikely it is, maybe in a testimonial if retirement is in the cards for him
Upon hearing the first reports I was fearing the worst and now we know a little bit more, I feel that we have to be realistic and operate on the basis that an injury such as this at this stage of his career is in all likelihood, a career ending event.
As was said earlier, I hope and pray that he otherwise recovers fully and look forward to when he can make a pitch appearance and take a well deserved bow which will be an emotional occasion for everyone - I can hear the “Antonio” chant in my head right now.
Could he recover enough to take part in a testimonial?, we really do not know enough right now but that would be wonderful.
Not strictly true. Any club can hold a testimonial if they want to but generally don’t because players are so highly paid these days. There’s nothing stopping us holding one for Antonio if his career is finished. Man U wanted to hold one for Phil Jones when he retired last year but he refused as he’d hardly played in the previous two years.
If the photo of the crashed car is anything to go by Antonio is lucky to have survived. It's a terrible way for his career to (presumably) come to a premature end although you could say it was nearing its natural end anyway, at least as far as the PL is concerned. I think he deserves a testimonial if for no other reason than for the fans to show their love.
As an aside, I couldn't help thinking about Dean Ashton whose career was cut short by Shaun Wright-Phillips' tackle. How many other strikers have been lost to on or off field injuries?
I think there's 2 parts of a testimonial, the financial and the paying tribute to a long standing player. The first is no longer necessary given (at least for our players atm) the ridiculous wages PL footballers earn, although in the past, when footballers earned a relatively decent wage but for a short career, it was often a significant boost to a retirement (from football) fund to help set them up for a career after football. The second, however, should still be a feature, with any proceeds going to charity; this is what happened with Nobes, and what a great day that was. A celebration of his career with us, and raising a decent sum for his chosen charities.
Surely something along these lines could be done for Micky, and should, imo, have been done for Cresswell at the end of last season.
According to some reports he has been told it will likely be somewhere between 9-12 months before he will be able to walk unaided and unlikely he will ever play again.
I’d kind of like him to play at least one more game for us.
It doesn't look likely tbh; he's apparently been offered a short term contract on reduced wages heavily weighted on appearances but feels he can do better so hasn't signed it and will technically be released at the end of the month. Unless he does a Carlton Cole, it looks like he's played his last game for us.
It will be a huge achievement if he manages to play football again at the top level. I admire his determination but the conversation may move to coaching and academy in time and that would be good for all parties in my view.
I would be surprised if any club offer much of a contract regard length and wages not linked to appearance. The guy is 35 years old and returning from a massive injury.
Comments
Nice gesture
Auctioning the shirts for charity.
Not that the NHS is a charity.... just underfunded.
Don't get me wrong, I don't expect it ti be triggered but it seems we have history
Would love to see Antonio in the claret and blue atleast one more time however unlikely it is, maybe in a testimonial if retirement is in the cards for him
As was said earlier, I hope and pray that he otherwise recovers fully and look forward to when he can make a pitch appearance and take a well deserved bow which will be an emotional occasion for everyone - I can hear the “Antonio” chant in my head right now.
Could he recover enough to take part in a testimonial?, we really do not know enough right now but that would be wonderful.
Man U wanted to hold one for Phil Jones when he retired last year but he refused as he’d hardly played in the previous two years.
It's a terrible way for his career to (presumably) come to a premature end although
you could say it was nearing its natural end anyway, at least as far as the PL is concerned.
I think he deserves a testimonial if for no other reason than for the fans to show their love.
As an aside, I couldn't help thinking about Dean Ashton whose career was cut short by Shaun Wright-Phillips' tackle. How many other strikers have been lost to on or off field injuries?
Surely something along these lines could be done for Micky, and should, imo, have been done for Cresswell at the end of last season.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Hammers/comments/1l6e8by/antonio_post_on_instagram/?utm_source=embedv2&utm_medium=post_embed&utm_content=whitespace
I would be surprised if any club offer much of a contract regard length and wages not linked to appearance. The guy is 35 years old and returning from a massive injury.