Today's activity has taken away some of the sadness that he has moved on. He has certainly left the club in better shape than when signed.
Agreed, he had a great season, but we were always just a stepping stone in his career. It worked for both parties.
I don't mind moves like this. We've had a good 18 months out of Alfie, and he too out of us. We've made probably (guess) £4.5 million profit on him and we have players coming in that will hopefully make the transition for us less painful (MacDonald gave a good account of himself on Saturday) in Jackson and Kpekawa. If we do something like this once a season, the club will be in a great position for years to come. It was all those years of getting rid of our star players for next to nothing that really grated on me, leaving us in a position to recruit no like for like replacements, but simply scraping barrel after barrel with the peanuts we'd accumulated.
Absolutely this. It's a deal that has worked for all parties and is a perfect example of how our recruitment strategy should and hopefully will work. It's in total contrast to our dealings in previous years and hopefully marks a sea change in how our club acts and is perceived in the transfer market. I have no problem with our best players moving on if we are appropriately financially rewarded. It's about having the replacements in the pipeline and making the whole process continous and fluid.