severnside gull
Well-known member
Greer doesn't pick himself to play, the manager does.
Greer hasn't selected himself as captain, the manager has.
I'm saying this because it has irked me quite how readily some Albion fans have given stick to Gordon Greer over the last couple of years or so. Since the 'sideways move' he made from Swindon he has been the mainstay of our backline during a period of significant success for our club built, largely, upon a miserly defence. There can be few, if any, players in our history that have such a low goals conceded per game average as Greer.
Beyond all that, he is a leader on the pitch, although I get some do not like the way he can berate those who have erred.
Off the pitch he always comes across very well indeed too, as I'm all of those with kids who have asked him for a photo and/or autograph will testify.
When someone suggested earlier in the summer that three or four players would leave and one of them would be a "surprise" many (myself included) thought Greer might go in order to obtain a fee. He is one of the few candidates for departure that I can think of who would bring in a reasonable bid and without whom we could probably manage (subject to getting in an Upson or Hughes type replacement.
Now he is staying and based on form over the last few seasons will rightly be a regular alongside Dunk. We will get another CB for sure and it will be interesting to see if it is someone with a season or so left in the locker or a youngster like Nelson at Plymouth or his continental equivalent.
Bruno or Calde stepping in as skipper in Greer's absence makes perfect sense. Orderly transition rather than wholesale change is Hughton's way.