Cheerio Eric?

Last updated : 09 May 2002 By FirParkCorner
After his appearance against Chievo on Tuesday, hopes were high that Eric Deloumeaux would accept a pay cut and stay at the club. If his recent comments in the press are to be believed, he'll be on his way.

Since he arrived in November, Eric Deloumeaux has been a revelation. He was Eric Black's best signing and he was a near unanimous choice for POTY despite playing less than twenty games for the club. That shows just how vital he is to us - but it looks as though he'll be on his way.

Along with Dirk Lehmann, Eric was offered reduced wages by the adminstrator in a bid to keep him at Fir Park. Initial rumours suggested that Eric would leave but he is still training with the team and played against Chievo on Tuesday. Indeed, he was captain that night, prompting the conspiracy theorists into action.

Eric Del
Is Eric offski?
However, Eric has been quoted in the media saying that if he is forced to take reduced wages he will leave. That is unfortunate in the extreme but it should be remembered that no one player is bigger than the club. The administrator is making cuts that are necessary for us to survive, we cannot make exceptions.

We have already lost Strong and Ready from the heart of our defence and Eric leaving would be a massive blow to our survival hopes for next season. Even so, we have lost better players than Eric Del before and no doubt we will again in the future.