Disrespectful Manzur out of order

Well, in targeting the former, Manzur are very guilty of the latter in my book.

Today marks, for one month only, open season for domestic football transfers.

If the grapevine is to be trusted, and I have no reason to believe it shouldn’t be, no FNB Priaulx League club will sign more new faces than the league’s youngest club.

But it is who they are recruiting that gets my goat and many of the players who are joining them equally rankle this writer.

For those not keeping fully abreast of local football movements, Manzur recently agreed – may have even signed – a tenancy move to the Track, which is nowadays totally owned by Belgraves, a club who have played there for 120 years.

So far, so good as Bels’ pitch is hardly overused now that they don’t have any juniors to populate it.

But, since that news of Manzur’s arrival at the grand old ground became public, the desperate league wooden-spoonists have seen their captain – Luke Gaudion – serve notice he is quitting the club for Manzur and Inside Track is aware of a text inviting Bels’ main striker, Callum Wallace, to join the ground’s tenants.

To this background it also seems two former Bels legends are signing up for Mark Romeril’s fluorescent oranges, the long-time Muratti men Craig Young and Joby Bourgaize, not to mention another former Belgrave and Muratti man Ollie McKenzie, while Kez Mahon is likely to join up too.

As for the landlords?

They have nobody coming their way and can only sit back and scratch their heads and wonder what on earth they have done to make themselves so unappealing as a club while so many of their current and old players fancy strutting their stuff on THEIR lovely pitch and, no doubt, utilise their own clubhouse facilities.

Call me old fashioned, but it stinks.

Bels are currently desperately trying to revive themselves after a terrible campaign in which they won just once in 24 league games and finished 17 points adrift of the next side.

Followers of social media will notice that the blue-and-whites have launched a Twitter campaign to show that they are progressive and open for business. They have even offered free subs to players, for goodness sake.

But, yet, still they are unattractive to a group of players who could have provided a much-needed injection of ability.

It’s beyond me what is happening and if I were running Bels, I’d be ripping up any tenancy agreement with Manzur until they show some respect.