Jonathan Grounds left the club to join Bolton on loan earlier this week, and the defender’s departure did generate some debate over whether it was the right decision.
The 30-year-old was told earlier this summer that he wasn’t part of the club’s first team plans, and in an interview with the Bolton News following his departure, he expressed some frustration that he wasn’t given the opportunity to impress Garry Monk.
However, when I asked fans for their opinion on Grounds’ exit, a majority backed the manager’s judgement on the matter:
It is too early to judge whether Kristian Pedersen is an able replacement, but it must be said that even when our former no.3 was fit from April onwards, Monk continued with Wes Harding at right back and Maxime Colin filling in on the left.
It seems that it was decided at a very early stage that the player was not going to get many games. I’m sure fans we will want to wish him well for the future. He was an honest, hard-working player, and rarely let us down. Hopefully, our new no.3 can fill his boots and turns out to be an improvement.