As far as footballing U-turns
go, former Rotherham skipper Craig Morgan’s is up there with the biggest.
Morgan, whose contract
expired at the end of the season, decided against staying with the Millers when
his heart had seemed set on it, instead turning down a deal at Bolton to join recently
relegated Wigan.
It was a U-turn that raised eyebrows, but one that ultimately makes sense.
The centre-half, who served
the club so well in their rise from League Two to Championship safety, was initially
very keen on signing a new deal and staying with the Millers.
In the wake of that brilliant night against Reading, where for a third year in a row Morgan had led his
team-mates up to the New York directors’ box to celebrate in front of an
invaded pitch, he firmly nailed his colours to the mast.
He wanted to stay at
Rotherham.
He loved it there, enjoyed
being captain and moving to a new club when he had been settled had worked
against him in the past.
The Welshman said on that
late spring evening after swilling champagne on the balcony: “I am not asking
for the world, if it's right I want to be at Rotherham United, I feel like I
fit here.
"I don't always feel
like moving is the best option, I have done that before and it hasn't worked. I
am settled here, I like what it's about, I enjoy being captain.
"I am captain of the
football club and I have always said if the offer in front of me is in keeping
with the football club then I will happily sign it tomorrow.
"If it's not and they
want to go down a different road then I have to look at other opportunities
because it is my last big contract that I am going to be able to earn so I have
to look after my family."
It seemed a gimme. All the
Millers had to do was get the numbers right and Morgan would sign.
When the season ended and boss
Steve Evans announced they had offered fresh terms to him, the perception was
that it was just a matter of time before pen was put to paper.
But then something changed
and it made Morgan go back completely on what he said.
Just two weeks after being
offered a new contract, the club reported that their skipper had rejected the
new deal and decided his future will be spent away from the Millers.
#rufc would like to wish both Ben Pringle and Craig Morgan the very best for the future, and thank them for their tremendous service.— Rotherham United (@OfficialRUFC) May 22, 2015
Despite Bolton showing
considerable interest in him, Morgan’s words about wanting to stay at New York
were so strong that his exit came as a shock.
A move to the Macron Stadium
looked certain to be his chosen destination and it seemed as if it was a case of
the Millers again being unable to compete with competitors on the wage front as
reports of a deal with Bolton being agreed emerged.
But Morgan raised eyebrows in
South Yorkshire and on the northern side of the M61 when on Friday he agreed to
join League One Wigan.
And that prefix attached to Wigan’s
name seems to have got a lot of Rotherham and Bolton fans’ knickers in a twist.
Immediately accusations came
that Morgan was following the money and showing no ambition by joining Latics –
why else would he drop down a division Twitter and messageboards pondered?
“There would have been some
players there still earning more than me, but the Rotherham United offer was fine,”
he said regarding the fresh terms offered to him at the Millers. "Money
wasn’t a major factor. I’d made my mind up.
“I have signed for Wigan
Athletic for no more than I was offered by Rotherham and another club in the
Championship.
"All three offers were about the same. Leaving is purely a football
decision. It’s not about greed.
“We finished the season and it was just in my mind that it was the right
time to leave.
“I’d given a lot, and going
from League Two to staying in the Championship was a great achievement. I felt
I could leave on a high.”
The bigger question should be
what happened in those three weeks for Morgan to be so adamant about staying,
only to then leave?
When the champagne, beer and
euphoria of defying a Football League points deduction to stay up had stopped coursing
though his veins, Morgan probably sat on his sun bed while on holiday in Greece
and assessed the situation with a different point of view.
He’d had a magical three
years at Rotherham, helping them to successive promotions, a monumental day out
at Wembley and then the piece de resistance – second-tier survival.
Morgan’s description as leaving
on a high makes perfect sense.
Evans has spoken about the end of his first three-year cycle and the start of a second.
Perhaps the defender did not want to be part of that, or thought that his work had been done with the end of the first one.
With the Championship line-up
looking much stronger this season than last, an incredibly difficult campaign
for Rotherham looks on the cards again.
Maybe he was of the thinking
that another fight against relegation – if that’s what this season turns out to
be (and it may very well not) - would taint his time at the club.
And although he has decided to
step down a level, there’s every reason to suggest that will only be for one
year.
Wigan still have Premier
League parachute payments and League One looks a considerably weaker division
than last season.
Indeed, with Latics 13/2
second favourites to be promoted from League One next season and the Millers
7/4 favourites to lose their Championship status, it is entirely conceivable to
suggest that Morgan could be in a higher league with Wigan this time next year
than if he’d stayed at Rotherham.
Perhaps it was the prospect
of winning another promotion – and he already has four of them – that prompted
the U-turn.
And you wouldn’t back against
him achieving it.
