The bulk of Town’s first-team squad are currently in Austria on a preseason training camp, but four members of the squad seem to have been left behind. I’ve not been able to find any official confirmation about why they didn’t make it onto the plane, so it’s possible they’ve stayed behind to arrange transfers away from Town.
Here’s a quick look at some players that aren’t in any of the clubs’ videos and pictures from Austria and some thoughts on what lies in their future…
Scott Malone
Malone played in last week’s friendly win against Lyon and did a relatively decent job at left-back. There’s been no mention of injury, so his omission from the team suggests he may be looking to arrange a move.
He had a patchy first season at Town, looking quick and dangerous as an attacking wingback some of the time but in other games he struggled with his defensive duties and was often caught out of position. I’ve seen plenty of poor leftbacks at Town over the years, Scott Malone isn’t one of them. He’s actually pretty good, but unfortunately for him, we’ve currently got better options in Durm, Löwe, and Kongolo.
It may be that we cash in on him and sell him to an ambitious Championship club or we may loan him out, so we’ve got the option to bring him back to Town in the future.
Collin Quaner
I’ll be broken hearted if Big Col leaves the club. His contribution in the second playoff semi-final game was the reason we made it to the penalty shootout that night. He was also our top assister in the Premier League last season. He’ll always be a hero to me, even more so because he’s not technically gifted and has just made the most of the limited ability available to him.
I was hoping we may keep him as a backup player, as an impact sub to throw on if Plan A isn’t working. He’s not likely to be one of our highest earners and is obviously a popular member of the squad, so I’m hopeful he’ll stay at the club this season. However, his exclusion from the Austria trip could suggest David Wagner doesn’t seen him in his plans for this season.
Michael Hefele
The Hef is another of my all-time favourite Town players, so it would be incredibly sad to see him leave. However, he’s not likely to displace Schindler, Zanka, or Kongolo in the pecking order. He deserves to be playing first team football every week, so I could understand how it would suit everyone for him to move to another club. I’ll still be gutted if it happens.
Danny Williams
Williams seems the least likely to leave of the four players I’ve mentioned in this article. He did a very good job when he was called upon last season and bad luck with injuries was the only thing that held him back. One thing that could count against him is the length of his…… contract, as his deal runs out next summer.
Danny hasn’t featured in any of Town’s preseason friendlies so far as he’s not yet fully fit, so I suspect he didn’t make the trip to Austria so he could work on his fitness. However, he did go on the Germany training camp, so it’s a little bit odd he’s been left back home.
Big Collin is class he was good on Wednesday in second half, hopefully he stays.
I think Malone has been okfor us, he’s always looked a threat going forward, however his defending isn’t the best and is always going to leave us exposed unless we are playing 5 at the back, in which case he isn’t going to be bombing forward, so it’s catch 22.
Quaner just isn’t upto the job for me, he’s not a winger in any sense and isn’t being deployed as a striker as there’s better options.
I will always be grateful to him as the man who sparked the game changing at Hillsboro but last year when I saw his name on the team sheet as a starter my heart sank.
He’s ok as a 15 min substitute but it was like playing with 10 men.
Hefele is a quality defender great in the air, solid when someone runs at him like the other night but his lack of pace is a major worry and we can’t go pressing teams high if he plays.
We’ve other options and with Schindler not being blessed with great pace something has to give.
I would be gutted to see him leave because he’s the type of figure we all love.
Danny Williams was great last year for me, he has a great engine and was willing to take players in from midfield I don’t want to see him go as he’s a pretty good option for hard work, defensive midfield role and the occasional runs with the ball.
It’s always going to be an emotional time letting Quaner and Hefele go as they were part of it all but being ruthless I couldn’t play them.
Malone I think very occasionally might get a game, out of them all and being ruthless Williams is the only one I would keep unless we bring in a higher class midfielder.