Sadly (or maybe not so sadly
) I think there's always a great deal of sentiment involved when a player is approaching the latter stages of a successful career, especially a player such as Paul, who has been such a tremendous servant to the club. The fact remains, though, that footballers do not just go on forever and we have to accept that.
Paul has proved me wrong so many times and has lifted his game up that extra notch as the club has come up through the leagues. However, if we are brutally honest, the signs of age have shown this season. All Jeff's remarks above are, sadly, true and I fear that Paul's downhill trend will only continue next season.
I REALLY hope he proves me wrong yet again, but I feel we should now be looking at younger blood and it's sadly time to say a fond farewell to someone who has made an immeasurable contribution to Stanley's tremendous progress under Coley and Jimmy. Thanks again Paul - now come back and prove I don't know what I'm talking about!