 Friday, 28th Jan 2011 11:48 by Daniel J Sewart It was all a little quiet on the ‘Official’ news front as it seemed every media outlet was reporting the Commons deal was done. Clough and Glick broke that silence today and spoke about the players transfer to Celtic. The facts are that Commons has completed and signed for Celtic on a three and a half year deal with an option of a further year. The speculated fee is undisclosed but is believed to be around £300,000 after an initial offer of £500,000 from Rangers was accepted but fell through when the Glasgow club did not meet his wage demands. Cynical fans were suggesting that the club may have been hoping to announce a signing at the same time as the sale to appease disgruntled fans. Others suggested damage control was underway as the information leaked out before the club was ready. Whatever the truth of the matter was or is, the DCFC official site issued statements today that gave the club line from both manager and chief executive. They make for interesting reading as they paint a straight forward picture of a player who did not honour his word. It is not as exciting as the conspiracy theories but too be honest I would prefer the Rams to be the club portrayed in these statements than in those theories. Tom Glick speaking to the Official DCFC site: "Our discussions with Kris over a new contract began back in October and he made it abundantly clear he wanted to stay at Derby County. Kris stated this publically in the local media as well, so the fans were hearing the same messages as us.” "Likewise, we made it very obvious we wanted him to stay and build on the success he has had in a Derby County shirt. When we began discussions with Kris, he gave us a figure in terms of wages and length of contract that he was looking for.” "After lengthy negotiations with Kris' agent, we put an offer on the table to match exactly what Kris requested. Two weeks ago we thought we were almost done and dusted because we had a productive meeting and made the offer that Kris had requested.” "By this point however, it became apparent that Kris wasn't going to sign the contract that was on offer to him. We then decided, as a Club, that it was in our best interests to accept Celtic's offer to sign Kris now for an undisclosed fee. It is disappointing to lose Kris, he is a very talented footballer and we always wanted him to stay.” "We did everything we could to make him stay and we offered a very good deal to him. It was what he asked for, but he felt he needed a new challenge and he leaves us with our very best wishes.” "He made a significant contribution to our excellent early-season form and his goal in the Carling Cup semi-final against Manchester United in his first season with the Club will live long in the memory, as will his FA Cup winner at Nottingham Forest only a few weeks later." Clear, concise and seemingly honest. Not much point in sticking it to Kris unless the boy had turned his back on the club, which it seems he did. GSE are taking enough heat at the moment so attack is the best form of defence in this case. Nigel Clough was upset but philisophical:
"We did all we could to keep Kris with us; I really don't think we could have done any more. I understand the fans will be saddened that one of their crowd favourites has moved on, but we are just as disappointed as they are that Kris decided his future wasn't with us.” "We went to great lengths to try to keep Kris and get him what he wanted. Tom Glick deserves special credit for the way he has handled things during the process.” "Ultimately, Kris made the decision his future lay elsewhere and like I said we're disappointed we couldn't persuade him to stay. His goals were a big contributory factor in our early-season form that took us into the top six and we recognised that with the offer which was made to him.” "When it became clear he wasn't going to sign the contract we offered, you then reach a situation where you have to decide whether to keep hold of a player who won't be staying with us or do we let him go? ” "We felt it was in the best interests moving forwards that Kris was allowed to move on now." I personally was a bit hot under the collar about the deal but I will admit these comments and very frank admissions have soothed the savage beast in me. The comments by Nigel about Tom Glick were especially interesting as the American was always going to be most criticised by fans for Commons leaving. The manager seemed determined to make sure we all knew how the deal played out. The biggest disappointment, if Tom Glick is correct in his statements, is that Kris Commons never had any intention of staying at Derby despite his constant statements to the contrary. He was a shining light this season and finally began to produce on his potential but only after the coaching staff and Nigel in particular threw the challenge down to the player. Nigel told him to “earn a new contract” this campaign and that he did…. somewhere else. Clough should be commended for turning a player who was close to the scrap heap into one of the leading scorers in the Championship. In turn Commons should be ashamed for acting just like the stereotypical modern day footballer. I would not deny him the move and the lure of Championship football but saying to club and fans he will stay if a deal can be done, then when the deal is done not honour his word, is a pretty low act. It is the type of behaviour football fans hate about the cash driven, soulless world the game has become. Commons today added to that cynicism that is growing wild amongst supporters worldwide. The worst part of all is that when you look back on what he said and what he did, it seems that many of our foes at Forest were right about the boy, his level of loyalty and his ability to bend the truth with a straight face. Forest fans were right.....even having to write those words have made this day seem a whole lot worse than it already was.
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