Ex-Clarets in the news

Danny Sonner - not happy with his Conference wages

Goalkeeper Andy Oakes never made it with the Clarets. Having played in the team that lifted the Lancashire FA Youth Cup against Manchester City in 1995 he was released by then manager Jimmy Mullen and disappeared into non-league football.

It was Warren Joyce who gave him his first chance in the league with Hull City and his form there persuaded Jim Smith to pay out £450,000 to take him to then Premiership Derby County. More recently he's been at Swansea but this week opted to move north and signed for League Two Darlington.

It was all done rather quietly, but the same cannot be said for Danny Sonner's return to Walsall. He'd just completed two years at Port Vale and had been offered a new one year deal by manager Martin Foyle. He could have accepted, or he could have just gone quietly, but instead the 35-year-old midfielder decided to tell the world what poor payers Port Vale are, claiming they paid Conference wages.

Vale Chairman Bill Bratt hit back in no uncertain terms. "To say we are stunned is an understatement," he said. "The manager had faith in Danny Sonner to pluck him from the depths of Peterborough reserves to give him two years at Port Vale, and at the age of 35 to offer him another contract with better terms for another season, when most teams would have pensioned him off."

The Chairman added: "If he thinks the money he is on is next to nothing, he should try working in the pottery industry for a solid 40 hours a week for £200. I like Danny, he's a character, but he is completely out of order attacking the club that rescued his career."

You sensed there might not be a future or him there any longer, and that is the case with Sonner moving on this week to return to Walsall. He has previously been with them for the duration of the 2002/03 season.

Marc Pugh, who moved to Shrewsbury this week, was another player that seemed to leave his former club under a cloud. In Pugh's case it was Bury who were disappointed he'd turned down the offer of a new deal.

For some it is a matter of staying where they were. Frank Sinclair has now signed a permanent deal with League One Huddersfield after a successful loan period and down in Kent Ian Cox has committed himself for a further season to Gillingham. Coxy has been with the Gills since leaving Burnley four years ago. Now 36 he is approaching his 450^th Football League game.

Ian Moore - not retained by League One Leeds

For Chris Brass it is a matter of wait and see at Gigg Lane. He has to go back to pre-season training to prove his fitness before they will offer him a new deal. But that's better than some with the likes off Tony Grant, Lee Roche and former loan players Andy Todd, Lee Grant, Gavin Ward, Steve Guinan, the born again Michael Ricketts and Paul McVeigh all having been released by their clubs, whilst Graham Coughlan has been made available by Sheffield Wednesday.

And then there's the prolific Ian Moore who claimed to be stunned not to have been offered a new deal by League One Leeds. The newly relegated outfit chose to let him go after he'd scored a total of two goals in 59 league appearances. It doesn't quite match the fifteen goals per season quote from Kevin Blackwell at the time he made the move. He'll have no problem getting fixed up, Huddersfield have been linked with him and he could always go back to his first club Tranmere. I've heard their manager has always been keen to have 'Our Ian' in his team

Finally our best wishes to three more former players who have moved to pastures new. Goalkeeper Paul Crichton has left Cambridge United and signed for King's Lynn where his new captain will be Dean West, and David Reeves, now 39 years of age, is on the move again. He's gone from Alfreton Town to Sutton Town.

Just one more - former youth team centre half and captain Ryan Townsend is on the move. He's left his home town club Perth Glory in Western Australia and will now be playing top flight football in Indonesia for Persiba Balikpapan.