Sam Osborne

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Originally Posted by queenslandpie

What a stupid thread. He was offered a new deal and chose to go to Leamington as he didn't think he was good enough to make Notts first team that's all there is to it. Perhaps he is, perhaps he isn't but it was his decision not the clubs.

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The ‘offer’ was a token one (not signing another winger when he didn’t sign it tells you that) - pay equivalent to what he earned as a first year pro, barely above minimum wage. It was a ‘if he’ll stay for that we may as well have him around’ offer rather than a genuine willingness to keep him as part of things and I fully understand, at 21, his decision to move on to get regular game-time he clearly wasn’t going to get here.

It’s one thing being understudy to Roberts and Enzio, but another entirely to be behind 34 year old Jim O’Brien for a starting berth on the wing and tells you everything about the approach taken by this manager unfortunately. Even when Osborne (and Crawford) came into prove themselves, the old boys were still the ones trusted when it mattered.

Massive Curtis Thompson vibes about Osborne; I fully expect him to follow the path set by Thompson, Colby Bishop, Luther Wildin etc and bounce back at a higher division then we’re currently in - only this time with us already in the Conference and him proving he can score goals and influence games at this level, there really is no excuse!

Let him get as many games as he can with Lemington and keep an eye on him if he shows enough improvement bring him home and resign him.

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Originally Posted by queenslandpie

What a stupid thread. He was offered a new deal and chose to go to Leamington as he didn't think he was good enough to make Notts first team that's all there is to it.

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Except that isn't all there is to it, there is another possible explanation. Maybe he thought that he was good enough to make the Notts first team, but was either told or thought that he was unlikely to get the opportunity.

So in summary nobody on here actually knows, both are possible and maybe the truth is a combination of the two.

Either way, good to hear Sam playing well for Leamington Spa.

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Originally Posted by Elite_Pie

Except that isn't all there is to it, there is another possible explanation. Maybe he thought that he was good enough to make the Notts first team, but was either told or thought that he was unlikely to get the opportunity.

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Then why was he offered a contract? I note an earlier suggestion that it was a token offer, but how do we know that. When all said and done I was disappointed that both Sam and Tom Crawford ended up leaving in the Summer although I had thought the rest of the recruitment seemed satisfactory. Either way good luck to both of them and I will be interested in watching how their careers develop. I am sure that this topic will crop up again in the future.

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Originally Posted by matt_magpie

Yeah but no ones doing anything yet this season. I think it’s unfair to say he was only decent 10 years ago as Cov fans would certainly disagree from just a 3 or 4 years ago, the guys a freak of nature fitness wise for his age. I would love to have a young players blossoming for us but they have to be good enough. It’s a tough one for any manager do you continually play youth with the hope they become more consistent but results suffer short term or do you go with the tried and trusted, it’s not an easy one especially for managers, as we are seeing now a few bad performances and everyone’s calling for his head, which is the same for a lot of clubs.

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I don't see Doyle as the problem, O'Brien most definitely is a huge issue. He's not good enough to play centre midfield or on the wing as he can't track a runner

Sam Osborne needed game time to improve, and the NLN is the right place for him to get it. I expect him to play at a higher level in a year or two. In an ideal world, we would have offered him a 2 or 3 year contract and loaned him out to someone like Leamington for the season.

I think Wolfe has had a few health issues in recent weeks (wasn’t he one of the 7 who had COVID?). Barnsley fans rate him highly, so I really hope we get to see what he can offer at some point very soon. What is for sure is that we’re going nowhere with a midfield three of O’Brien (can’t remember his last good game for us - Barnet in the playoffs?), Doyle (ditto) and Reeves.

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Originally Posted by Elite_Pie

Except that isn't all there is to it, there is another possible explanation. Maybe he thought that he was good enough to make the Notts first team, but was either told or thought that he was unlikely to get the opportunity.

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Surely you can do better than that? He was offered a deal, which would be a very odd thing to do if he was unwanted - he might have accepted!

Not too bothered - ok, so he's playing well in the league below us, but it is no guarantee he would have done it for us. You win some, you lose some.

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Originally Posted by applepie

Surely you can do better than that? He was offered a deal, which would be a very odd thing to do if he was unwanted - he might have accepted!

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Did you miss the post that said "The ‘offer’ was a token one - pay equivalent to what he earned as a first year pro, barely above minimum wage"?

I'm sure he would have stayed if the offer was a reasonable one. It seems that mighty Leamington offered more, which I think says it all.