Cherries: Thomas asked Howe to leave

7:00am Friday 23rd November 2012 in Latest Sport Photograph of the Author By Neil Perrett

EDDIE Howe has said he reluctantly agreed to allow Wes Thomas to leave Goldsands Stadium after the striker had made it clear he wanted to go.

Thomas yesterday completed a loan move to Championship outfit Blackpool and will remain at Bloomfield Road until New Year’s Day.

However, although there is no provision for the agreement to be made permanent, it appears the 25-year-old may have played his last game for Cherries.

Thomas has reunited with Michael Appleton at Blackpool having enjoyed a fruitful loan spell under him when he was manager at Portsmouth earlier this season.

The east Londoner made an encouraging start to his Cherries career, netting 10 times in his first 20 appearances after signing – initially on loan – from Crawley for an undisclosed six-figure fee in August 2011.

However, once the move had been made permanent in the January transfer window and Thomas had penned a two-and-a-half year deal, the goals dried up with the frontman registering only one in his next 22.

It is understood Thomas had been hoping to be offered an improved contract in line with some of the club’s higher earners having agreed terms on his existing deal when a wage cap had been in place.

However, it is believed this did not materialise and Thomas’s frustrations grew when an influx of new strikers in the summer saw him drop down the pecking order and fall out of favour under former boss Paul Groves.

Although Howe had been keen to give him a chance following his appointment last month, Thomas made it clear he saw his future elsewhere when he spoke to the Cherries manager last week.

Howe told the Daily Echo: “Wes approached me before the Oldham game saying he wanted to go, which came as a big surprise to me.

“We had brought him back from Portsmouth with a view to involving him in the squad and seeing where things went.

“But he said he wanted to leave so has gone on loan. He has jumped a level to the Championship so it will be an exciting challenge for him. If he does well, I think that would only benefit us in January when we re-assess what is going to happen.”

Thomas, who could feature when Blackpool host Watford tomorrow, can be recalled by Cherries at any time after he has spent an initial 28 days at Bloomfield Road.

He was one of three players to leave on loan yesterday, with midfielder Mark Molesley joining League Two Plymouth for a month and youngster Josh Wakefield linking up with Dagenham & Redbridge, also for a month.

Both deals could be extended beyond a month even though the loan window closed yesterday until January.

Comments(28)

Luffbracherry says...
8:41am Fri 23 Nov 12

I am afraid we have lost a potentially good striker thanks to the mismanagement under Groves

Wes was never given an opportunity and was surrounded by a plethora of strikers that were being frantically signed then chopped and changed in an attempt to find the right striking options

But this approach failed due to the teams inability to score anyway!

Good luck Wes you will score goals for Blackpool - at least you have made The Championship ahead of the rest of your team mates!

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Ferndown Steve says...
8:43am Fri 23 Nov 12

If Thomas/or his agent decides he wants to move from AFCB, then I can see no point in trying to 'pander to his needs' at the detriment of the rest of the squad at the Club.
He clearly doesn't want to fight for his place on our way to the Championship.
Sometimes an unsettling influence, like his commitment or attitude, can happen in the squad - So best let him go, permantly, in my opinion.
UTC

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Frankiesbackfromhollywood says...
8:54am Fri 23 Nov 12

Who does Thomas think he is, Howe has only been here a few weeks and he's already asking him to leave, ruddy heck Thomas!! Oh and I am kidding around, Thomas can go bye bye as far as I am concerned, not exactly played for us for quite some time has he?

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Square Old Codger says...
8:54am Fri 23 Nov 12

You can't blame any player for wanting to play on a regular basis , so good luck to Wes, to Mark Molesley and Josh Wakefield, I hope that they all get regular football and do well. I see that Eddie Mitchell has conceded that the Club is losing money, but is staying within the Salary cap through sponsership deals etc. He went on to say that he was building the Club up for his family to suceed him in the years ahead and the intention was to get the Club on a sound basis within 4 years or so. I fear that he is deluding himself," he that pays the piper plays the tune". As many of us suspected the Club is clearly in a heavy loss situation and is utterly dependent on our Russian's maintaining their interest in the Club, how long before they exercise full control and put in their own C.E.O.

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Square Old Codger says...
8:54am Fri 23 Nov 12

You can't blame any player for wanting to play on a regular basis , so good luck to Wes, to Mark Molesley and Josh Wakefield, I hope that they all get regular football and do well. I see that Eddie Mitchell has conceded that the Club is losing money, but is staying within the Salary cap through sponsership deals etc. He went on to say that he was building the Club up for his family to suceed him in the years ahead and the intention was to get the Club on a sound basis within 4 years or so. I fear that he is deluding himself," he that pays the piper plays the tune". As many of us suspected the Club is clearly in a heavy loss situation and is utterly dependent on our Russian's maintaining their interest in the Club, how long before they exercise full control and put in their own C.E.O.

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mrsrat says...
8:58am Fri 23 Nov 12

Yes, I feel sorry for Wes, Groves has really messed up his career but it's strange how things have worked out for him, goes to Pompey on loan and their manager likes him, manager then gets a decent job at Blackpool and Wes is offered a chance to resurrect his career with them.
All the best Wes, things have not worked out here for you, but I really think you could have 'cut it' for us if you were given the chance..

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wookj1 says...
9:22am Fri 23 Nov 12

I only saw Wes play for 30 minutes this season alongside Lewis Grabban for 30 minutes at Yeovil. That pairing looked fantastic, creating four one on ones with the keeper. Although they didn't score on that occasion, the pace and power of those two together looked fantastic.
They were never selected together again, and a great opportunity missed.
I will be very very sad to see Wes go, and believe he will do a good job for Blackpool, as he did alongside a similar player to Grabban (Mcleod) at Portsmouth.
On gates of 5500, frankly to have 10 strikers is quite ridiculous. I would rather we had sent Barnard back to Soton.

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nonnogeppetto says...
9:37am Fri 23 Nov 12

no one player is bigger than the team they each play a part and together they win games. If Wes is not happy at AFCB (for whatever reason) than the only thing left is for him to go. Clearly EH knows that he hasn't got the time to experiment and need to rely on proven strikers. Let us wait and see what he does at Blackpool and wish him well.

The club has too many players on their books and needs to reduce costs this is one way of achieving that.

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RED LETTER DAY says...
10:06am Fri 23 Nov 12

.. Some supporters on here have been saying Wes & Tubbsy are league 2 players and not up to the standard required for league 1. . . . What a load of old nonsense. . . . The difference in the standards of leagues 1|& 2 are minimal, but the step up to the Championship is far more difficult........ Good luck to Wes Thomas.

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Dragback says...
11:13am Fri 23 Nov 12

I remember the first games he played for AFCB and thinking he was the business - the ball used to stick to him, he would bully defenders, run at players, score goals by himself.

Why would Crawley ever let him go? Then for whatever reason he lost all that, he could'nt finish, he lost the attributes that made him standout (apart from heading which
he was always poor at).

So it could be :-
a) Poor management to blame
b) Being a confidence player
c) Having a poor attitude

On the one hand I can understand him feeling a bit agrieved - gets brought back and not played and then sees ANOTHER stiker being brought into the club.

On ther other hand if he so desperately wants first team football is he going to get that in the Championship?

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The Renegade Master says...
11:25am Fri 23 Nov 12

With Wes almost certainly gone for good I'm hoping that will pave the way for Lee Barnard to come here permanently in January. We need his strength and guile up front and although he's not scored as many goals as we or he'd like, he's energetic and works his socks off for the team.

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let football be the winner says...
11:32am Fri 23 Nov 12

Ferndown Steve wrote:
If Thomas/or his agent decides he wants to move from AFCB, then I can see no point in trying to 'pander to his needs' at the detriment of the rest of the squad at the Club. He clearly doesn't want to fight for his place on our way to the Championship. Sometimes an unsettling influence, like his commitment or attitude, can happen in the squad - So best let him go, permantly, in my opinion. UTC
Dont blame Wes for moving on Pompey wanted him Blackpool in the Championship want him but EH has decided that 6 goal a season Fletcher is better for the bench than Thomas and if I was him I also would think that I dont have a career here if I cant force a place on the bench, you lot complain about Mitchel and nepotism, it is no different than EH and besty mate.

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YafcbY says...
11:48am Fri 23 Nov 12

This is something we best get used to, we have a quality squad with so many good players it's impossible to play them all. Good luck to Thomas and hope it goes well for him.

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atha says...
12:44pm Fri 23 Nov 12

Let football be the whatever.
Thomas was on the bench against Doncaster and came on for the last 20 minutes.
EH's best mate, according to you, came on for the last minute. Would have thought he would have come on earlier as they are best pals.
Before the next game against Oldham he asked for a transfer and was consequently left out of the squad.
Quite right!

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trigg_travers91 says...
1:03pm Fri 23 Nov 12

So come January in the striking dept we'll have Grabban, Pitman, Demouge, Tubbs and Fletch w/Stockley likely to return. Not to mention Josh being able to play upfront and some of the nippers coming through as well. I think we've got enough firepower to see us through!!!

Good luck to Wes, and the other lads going on loan, but for the sake of squad numbers and team atmo I'd hope that Wes makes his move permanent.

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stevobath says...
2:00pm Fri 23 Nov 12

trigg_travers91 wrote:
So come January in the striking dept we'll have Grabban, Pitman, Demouge, Tubbs and Fletch w/Stockley likely to return. Not to mention Josh being able to play upfront and some of the nippers coming through as well. I think we've got enough firepower to see us through!!!

Good luck to Wes, and the other lads going on loan, but for the sake of squad numbers and team atmo I'd hope that Wes makes his move permanent.
Will the Dutchman ever get through a game without injury?
Looks as though he wont & thats why he left Utrecht.We need a big guy up front though & I was hoping Frank would do the job.Fletch is just too old & I cant see him playing next season.

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nonnogeppetto says...
3:04pm Fri 23 Nov 12

RED LETTER DAY wrote:
.. Some supporters on here have been saying Wes & Tubbsy are league 2 players and not up to the standard required for league 1. . . . What a load of old nonsense. . . . The difference in the standards of leagues 1|& 2 are minimal, but the step up to the Championship is far more difficult........ Good luck to Wes Thomas.
Some people even said that Pugh would be gone at the end of season or sign for a championship team before then. Well how wrong were they!

One thing that we could say which came true is that Eddie Howe signed (this time around) him (not for Burnley as predicted but for AFCB).

We all learn not to predict too much as some were predicting a 2-1 or 3-1 win over Stevenage.UTCIAD

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Ashleyafcb says...
3:36pm Fri 23 Nov 12

lets look here we have paid 60k for brett pitman and apparently 100k for wesley thomas you only have to type into google wes thomas and you get from non league days how he wanted to leave he gets to cheltenham wont sign again goes to crawley has a fall out / fight with matt tubbs comes to bournemouth one year later wants to leave .... pitman or thomas i know who id rather

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West moors 1 says...
5:44pm Fri 23 Nov 12

we don't need Thomas, we have Tubbs!! EH is gently putting his own mark on the team and we are really looking like the team we should of been at the beginning of the season. No point in keeping a player that doesn't want to be at the club, so poke him on and hopefully get some money for him in the transfer window. Up the Cherries!

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JHC2 says...
6:01pm Fri 23 Nov 12

Look at the headline Neil .......

Thomas did not ask Howe to leave !

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peterbond038 says...
6:36pm Fri 23 Nov 12

eddie howe wanted thomas to stay and if he dosnt sign for blackpool permanantly he will return here anyway, if we sell him we should ask for at least 250k blackpool were in the premiership not so long ago,if the wont pay that then recall him eddie& teach that cry baby appleton a lesson-i would recall him regardless after his months loan seeing as we have inserted a recall clause in to nhis contract-on another note,by all accounts,and rhumours max demin has already tried to buy mitchell out and secure the club& by all accounts eddie mitch turned him down...

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peterbond038 says...
6:40pm Fri 23 Nov 12

eddie howe wanted thomas to stay and if he dosnt sign for blackpool permanantly he will return here anyway, if we sell him we should ask for at least 250k blackpool were in the premiership not so long ago,if the wont pay that then recall him eddie& teach that cry baby appleton a lesson-i would recall him regardless after his months loan seeing as we have inserted a recall clause in to nhis contract-on another note,by all accounts,and rhumours max demin has already tried to buy mitchell out and secure the club& by all accounts eddie mitch turned him down...

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oxoncherry2 says...
6:52pm Fri 23 Nov 12

Back down to eight strikers! I'm sure EH was surprised too. Anyway it must be good news for Our Tubbsy.

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pete woodley says...
7:42pm Fri 23 Nov 12

If he wants his own way, best he went.

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bigfatsteve says...
8:09pm Fri 23 Nov 12

Dragback wrote:
I remember the first games he played for AFCB and thinking he was the business - the ball used to stick to him, he would bully defenders, run at players, score goals by himself.

Why would Crawley ever let him go? Then for whatever reason he lost all that, he could'nt finish, he lost the attributes that made him standout (apart from heading which
he was always poor at).

So it could be :-
a) Poor management to blame
b) Being a confidence player
c) Having a poor attitude

On the one hand I can understand him feeling a bit agrieved - gets brought back and not played and then sees ANOTHER stiker being brought into the club.

On ther other hand if he so desperately wants first team football is he going to get that in the Championship?
Good post Dragback, Thomas can certainly score goals when he's on form. Unfortunately a return of 1 goal in 22 games saw him lose confidence. Yes, some of this was due to the way we played under Groves, kept possession of ball well but didn't create opportunities for the strikers. If you listened to the Solent interview he did, he stated he wanted to stay at Portsmouth if a deal could be done. When Eddie returned, obviously he needed to look at him as he was a Bournemouth player. It looks as though Wes had already made his mind up, that he didn't want to play for Bournemouth any longer. Good luck to him if he can get a permanent deal at Blackpool and hopefully we can make some money on him. Looking forward to seeing Matt Tubbs get good run in the side, his goal scoring record speaks for itself. Just a shame Charlie Austin slipped through our fingers.

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golfer33 says...
10:13pm Fri 23 Nov 12

I;ve just seen the match against stevenage and oldham on fans, the team have skill but are very sloppy, they dont play as a team, too many egoes in the side they should put the ball in the area more, too many bad crosses. Grabban should makeway for Pitman. work it out eddie.

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fletch for manager says...
10:23pm Fri 23 Nov 12

Good riddance much rather have pitman than Thomas.. Wes Thomas the new Emile heskey of the championship

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Frankiesbackfromhollywood says...
9:10am Sat 24 Nov 12

golfer33 wrote:
I;ve just seen the match against stevenage and oldham on fans, the team have skill but are very sloppy, they dont play as a team, too many egoes in the side they should put the ball in the area more, too many bad crosses. Grabban should makeway for Pitman. work it out eddie.
It's a work in progress, and to call them sloppy with the best current form in the league is just crazy, I was at the Stevenage game Tuesday and our passing was not sloppy, apart from the one goal they scored we were in control especially second half, Stevenage were a very solid and hard working side, their keeper was on top form and their defence threw everything they could in front of any cross or shot! We played very well Tuesday and will only get better, Eddie is "working it out" that's why we have seen players out on loan and Pitmann in, more to come in January for sure!!

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