Farewell Nielsen

By: Bill Osborne
Date: 23/01/2001

Danish striker David Nielsen's claim that the club never made him a formal offer to sign and that money was not his motivation is ludicrous. Nielsen was demanding £5,000-a-week and that was the major stumbling block in the negotiations.

Town boss Lennie Lawrence and club officials had more than one meeting with Nielsen and his agent but were unable to reach agreement on his personal terms.

Despite setting at least two deadlines for Nielsen to sign, Lawrence was unable to resolve that problem. Nielsen was aware on signing the loan deal the financial situation at Blundell Park and his demands were well outside the limits set by the club.

His parting is a great pity for both Nielsen and Grimsby Town Football Club.

His arrival at Blundell Park created great excitement and expectation and he did not let us down. His skills and the goals he scored brought great hope for the future. Fans quickly christened him The New Messiah and The Great Dane!

But now he is leaving us and the tragedy is that he has missed out on the opportunity of a lifetime. He not only fulfilled his desire to play regular first team football in England he attained what many players in his own country dream of.

He had the support of the club. He gained the adoration of the crowds and placed himself in the shop window of English football and had he been patient and taken the advice of those around him, in a year or so, he might have been playing in the premier league after developing his skills further at Grimsby Town.

It seems now that those opportunities have been lost. Both for him and the club.

Too often, football players of today indicate that they are in the hands of their agents and he too appears to have taken that stance. However, it is fair to point out that his agent is his servant and the final decision will always rest with the player. The pursuit of riches in the short term may prove to be disastrous in the long term if the same opportunities he was offered at Grimsby Town are not made available to him elsewhere.

There have been no winners in this long running saga but the main losers are the fans and supporters of Grimsby Town Football Club many of whom feel let down by Nielsen and are as keen to see him leave as they were to see him arrive.

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