Keith Curle with an update on defender Alexander McQueen
Manager Keith Curle confirmed today that Alexander McQueen is back in training with the club as he looks to get fit and ready for first team football.“I can confirm that Alex is back and training with us,” he said. “We’ve finally got to the point where he took it upon himself to communicate directly with me. If that had been the situation earlier his summer could possibly have been a whole lot different.
“We offered him the deal, as everyone knows, but he was well within his rights to look at what else was out there. It got to a situation where too many people were involved in conversations and it got very complicated for him. I’m not a person who holds grudges so when he asked if he could come here to train to help with his fitness, I said yes.”
“This episode in his career will have given him a kick up the backside,” he commented. “He came out of Tottenham with an air of arrogance about him and I liked that.
“If you’d told him when he first joined us that he would go on to be involved in over 30 games last season I think that would have been deemed to be successful. If he’d signed the contract offered at the end of the season the financial rewards would have been there for him to continue that progression.
“I think he’s a talented young man, who was probably misguided, and it’s an opportunity for us to find out where he is mentally and physically. We can also see if he’s ready to continue his progression with us. I don’t ever close the door on people so whether or not the potential is there for him to earn a contract – never say never.”
And on the search for other options, he said: “There are players out there who are unattached so the door is always open if the right type of character comes along.
“We’ll use reserve games to look at any who have been flagged up, and we will bring people along to train with us if they feel they can add to the group.”
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