Coventry City striker Mathieu Manset looks likely to be leaving the club in the January transfer window if a buyer can be found.
Manset was the only recognised striker available to Steven Pressley for the recent FA Cup game at Hartlepool, but he was not selected and his omission from the squad has led to speculation that the 24 year old Frenchman’s day with the Sky Blues are numbered.
Pressley explained to the Coventry Telegraph the reasoning behind the decision to offload the striker.
He said, “I can see why some people might question that decision – perhaps think that I was cutting off my nose to spite my face, because nobody understands better than me the need to get results in the here and now, but I also understand that this club has to change its culture and in order to do that I sometimes need to make what might seem to be harder short-term decisions if they will help our long-term development.
“Manny did well at the start but he couldn’t sustain that. He’s a player with terrific ability, that has never been in question, but the thing that I can’t live with is a player not buying into the work ethic that I really want to create at this football club.
“If you play as a pressing team and you have one player who doesn’t press like the rest then you get found out because it’s not about an individual, it’s a collective effort.
“There are standards that I expect from all the players at the club and if anybody can’t accept that and reach those standards that I strive for then, regardless of any other considerations, they’ll not be part of the group.
“Many people told me when I came here that there was a degree of comfort around the football club and if I want to change that then I have to stick to my standards. If I start to make allowances for certain players not to work within the structure then the others will pick up on that – it could have a knock-on effect, and I can’t permit that under any circumstances.”
Manset turned down opportunities to join, on loan, Bristol Rovers and Fleetwood, both League 2 clubs, during the recent loan window. He joined Coventry City in the summer after an extensive pre-season trial, but failed to get a look in because of the phenomenal strike partnership Callum Wilson and Leon Clarke.
The club has granted permission for Manset to return to France following the birth of his daughter.
For the full story click, http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/sport/football/football-news/misfit-mathieu-manset-set-sky-6428361
Source: Coventry MAD
Source: FOOTYMAD
