Peterborough boss Darren Ferguson has given his reasons why Posh vice-captain Alex Woodyard is being allowed to leave the club.
News that Woodyard is looking at the London Road exit door will be a surprise to some. He made fifty-one appearances last season as Posh narrowly missed out on a play-off place. He also started the first two games of this campaign but was left out of the matchday squad for Saturday’s draw with Ipswich Town following a disappointing loss to Oxford the previous week.
Speaking to the Peterborough Telegraph, Ferguson explained he was allowing Woodyard to leave because he felt the midfielder had not progressed or improved enough following his move from Lincoln City last summer. He said ‘I just feel there hasn’t been a big enough improvement from him.’
He added that the twenty-six-year-old would have been allowed to leave in the summer if Posh had landed more of their summer targets. ‘People may say ‘why wasn’t this done before the start of the season?’ But the honest answer is that we’ve been trying since May to sign a central midfield player. We just haven’t been able to get one in because of different things that have gone on, and we’re still trying.’
Woodyard began his career with Southend United, later playing for Dartford, Concord Rangers and Braintree before moving to Lincoln City. He won a National League title and EFL Trophy with the Imps before his move to Peterborough last summer.
Our View
Not sure we are buying the Ferguson explanation, this one has the whiff of a behind the scenes bust-up.
Purely speculation of course, but Woodyard’s stock seemed to fall off the scale after the loss at Oxford.
There is a large section of the Posh support that will not be sad to see him go, but Woodyard’s energy and work rate would be a massive asset to most lower league squads.
It will be interesting to see where he ends up and also who Posh sign as they look to gel a new squad into a unit capable of mounting a promotion challenge after a poor start to the campaign.
