Former Shrewsbury Town loanee Brandon Fleming returned to Hull City over the past week following a season doused with injury problems, but the Tigers’ head coach Liam Rosenior was less than pleased with the League One outfit.
Fleming moved to the Shropshire club on deadline day of the summer transfer window but went on to make merely ten appearances during his stint at The Croud Meadow. An ankle injury sustained a little over two months ago cut his loan spell with Shrewsbury short despite hopes of a return by the end of 2023.
The 24-year-old has not played a single minute of football since the Shrews beat Derby County 1-0 back in October, staying on the field for 79 minutes of that match. However, Fleming was unable to earn another loan move away before the winter window closed, having already featured for two clubs this term, as per the FIFA Transfer Regulations.
Speaking to Hull Live in a recent interview, Hull boss Rosenior revealed that he has had a conversation with Fleming already but admitted he was less than pleased with the player’s treatment from Shrewsbury Town over the past few months.
“Any player who’s here, we look after them as if they’re one of our own. I’ve just had a really good conversation with Brandon downstairs.
“I have to say I’m disappointed with how he’s been treated in certain ways because we try and live by honesty, values and integrity, and I don’t think he’s been treated the same way from his club there,” he continued.
“That’s something that I’ll address moving forward, but Brandon comes in. He’s a great lad, a great kid and he’ll train with us and we’ll do the best by him. Because he played for us in the cup (Carabao Cup against Doncaster Rovers), we couldn’t let him out to another team on loan.
“I think it was a lack of communication in terms of Brandon that I would never do to a player which I think is poor, but we will look after Brandon the best we possibly can. He’s an academy product. He loves the city. He loves this football club and while he’s here we’ll do the best by him.”
Writer’s View
Unfortunately for Fleming, FIFA’s regulations state that a player can register for up to three teams in one season but can only be fielded by two, meaning had he gone out on loan once more before the winter window closed, he would not have been allowed to play, which would have been utterly pointless.
Regarding Rosenior’s comments, it’s unclear exactly what grievances the manager has with Shrewsbury Town but it perhaps involves the aftermath of his ankle problem and the club’s handling of his rehabilitation back into the first-team which never came to fruition.
