Weymouth manager Geoff Butler has buried his differences with John Waldock, Echosport can exclusively reveal today.
The 27-year-old defender was placed on the transfer list last week after refusing to help ease the club’s crippling debts by taking a pay cut.
Butler told the former Sunderland man that he wouldn’t play again until he’d agreed new terms and apologised for alleged ‘detrimental’ comments made to the Terras boss. But following a meeting between the two at the Wessex Stadium last night, the dispute now appears to be over.
Butler told Echosport: “A meeting was held yesterday between myself, chairman Terry Bennett, vice chairman Dave Higson and John Waldock and his representative, and I’m delighted to report that John has now accepted the club’s new offer. I’m not prepared to go into the details of those talks although it does bring him in line with the other players in terms of bonus and appearance money. What I will say is that I am satisfied with the outcome and John and I have shaken hands and now want to put the whole episode behind us. We are both stubborn northerners who have strong principles, but at the end of the day we care passionately about Weymouth Football Club and as far as I’m concerned it’s now history. I don’t hold grudges and I’m not in the business of scoring points. I’m just glad to have got it sorted”
Waldock, who has only played 20 minutes first team football since undergoing knee surgery in the summer, is set to return to action in the FA Trophy at Aveley tomorrow.
“Our priority is to get John fully match fit”, added Butler, “and he’ll definitely travel to Aveley tomorrow. Obviously he’s a bit worried because he’s only had a couple of run outs with the reserves so far this season and a 20 minute substitute appearance up at Chippenham in the FA Cup. But if he’s up for it, then he’ll play. With Matthew Hale back at the club things are going in the right direction and it would be a big boost if John could slot back into the team as well. I’ve said all along that I rate John very highly and that he’s vital to my plans. Having him back is tremendous for the club and he remains one of our biggest assets.”
