Trundle left the Swans 13 months ago and joined Bristol City in the £1M deal despite the Martinez’s strenuous efforts to keep the prolific striker at the Liberty Stadium. However, Trudle found his life hard at Ashton Gate and always struggled to secure a starting spot under Gary Johnson who recently added John Akinde into his striking force leaving Trundle even lower in the pecking order.
Martinez commented the Trundle rumour for the SWEP:
| “Lee had to make a decision last year and it was difficult for us at the time.
The players who were still here had to react and they have now taken the club forward. It’s always nice when former players have nice things to say about their old club. First it confirms a little bit of what we have said before, that we can take for granted what we have got at Swansea City. And second it shows the human side of Lee Trundle. He has been a special player for this club and he will always be a special person in everyone’s hearts. But he had to make a decision, with the right or wrong advice, and we had to move on. It’s hard to tell these things, but I think it’s very unlikely that Lee will play for Swansea again. There are many factors – financial reasons, the strikers we have got – which make it difficult to see it happening. In an ideal world you look to be romantic about it, but when Trunds left it was for financial reasons which haven’t changed. I look back at the legends of this club like Alan Curtis and Leighton James and I think Lee is in that area with them. But he had to make a decision and our players had to take responsibility. They deserve respect for that and the players we have now are in front of anyone else. Lee is probably not enjoying his football at the moment, but he is a special player and I’m sure he will turn the corner very soon. I hope he can turn his personal situation around very quickly and be a big player for Bristol City.” |
