Conor Coady has made the admission that ‘it didn’t feel right’ sitting on the bench for Wolves in the club’s first game of the season against Leeds United.
The 29-year-old was named as a substituted by Bruno Lage, instead starting Maximilian Kilman and Nathan Collins in a back four.
Just days after that game, Wolves announced that Coady had left to join Everton on loan.
The move has prompted a big response within the football community.
Many neutrals especially are surprised about the England international’s exit.
Coady has ultimately departed because he wants to play regularly ahead of the World Cup.
And the player has been on talkSPORT this morning talking about his exit.
He told Laura Woods, Ally McCoist and Gabby Agbonlahor that he was getting the feeling that something was about to change for him at Molineux.
He said (via Express & Star): “Pre-season has been tough, the last five or six weeks have been really tough to be honest.
“I want to play every single minute of every game , but I got a vibe that something’s coming here, something’s not right.
“I could sense things, something was happening, it didn’t feel the same.”
The Leeds game came around, and Coady was named on the bench alongside Willy Boly and seven other players with very limited Premier League experience.
It was something he did not like.
“I’ve got to be honest, I didn’t like being sat on the bench at Leeds,” he added.
“I did my best getting behind the lads, I was talking, but it didn’t feel right, I didn’t like it.
“At 29-years-old, I want to be playing football.”
The time was right for Coady to go, as star makes admission about being benched
Clearly Coady was not central to Lage’s back four plans. That is something his agent also said.
It is very clear at this point that the player really wanted to go. The time was probably right for Coady to move on, given he has previously shown signs of struggle in such a system.
Some have argued that Coady could maybe have fought for his place at Molineux. But we have seen him struggle to look comfortable without two players either side of him.
Wolves have lost a leader, but his personal reasons for going are fair.
What is bizarre though is Wolves not securing an immediate fee for Coady.
Yes he has been a brilliant servant, but loaning him out first just doesn’t really help Wolves. In the end, the club made it very easy for Everton.