The last time Brian Beard spoke to Shaun Smith he had high hopes of securing a contract with Bury, after ending his spell at Hull City. But as everyone knows things can change very quickly, as Shaun found out to his cost. Brian caught up with the former Crewe skipper this week to get an update, just a few weeks away from the start of the new season.
Q:THE LAST TIME WE SPOKE YOU SEEEMED ALL SET TO SIGN FOR BURY. HOW DID THAT WORK OUT?
A:It didn't. I spoke to them, before and after my holiday, and the manager, Graham Barrow, said that because of the financial situation he wasn't having much luck at bringing players in. He said I was more than welcome to go there and do pre-season training but there were no guarantees but he did say at least I would be there, on the spot, if the situation changed.
Q:DID YOU TAKE UP THE OFFER?
A:No, because there were a couple of other things I was waiting on. Then it turned out Bury were interested in another player so that was the end of that.
Q:SO WHERE ARE YOU AT THE MOMENT?
A:On Monday I went to York and it was a similar situation to Bury. Chris Brass told me it wasn't a trial so I trained with them on Monday and Tuesday and I got an hour against Middlesbrough on Wednesday. That went well and as I've said the manager told me it wasn't a trial, he knows what I can do, it was just a case of seeing if they could get the finances in place to sign players.
Q:SO DOES THAT MEAN YOU ARE NOW A YORK PLAYER?
A:At the moment, if they can work out the finances, it looks as if it could be York, as we speak. But as we all know things can change so quickly in football and I suppose you can never be certain of things. But it is looking likely that I will be a York player because Chris Brass said he wants me there so now it's down to coming up with a package that's suitable to both parties.
Q:IT'S BEEN A FRUSTRATING TIME FOR YOU SINCE YOU LEFT CREWE, HASN'T IT? IS IT JUST A SIGN OF THE TIMES AND THE WAY THE GAME HAS GONE?
A:Yes, and yes. After 11 years with Crewe the move to Hull came up and at the time it was a great move but it never worked out and from then on I had a couple of years out of favour. That's how quickly it can go for someone to go from being a First Division footballer to someone who can't get into a Third Division side. But it's not just me it's happened to. The way the finances in the game have gone it's crippled football and a lot of players have been affected.
* If anyone, manager or club chairman, would like to contact Shaun they can do so via the PFA in Manchester.
