Hinton jumps ship

Pirate bound
By KJ
June 5 2004

Kidderminster Harriers announced this week that long serving defender Craig Hinton has left Aggborough and has linked up with Bristol Rovers.

Goodbye Craig

Yes long serving defender Craig Hinton turned down a new deal at Kidder to move to Bristol Rovers. Rovers are seen as favourites for promotion this season under new boss, Ian Atkins and Hinton is relishing the prospect of playing for a bigger club. Of course he will also be earning more money than he would have got at Harriers, having been offered a 2 year deal at reduced terms from his previous wage. So really you cant blame him in a way. Rovers are a bigger club and probably deserve to be in div 2. Atkins could be the man to get them up, although I'm not so sure of his record. Firstly, I personally dont like his style of play, which is very direct to say the least. He was a success at Northampton and got them promoted, he was ok at Oxford last season but has struggled at other clubs such as Carlisle and Chester, he's been around a bit. Still, he should be reasonably succesful, although I dont think he can do it at Div 2 level, they start to play a bit then.

So this leaves Harriers looking for a new defender, but surely Jan has someone in mind to replace Hinton, who spent 6 years at Aggboro. Craig joined us in 1998, after his release from Bham City, and signed after a trial period for old boss Graham Allner. Initially a right back, he moved into the centre of defence during our title winning season and has played anywhere at the back plus the odd game in midfield. He was linked with moves higher up but moves never materialised. Last season he did ok but wasnt at his peak but never let Kidder down. So good luck Craig.

Souce http://www.harriers.co.uk

(sorry its a bit late but Ive been away all week)