Corica Leaves

By Neil Ravenscroft
September 8 2004

The club's official website has announced that Walsall's enigmatic Australian midfielder Steve Corica has left the club today. There is also a hint that this will mean some new arrivals, by freeing up funds.

Walsall Football Club's love/hate relationship with the talented, if enigmatic, Australian midfielder Steve Corica was ended today.

The club have announced that he has left "by mutual consent", presumably, therefore, without compensation. We can only presume that he has another club lined up.

Steve Corica was one of Colin Lee's first signings when he became manager, from his J (Japanese) League side, Sanfrecce Hiroshima, in February 2002. He was instrumental in keeping the Saddlers in the First Division that season, with a string of man of the match performances, but has never repeated that kind of form consistantly over his 82 appearances, despite a superb game and goal in the famous 4 - 1 win over the Albion. Indeed, Colin Lee always seemed to have exactly the same problems fitting him into the formation as he did with Paul Merson.

The club website goes on to say that his departure will free up funds for squad strengthening and, with him being one of the higher paid players, that should be the case.

Let's also hope that this will see the end of the over reliance on the 4 3 1 2 formation, as he was the only player, other than Merson, capable of playing "in the hole".

I, for one, will wish him well, as I always considered him to be an intelligent and skillful player that, somehow, never quite managed to give of his best for any length of time.