Five more days. Just five more to make sure Michael Turner remains focussed, adored - and ours.
Steve Bruce, manager of Sunderland, has confirmed that he has made an enquiry about Turner's availability. A fee around £6 million has been mentioned, though if Joleon Lescott is worth three times that much then getting Turner at the offered fee would be daylight robbery.
But I don't ever want to think about Turner in terms of fees. I don't want to know how much he is worth financially, because emotionally he is totally priceless. If it is ever about money, he should be able to name his desired weekly wage and expect Hull City to agree to it. He has earned that right. He did more than any individual to get the Tigers promoted and then did more than any individual to keep the club in the top division. He is reliable, consistent, sometimes spectacular, disciplined and handily injury-free, embodied by his absence from not a solitary minute of Premier League football last season.
Therefore, when a club proclaims they have enquired about him, I want Hull City to issue a terse, short statement saying that Turner is not for sale, all bids will be rejected and the matter ends here. At the moment they've said nothing. The fans are saying plenty, and while some acknowledge that daft money might have to be accepted if offered, all want Turner to remain. It's a considerable no-brainer.
Turner's presence gives us a brilliant chance of staying up and maybe progressing in this division. Without him we will be far more likely to go down, and this is a club that, remember, many think will go down even if Turner stays to repeats his performance and appearance heroics of last year. And any replacement for Turner is unlikely to be as good as him, simply because so few of them exist and those who do are at bigger clubs than the Tigers.
Sunderland are a big club and aren't doing anything wrong. But they have no power to wield here - unless Hull City allow them it. We're blessed with the knowledge that Turner is the sort of intelligent, stereotype-defying footballer who appreciates his position and isn't swayed by money or glamour, and knows he is on to a good thing where he is, especially as he is already regarded as the all-time great defender in Tigers history. So let's see if we can breathe a sigh of relief after the Bank Holiday and be thankful that the colour of his stripes haven't altered to red and white.
.jpg)
