The one outcome I didn't really expect when news came through that Al could stay, was that less than two years later he would have gone by mutual consent.
Al was a great midfield weapon. He didn't look especially challenging or fierce in comparision to say Gavin Mahon, but that was what made him special. The surprised look on an opponents face when he was floored by a biting Bangura challenge.
The campaign launched to ensure he didn't have to go back to Sierra Leone seemed to cement the special place Watford fans had in their hearts for him. It seemed, if the right decision was made, he'd become one of those few and far between one club wonders, retiring some years later with a deserved testimonial season.
Ironically it was when the Home Office allowed Al to remain that everything went wrong. Nothing positive has really happened for him whilst wearing a yellow shirt since. Unfortunately its now being sent home from the previous pre-season tour of Austria and various other mutterings of indiscipline that come to mind when one thinks of his Watford career. Add to that the strange decision to play for a country he had sought asylum from and doing it against the manager's wishes too.
I hope he finds another club and settles down to have the decent career that his early Watford performances hinted at. All the best Al. You'll certainly be guaranteed one of the more unusual entries in a Who's Who list of Watford players.
