Hamilton on FCE release: “In the end I wanted to remain with the club” By Steven Sandor Posted on March 19, 2013 3 0 747 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Paul Hamilton in action vs, Atlanta. Ex-FC Edmonton defender Paul Hamilton says he wanted to remain with the club, even if the a pay cut was on the table. In the end, he says it was management’s decisoin to release him. Hamilton, who was named to the NASL Best XI in 2012, was released by the Eddies on Tuesday, ending a drawn-out process which saw the Calgary native remain in the Eddies’ training camp despite not being signed to a contract. During that time, Hamilton did not speak to the media. On Tuesday, Hamilton agreed to address some questions from The 11, on the condition it was via e-mail. In this interview, Hamilton says he was willing to stay with the Eddies despite a pay cut being on the table. He also says that he is now looking for a new club, but has nothing lined up at the moment. Do you have anything lined up, in terms of looking for a new club? Are you still hoping to be playing in a few weeks somewhere? At the moment I am without a club, and looking. I am working on a few options right now and hope to be back playing as soon as possible. Did you feel at any point that “the writing was on the wall?” Was it when so many other defenders were brought in? Obviously with a new coach coming in, new players are going to be brought in. And I thought I was in a good position with my play during camp where I was going to remain with the team. Colin (coach Colin Miller) and I had a couple conversations where he voiced concerns with my game, but with that being said, I still felt as though I could contribute to the team. But Colin had other ideas as to the direction of the club and he didn’t feel I was going to be a good fit. A lot of rumours have been floating around…. did FCE ask you to take a pay cut? Or was this more an issue of possibly not getting playing time? Or both? There were discussions of a pay cut yes, and also discussions of my playing time. Colin, Joe (technical director Joe Petrone) and I had conversations about both and, in the end I wanted to remain with the club, but they felt as though it would be better to release me. How difficult was camp for you, working out without being signed to a deal? Towards the end of my time at camp, it was getting harder and harder to train every day knowing that this was a possibility. But as a professional I just tried to go about my business as usual and get out of the training sessions as much as I could. You know that a lot of the supporters have been fretting about this, and they wanted to see you back with the club. Is there anything you want to say to the supporters? The support for the club has always been amazing. I thank everyone who came out to games and cheered us on. To the ESG (Edmonton Supporters Group), thank you for your loyal support. I’ve always loved playing at home in front of our fans, that is one of the things I am going to miss the most.
