Conor Hourihane - thanks and farewell

[Pete3206]

Terrific stuff. A very important squad player and I can see him contributing half a dozen crucial goals for us this season.

[andyh]

I've always liked him and it's well deserved. A decent signing for whatever it was we paid for him. Was it around £2.5m?

That’s a good point.
Just by virtue of now being a premier league player he is probably worth about £10m, if not more.

[Gerrin]

Completely deserves his shot at the PL with us on an improved contract. He's not always been great but he's a great pro and he's showed at times that he's got enough in the locker to be part of a PL squad and he was really good in that brilliant run at the end of the season and for me was MOM in the playoff final. If he keeps up that level of performance he'll be heavily involved next season. Chipped in with some great long range goals along the way too, not least the ones against Blues the season before last and the one against Albion in the play offs.

Totally agree with this, he deserves a go in the Prem. This guy is no passenger, we saw that at Elland Road.

[eamonn]

Great chap, clearly has some of the quality attributes of his hero Keano in terms of working his bollix off and his knack for goalscoring and set-pieces will hopefully be intact at a higher level.

[Baldy]

Excellent news and well deserved. Also important for keeping the nucleus of our promotion winning team together and the team spirit they generated. 

[West Derby Villan]

Fully deserved. Great work ethic and professionalism. I agree with others MOM at Wembley and a major contributor in the last fifteen games

[cdbearsfan]

Well done HL.

[kippaxvilla2]

If there’s ever a player that deserves the chance to step up it’s him.  When you look back at the number of key goals he scored for us as well as (in my opinion) his man of the match performance in the final we have a lot to be grateful to him for.

[Keeno]

If you look at some of the teams who have come up and stayed up in recent years - Leicester, Bournemouth, Swansea (until the new ownership) etc - all kept players that knew the club and were pivotal in the promotion effort heavily involved in the team, even if they didn't start every week. Conor is a model pro and he's now one of the most senior players in the squad, so on and off the pitch his influence will be vital this year. Really glad we are keeping the core of the team involved and valued. 

Absolutely delighted for him, his story from League 2 to the Premier League is amazing. If some of the mugs we've had in our squad(s) for the last 7-8 years put half the effort and professional pride he did into his work, we probably wouldn't have been in this situation. Made up for the lad.

[Sexual Ealing]

If it wasn't for Mings and Grealish he'd be my favourite player. Even when I remember that I'm 41and ought to be beyond having a favourite player.

[Toronto Villa]

He completely evolved as a player in the latter part of the season. Still popped up with goals but legitimately added a bit of aggression and steel to his game. His contract is well deserved.

[Risso]

He completely evolved as a player in the latter part of the season. Still popped up with goals but legitimately added a bit of aggression and steel to his game. His contract is well deserved.

The turnaround was remarkable.  There was one game (I forget which) during the bad run where he bottled out of a challenge so completely and obviously that he got a massive amount of abuse.  From then on though, he was like a man possessed.  Agree that he deserves his shot, just don't think he'll get many chances this season if I'm honest.

[Abbeyfealeavfc]

Delighted about this contract extension! Fully deserved. An  integral part of the team. Du du du du du du Conor Hourihane!

[JJ-AV]

Can’t remember specific quotes but from his OS interviews seems pretty prepared to be a squad player this season. That’s the attitude we need. Had a dodgy few months last season but came through it and finished very strong. Well deserved.

[boozey182]

I've been very critical of Conor, but I have to say this contract is deserved. Something changed in him after getting subbed against Albion at home, back before our winning run. He stopped getting bullied off the ball, was quicker into the tackle and generally braver on the ball. He started being a bit more positive. Of course, all of this is easier in a team that's winning, but he deserves a lot of credit for turning it around.

I actually think he'll be much more valuable to us next season than he has been. He's perfect to bring on for the last 20 minutes if you need a goal, and with better (and bigger!) players to aim at, or win free kicks, I can see him having a great minute to goals/assists ratio. I just hope we won't need him to start many matches, as I think he may well get overrun against stronger and quicker opposition.