Western United coach Mark Rudan confirms veteran striker Scott McDonald ‘wants out of the club’
Well, that didn’t last long! Former Socceroo Scott McDonald may have played his final game for Western United after coach Mark Rudan confirms the veteran striker ‘has interest from another club’.
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Western United coach Mark Rudan has confirmed Scott McDonald has asked to leave the A-League club.
McDonald was left out of United’s squad that faced Melbourne City on Friday night, while The World Game reported the 36-year-old had agreed to terms on an 18-month deal at Brisbane Roar.
“I didn’t confirm that Scott McDonald’s out of the club - I confirmed (on Fox Sports) that there’s interest from another club,” Rudan said following his side’s 3-2 defeat.
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“He received an 18-month contract and Scott McDonald approached me during the week saying he wants out. No dramas there.
“He played a full game last week so I never confirmed that he was out. I just said that he’s received an 18-month contract and he’s still Western United’s football player - he’s still contracted with us.
“There’s no deal been done - that’s quite simple.”
Former Socceroo McDonald has made nine appearances for United - scoring one goal and assisting another.
“At the end of the day I want players who want to be here,” Rudan said.
“I made it very clear it’s going to be a challenging environment, one that’s going to take you out of your comfort zone, one you need to be on the edge.
“If you’re not willing to take on challenges, if you want to do whatever you want to do then it’s not the club for you.
“So like I said, normally when a player starts a game and plays a full game, they should be okay about it.
“But he clearly wants something else. And that’s for him to decide and ... in terms of us as a football club, we’re very clear on who we are and we want people that are going to buy into our club going forward.”
The McDonald saga underlines Western United’s growing pains and the off-field instability which associated with having nine months to start a club from scratch, amid internal upheaval with Lou Sticca – the man who signed much of the squad, including McDonald – no longer involved in the football department.
But kids can breath life into a club and while veterans Besart Berisha and Alessandro Diamanti converted the penalties in the 3-2 loss, they were won by Josh Cavallo and Dylan Pierias within minutes of coming on.
United had two starting debuts (Sebastian Pasquali and Valentino Yuel), two A-League debuts (Cavallo and Thiel Iradukunda) and three more kids (Apostolos Stametolopoulos, Jerry Skotadis and Pierias) in the match.
“The amount of young players that put their hand up today and said we are Western United, we want to be here for the long term and give us a chance, we won’t let you down,” Rudan said.
“The big story for our club was the amount of youngsters that got their opportunity. I’m really proud of every single one of them.
“Sometimes you take away the scoreboard and look at what’s most relevant for the future of this club, the players that ended that game I thought were very good.
“Their attitude was excellent, they gave some fight and spirit, they showed their quality. They should hold their heads up very high.
“Pierias came on and was positive, Iradukunda comes on and shows a bit of bite and heart. That’s what we’re about. They play without fear and want to be part of this.”
Originally published as Western United coach Mark Rudan confirms veteran striker Scott McDonald ‘wants out of the club’