7:00am Wednesday 8th July 2009
By Ian Wadley
WARREN Cummings has demonstrated his loyalty to Cherries by taking what he described as a “sizeable” drop in wages to remain at Dean Court.
The long-serving left-back yesterday became the last of Cher-ries’ out-of-contract players to agree fresh terms with the club as he signed a new one-year deal.
Cummings, 28, also revealed that he had the opportunity to move on to other clubs.
But he decided to stay in Dorset and will now look to build on his 200-plus Cherries appearances.
He told the Echo: “I’m happy to re-sign.
“I’ve taken a sizeable pay cut to stay and that was even with having offers on the table to go elsewhere and make more money.
“I think we can do something here and I want to be part of it.
“There were opportunities to go elsewhere but I decided that I’ve still got an ambition to do well at Bournemouth.
“I felt as though, at the end of last season, with what was achieved with the group of players that are here now, that something good could be achieved with the same hard work and a little bit of luck.
“It’s something I want to be part of.”
Cummings, who made 38 appearances last term, added: “My personal goal would be to play every week and, when I do play, have a big impact on the match, whichever match that may be.
“Then there’s the bigger goal which is the team goal and that’s to achieve the highest position in the league as possible.”
The news comes as a major boost to boss Eddie Howe, who has now managed to keep hold of the club’s out-of-contract sextet.
Ryan Pryce, Ryan Garry, Joe Partington, Josh McQuoid and Jeff Goulding agreed new deals – in principle – last month.
Meanwhile, Cummings’s dad and agent, Tom, yesterday defended his son on an internet fans’ forum.
Replying to a poster who had made inflammatory remarks about the Cherries star on the vital football website, Tom Cummings labelled the comments “an absolute disgrace towards a player who has been with the club for coming on seven seasons”.
© Copyright 2001-2012 Newsquest Media Group
http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk