Stephen Emery could be on the brink of a shock move to Birmingham after telling his advisers not to enter into discussions about the renewal of his contract at Loughborough. The 3:48 1500m man is said to be "very upset" after not receiving a personal email of congratulations from Guru George Gandy after his recent Birmingham League success and has always had a soft spot for the velvet tongued Bud Buldaro. The Lufbra Echo also understands that Emery is still furious about the new arrangements surrounding physio vouchers that have been introduced by a rampaging Ian Anholm. The Director of Administrative Affairs (Upstairs Office) has limited all athletes to just five vouchers per term and Emery has slammed this decision as "unreasonable" and is rumoured to have left a "stroppy note" on Anholm's car windscreen.
"Stephen is tired at the moment" sighed a seemingly unconcerned George Gandy from his weekly press conference "I am sure that this is the hours of stretching are taking their toll and in the new year he will be refreshed and ready to commit his future to us." The fact that a possible Emery defection is headline news only serves to underline how far the unfancied engineer has come in the past eighteen months. Written off by many, Emery was criticised for his "handlebars" by assistant coach David Howe just over a year ago and was on the brink of being "moved on" from the club after a dismal summer campaign in 2009. Since then, the Coventry Godiva man has become a linchpin in Gandy's squad and however much LSAC protest otherwise, his loss would be catastrophic in the run up to the BUCS Cross Country Championships.
An Emery spokesman was keen to play down the rumours this evening and was instead focussing on the "ludicrous" decision by Pete Matthews to grow a pony tail for the aforementioned BUCS. "If anything it is Mr Matthews that is forcing Stephen to consider his position" said the source "living with him is an awful experience and I think anyone would get fed up of hearing about how he once medalled at the U6 National Cross Relays every single day".
Matthews is said to be growing the pony tail for "attention seeking purposes".