Austin refusal angers Cooper
By Craig Stoddart (The Northern Echo)
Mark Cooper has blasted the Football Association for preventing Darlington from using Kevin Austin in the FA Trophy final this weekend.
Quakers wanted to recall the defender from his loan at Boston United to fill a gap in defence as the club have only one available centre-back.
However, the FA blocked the move on the grounds that Austin was at Boston while Darlington were at the semi-final stage of the Trophy.
FA rules state that only the players eligible for the final are those which were available for the semis. Austins loan began three weeks before Darlington knocked Gateshead out of the Trophy.
Cooper is so angry about the FAs decision that he intends to stop paying Austin as he believes the FA have effectively told him which games he can be used in.
Cooper said: "We sent Kev out on loan to keep him fit because he wasnt playing and we are paying the majority of his wages.
"We wanted to recall him but the FA said we could only play him in league games and not the final.
"We appealed against the decision and they said that because he wasnt at our club for the semi-final he cant play in the final.
"I was aware that you couldnt sign players after the semi-final, but Kev is already our player.
"That rule is in place to stop a team signing a player in time for the final, but Kev is already our player and were paying him.
"So Ive told the FA that were going to stop paying him and the FA can pay him instead because effectively weve been told hes not our player. Theyve no answer to that."
Quakers wanted to recall the defender from his loan at Boston United to fill a gap in defence as the club have only one available centre-back.
However, the FA blocked the move on the grounds that Austin was at Boston while Darlington were at the semi-final stage of the Trophy.
FA rules state that only the players eligible for the final are those which were available for the semis. Austins loan began three weeks before Darlington knocked Gateshead out of the Trophy.
Cooper is so angry about the FAs decision that he intends to stop paying Austin as he believes the FA have effectively told him which games he can be used in.
Cooper said: "We sent Kev out on loan to keep him fit because he wasnt playing and we are paying the majority of his wages.
"We wanted to recall him but the FA said we could only play him in league games and not the final.
"We appealed against the decision and they said that because he wasnt at our club for the semi-final he cant play in the final.
"I was aware that you couldnt sign players after the semi-final, but Kev is already our player.
"That rule is in place to stop a team signing a player in time for the final, but Kev is already our player and were paying him.
"So Ive told the FA that were going to stop paying him and the FA can pay him instead because effectively weve been told hes not our player. Theyve no answer to that.
Austin was an unused substitute during the first two rounds of Darlingtons Trophy run, but Cooper would have selected him at Wembley due to Ian Miller being Quakers only available centre-back.
Adam Quinn and Greg Taylor are cup-tied, while Fulham have insisted that Dan Burn has a minor knee operation before he formally completes his transfer.
Instead, striker Liam Hatch, Quakers leading scorer, is in line to partner Miller and the pair played alongside each other on Saturdays 2-0 win home over Rushden & Diamonds.
Cooper had been hoping to keep his plan to play Austin under wraps, but now that the FA have intervened the manager was keen to talk openly on the subject.
He said: "It was an ace up our sleeve that nobody had ever really spoken about.
"We wanted to keep it like that, but then we were told that we cant bring him back. Well, we couldve brought him back to play in the league, but not in the Trophy.
"At least hes playing in the play-offs for Boston, but I'm sure he would have swapped that for Wembley.
"He wouldnt have had any choice because he was going to play for us in the final.
"I'm not sure if hes ever played at Wembley, but he would have played for us. Its a case of a square peg in a square hole and it would have meant we could have kept Hatch up front.
"At the moment weve only got one centre-back so it doesnt take too much to work out where Hatch is going to play next Saturday.
"Weve had to move our number one striker to centre-back, so then we have to decide who we play up front.Weve tried all the options in training and we look far more secure with Hatchy at the back than anyone else.
"You need a sound footing to build on. You dont want too many square pegs in round holes, the less you do that the better.
"Were still monitoring Dan, but he looks increasingly doubtful and theres no way were going to put a Premier League career in jeopardy for one game."
Austins Boston, one division below Darlington in the Conference North, play the first leg of their play-off against Guiseley tomorrow.
Young Darlington players Phil Gray, Michael Smith and John McReady have all signed two-year contracts.
