IT'S disappointing - sad even - that the Arnar Gunnlaugsson affair has reached the point at which Wanderers felt they had no alternative but to put their top scorer on the transfer list. At his best, the enigmatic Icelander is one of the most exciting attackers in the business; not at his best, he can be as infuriating to watch as he must be to play with.

But there's no mistaking the fact that he's a talented individual who, at the start of the season, was so grateful to Wanderers and Colin Todd for giving him the chance to get his career back on track.

He had nothing but kind and ethusiastic words to say about the club, even though there were numerous occasions when he could have complained about his lack of opportunities in the Premiership. He was never critical and went as far as thanking the manager for being patient with him. "I came here after having had an injury and I was glad to be given time to adjust to English football," he said at the time.

In his turn, Todd delighted in his £100,000 'steal' becoming the revelation of the Nationwide League and shared in the September limelight when they were Manager and Player of the Month respectively.

Whether in midfield behind Nathan Blake and Dean Holdsworth or partnering Bob Taylor or Blake after Todd's switch to 4-4-2, Gunnlaugsson tormented defences and scored goals.

After Blake's departure, which he feared at the time might affect on his own performances, he continued to play a key role in the attack - well enough along with Taylor to keep Holdsworth on the subs' bench. In recent weeks, though, Todd became concerned he was being distracted by the contract negotiations - rumours of which began to circulate as early as October and which eventually reached stalemate in December when the club suspended negotiations after the player rejected their "lucrative" and "final " offer.

Events since, which culminated in Gunnlaugsson being labelled "greedy" by his manager and transfer-listed at his own request, are unfortunate to say the least.

Todd says he won't cut off his nose to spite his face and will continue to select the player when he feels the need. But what of Gunnlaugsson's relationship with the Reebok fans? How will they react when their top scorer next pulls on a white shirt and, if the manager felt his performances were affected by the distractions of his contract negotiations, how will he perform under even more trying circumstances?

It will be a pity if the acrimonious contract dispute affects support for him - and ultimately the team!

But it looks as though Gunnlaugsson, reported in Iceland as saying he may have played his last game for Wanderers, has been backed or has backed himself into a corner. And it's a situation you can't see being resolved until there is an agreement on his contract or he joins another club.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.