Former Reading captain Sean Morrison has spoken out on his exit a decade ago, including the fact that he was not originally being watched by scouts.
The Cardiff City legend played nearly 50 times for the Royals between 2011 and 2014, captaining the club often during the 2013/14 season.
However, he is now perhaps best known for his near-decade-long association with Cardiff, racking up nearly 300 appearances in the Welsh capital.
Speaking to The Central Club podcast, Morrison admitted he had no intention of departing Berkshire and was 'super-settled.'
"The season starts when Cardiff have just been relegated," he started. "I had just signed a new contract at Reading, was super-settled in my house and had loads of friends. We played Wigan away on the first game of the season and Ole Gunnar Solksjaer was looking for a centre-half. I don’t believe he had come to watch me at the time, I think he had come to watch Alex Pearce. The way Nigel Adkins had us playing at the time was total football- we used to split before it was really happening in the Championship. He was one of the first managers to try to play like that and we were playing some good stuff.
"Ole was there and I scored, we drew the game, and my agent rang on Sunday to say Ole was at the game and they were going to make an offer. I was captain of Reading; I didn’t want to go anywhere. I had three years left on my contract. I played against Newport in the cup on Tuesday and my agent rang on Wednesday to say, ‘Get your boots and drive down the M4.’
"Reading were in a position at the time where they were starting to sell a few players, so Adam Le Fondre had just gone to Cardiff, Alex McCarthy had just gone to QPR. John Madejski was the owner and was about the sell the club and they were talking to a Thai consortium, so they were trying to get some money back in.
Nigel Adkins didn’t want to sell so it wasn’t going to happen. I loved it there. Dean Wilkins- one of the coaches and a brother of Ray- was the best coach I ever had. The two years I had with him and the progression I felt in myself was the biggest I had.
"I was always a fiery character and felt I should be playing all the time, so I threw my toys out of the pram all the time like a baby, and I used to get put in check. Crosser [Andy Crosby] helped my mindset. Both of them, with Nigel, helped me become a better captain, player, person and teammate. I can’t even explain how settled I was at Reading, I loved it there.
"I didn’t drive down the road, but my agent rang me on Thursday morning and said, ‘Speak to the Director of Football, the bid has been made and he’ll know the details.’ He said, ‘What do you want to do?’ and they put it on me like ‘If you want to go, you can go. We kind of want you to go because we want to recoup some money.’
"I went to speak with Nigel Adkins, and he didn’t know much about it, so I had to explain to him the craic. It was awkward, I was 23 and wasn’t ready to have these conversations, I wanted it to be taken out of my hands and be told we were selling or keeping. I just went with my gut."
Earning a second promotion to the Premier League, this time with the Bluebirds in 2019, Morrison returned to Reading numerous times with the Welsh club.
After a short spell with Rotherham United last season, the central defender is yet to find a new club.
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