Eric Meland leaves the Steelers- OFFICIAL

[mark]

OFFICIAL NEWS: Steelers forward Eric Meland will be departing the club.

[SteelerBlade]

We'll retain his transfer card and he'll help us down the stretch if necessary. Sounds to me like a family issue or a technical retirement.

[Jayboy]

Hence the special Eddy tonight! maybe its the team cutting the import numbers with long term Injury players due back?

[SteelerBlade]

Hence the special Eddy tonight! maybe its the team cutting the import numbers with long term Injury players due back?

Hope not, Liwing would be #1 on my list, okay player but doesn't offer the versatility of Meland.

[Jayboy]

It is a pity the club didn't announce it at beginning of game so he could get a proper fan send off, he has been for the most part a very versatile and valuable player for us... maybe he was always going to get the Mom, for his send off, but a good deal of the fans do leave before the Eddy....

[Jayboy]

Hence the special Eddy tonight! maybe its the team cutting the import numbers with long term Injury players due back?

Hope not, Liwing would be #1 on my list, okay player but doesn't offer the versatility of Meland.

Oh I fully agree, but the club was going to need to thin back the squad, so allowing a player to leave that really needs to for his own reasons is probably win win for Fox...

[paul johnston]

Very disappointing news.

[Jayboy]

Very disappointing news.

Over the season he was in a lot of respects a very valuable player for us.

For a two way versatile player, he did all the hard things well and most of the easy things consistently well also, never was really going to grab the headlines but every team needs a Eric Meland..

He will probably be missed by the team more than any other player we have had out injured or who as left the club...

One of those players that can be incredibly hard to find and even harder to replace but doesn't really grab the headlines or get the credit he deserves as he doesn't really excel in any one area... he will be missed but sadly probably not remembered a great deal...

[smbmetal]

I liked Eric and he did a lot of the little things well. All the best to him.

[SteelerBlade]

Sounds like James Bettauer will be taking on the "Swing Guy" role.

Be interested to see how he fares as we didn't see his best and we're a much improved side. Guys like Sandström have improved mass so be good to see Bettauer do the same.