By Sulayman Bah
Simon didn’t cut a depressed figure over his injured wrist but the disenchantment etched on his face at thoughts of sitting for two months without playing, was very apparent.
The 32-year-old sustained the abrasion in a rash collision during an intense training drill in July.
It came at a time the least befitting –as the case with all injuries – for the recently capped Scorpion.
Re-signed to a new contract after much hassling with the board of his Danish club of three years, the last thing Richter needed was getting sidelined by an injury.
His new contract came along with a bit of pressure coalesced with a little dispute. The board weren’t initially keen on extending the player’s deal owing to his age.
FC Roskilde are making a daring attempt at promotion this campaign after seeing their half-hearted approach last season yield just a decent table finish in the Danish second tier.
Simon is a fan favourite and devotedly played for the club since joining from fellow second tier outfit HB Koge. Rewarding such loyalty with a new contract usually wouldn’t take an hour’s sitting but the board’s chairman wanted to reinvigorate the side with a fusion of new young players and so had other ideas, allowing the Gambian’s contract to run out.
Talks were initiated over a renewal between the player’s representative and the club but the latter had deliberately stalled on the negotiations in a bid for Simon to accept a deal with a pay cut.
In the heat of the moment, Roskilde explored possibilities of signing few names on their wish-list but retracted in their tracks after seeing their efforts come to nothing.
Having seen their efforts hit the brick walls, they were forced to settle for the Gambian, signing him to a new contract for just this season.
Consequently, the wrist injury, coming at a time the right-back should have used as avenue to prove his worth once more to his doubters, represented bad news.
But he’d since overcome this dark tunnel and is now back doing what he does best – playing football.
Speaking in the aftermath of a 2-2 draw against Esbjerg –his first cameo since the July injury, he told Bold.dk: ‘It was a hard and amazing time for me while I was injured. It was a difficult moment but is over now as I am back playing.
We deserved the three points but a 2-2 draw too against Esbjerg is still fair.’
