I THOUGHT Devante Cole would be the perfect foil for James Hanson when City brought him in.

But for one reason or another, it didn’t work out. At the end it was probably best for all parties for him to move on.

I knew something was not right behind the scenes when I heard about the high-profile agent he had recently brought in.

My eyebrows were raised and I guessed that something had to be going on in that department.

The same agent had orchestrated the Josh Windass move to Rangers. Once Cole got involved with him, it was clear he was looking to get away.

Supporters don’t see this. There are often things going on in the background and if you’ve got an agent with that many irons in the fire then it tells you about the player’s intentions.

Don’t always look at it as a negative from the club’s point of view.

I had a similar situation with the striker Jan Aage Fjortoft when I was manager of Barnsley. He orchestrated his own move away.

If you’ve got someone like that who is determined to leave, the last thing you want to do is have them in the building.

You don’t want someone sat in the dressing room with their bottom lip hanging down.

As a manager, you want to create a feeling of togetherness and team spirit.

If you’ve got one who’s making it clear he is looking elsewhere and doesn’t want to be there, that can spread round the group. It’s not a great example to set to the younger players in the squad.

The key is not upsetting the solid foundations in the dressing room.

If Bradford are being compensated for letting him leave, then it becomes a no-brainer for me.

Don’t get me wrong, I really thought the Cole signing would be a good one for all concerned and he did start off with a few goals.

But for whatever reason, it got to a stage when you have to say “let’s move on.”

There are two sides to every story, of course. Young ones need to play and develop and maybe Devante felt he wasn’t developing at Bradford and getting the games he needed.

We shall see what happens for him at Fleetwood but he’s got to be prepared to muck in.

It’s not just all about him. He may have to do things he doesn’t like for the sake of the team.

Steven Pressley is one of those managers who says it how it is.

Sometimes you might tell players something they don’t want to hear. But they’ve got to take it on the chin and not sulk.

There will be times as players when you are sacrificed for the team.

There will be some games when it isn’t your day and things aren’t coming off. But those are the occasions when you’ve just got to work you socks off for the team.

Put a shift in to give your side their best chance of getting the result. Next week might be a different story.

When you’re working like that, you’re more respected and appreciated from your team-mates.

*John Hendrie was talking to Simon Parker