I think it's just an odd time W_Y. After a long season and a summer with the under-21s, there was a good opportunity to let Gilmartin start the season without doing too much damage. By all accounts there is no more self-motivating person in the squad than Rene, and if/when he was eventually dropped he would have gotten over it.
If on the other hand we have no long term confidence in our #1, signalling it three months before we can do anything about it strikes me as risky.
If on the other hand we have no long term confidence in our #1, signalling it three months before we can do anything about it strikes me as risky.