I still would love him to stay. He's a top quality right/left back and we will struggle to replace him and it is a shame to see him go. Obviously I'm disappointed that a player is leaving our club simply because he wants more money, but that is his prerogative.
Having said that, I think we are now in a great position in terms of getting the most out of this deal as we can. West Ham will know that they probably aren't in a position to get Neill to sign a pre-contract agreement at this stage due to their league position and so if they want to sign him they will have to do it now. This is even more important when you consider that they need to sign people in order to help them improve their league position. I think we could easily see this fee pushed up beyond the £1.25 million that was being talked about, we know that West Ham have money and they'll probably have to produce the goods if they really want their man.