Contract extension offers have been made to members of the Yeovil Town squad to keep them at the club beyond the end of this season.
In the latest instalment of an update by Scott Priestnall from the Alec Stock Lounge on Saturday (unless you were lucky enough to be there), the chairman spoke about the situation with players’ contracts. Watch the update in full – here.
He said that “people forget we have players in the squad that we have options in their contracts” to extend for next season; a fact which has never been communicated by the club – but nevertheless it is reassuring to know Morgan Williams won’t have to fill all 11 positions come August.
Priestnall added: “Over the last two weeks I have met with certain players discuss the manager’s position and their position and how they feel it has gone this season and how development of the younger players has been.
“I have made contract extension (offers) to a lot of the squad that we are looking to retain and those negotiations I would expect to go on until the end of the season.
“It is not unusual to wait until the end of the season, players rarely commit before the end of the season anyway unless they are really settled, like we did with (Luke Wilkinson) when he and Lee (Collins) both signed extensions to carry on. When you have a settled way of playing, it is very important to get that commitment.”
Having added that he has “no problem with criticism“, the owner added that he felt there was improvement needed in the playing squad with a second mid-table finish on the cards in the National League.
He said: “It is my decision when it comes to player and managers, I decided with having a squad that has been exciting at times this season, we have had many plus points but it’s still not competed for promotion.
“It was also for me to see what players were potentially available and compare that to what we have got.
“I have made contract offers to a lot of players over the last couple of weeks and now I can only update when we start to announce them, but a lot of that depends on who the manager is.
“That has been a lot of conversation about who the manager is going to be and I have even asked a few of them for their advice in terms of recommendations and those who have applied.
Priestnall denied rumours that the club was going part-time next season, insisting the offers he had made to players were for full-time contracts.
He is targeting a team capable of challenging for promotion in the National League next season, but added that we will not be able to draw on the financial riches of the likes of Wrexham, Stockport County or Chesterfield.
The chairman added: “There’s been a lot of money spent in this league and no team can compete with that and has an owner that has a lot more money than I do.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz,
“What this league has proven is it’s not always about money, it’s about having a way that works in this league. Halifax are doing unbelievably and spend substantially less than a lot of other teams and still compete.
“We have beaten big teams but we have let ourselves down against teams we should have beaten.
“That is where I have to make improvements in the squad. We haven’t had one or two that will put the ball in the back of the net and that’s been apparent all season.
“Joe (Quigley) had a good start to the season, got injured and we then sold him to Chesterfield for a lot of money and he has struggled there.
“You just don’t know at this level, but I want to keep what has been good about this year – the youth and athleticism has been great, but we’ve still missed experience and goals.”