Post by Simon on May 5, 2022 10:50:54 GMT
So still no news on the retained and released list other than to say it’s difficult while not knowing who is the captain of the ship?
EFL rules are that players must be notified of contract decisions by the 3rd Saturday in May. This year that is the 21st May which means we have 16 more days to notify players who have an option on their contract or are out of contract whether the club intend to renew or offer new.
After that date the club has no insurance against players leaving for free even if fees would’ve otherwise been due.
Given that option years are common place in most contracts (protects the clubs interests) I would suggest we risk losing several players simply due to not knowing who is in charge and whether that person is wanted or not.
Firstly we already know they have given 10 players new 2 or 3 year deals. They said they were happy about it, but of course it was because JY wanted those players tied down and they (quite rightly) wanted to be seen to support JY. When added to those already under contract you could say the club has secured the spine of a team which has reached the top 12, so there is no need to panic.
Second Eben Smith was quite baffled when the discussion moved on to 'players who didn't play'. I think it would be reasonable to expect a clear out amongst the non playing players, normally it would be announced as soon the season ends (ie next week) but I'm sure some will have been advised already. Some are still on contracts/options but I doubt the amounts are big and I'm sure they can afford to pay off those who are not part of the plans.
The most difficult part is signing new players. As they said at least twice "there is no captain of the ship at present", so without commenting on the JY position I would interpret that as Lewis Young's mandate does not extend to making new signings......