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Looking at the Poke/Saah/Downes/Howe situation, why do we always seem to let contracts run down before offering new ones?
I know there are worries about long-term contracts keeping players on high wages if we were to get relegated but this can be taken care of with clauses.

Take the players mentioned above, they all had good/great seasons in 2011/12 so why weren't they offered contract extensions last summer? I can understand the fringe players, the likes of Stevens et al but surely you want to keep the core group of your best players at the club for as long as possible, Why were they not given contract extensions at the end of last season? It does seem incredibly short sighted. If they didn't want to sign new contracts, we could have looked to sell them last summer while they still had some value. It does seem crazy to me that someone is going to get (probably at least) 15 goals next season for nothing!

Thoughts?

Agree Phil, it's a bit shortsighted. Also, i don't know if this is the case but when Rene was offered a contract at Christmas were Downes & Saah et al also offered contracts at the same time as Rene? If not i'd want to be asking why and also this may have some bearing on whether or not these players feel valued enough to stay.

It does seem such a shame, if Rene had another 12 months to go we could be looking to move him on and wipe that 111 grand deficit off the books.

Sadly it seems to be the norm for Torquay United. Last I heard was Downes had agreed a new deal but that was a few days ago. I would be very upset if he left, more so then Rene. He didn't score in the last few games of the season and we showed we have players go can score goals. Without Downes and Saah, we would have big boots to fill.

I'm hoping that any contracts that need signing would be signed once the players return from holiday. Hopefully Downes and Saah will sign new deals.

Me too, i think if we can hold on to those two then it gives us a solid central look from which to work from and add to. If one or both leave it leaves us with a massive hole and we could be looking at a nearly new team of completely new players next season.

PhilGull wrote:It does seem such a shame, if Rene had another 12 months to go we could be looking to move him on and wipe that 111 grand deficit off the books.

well, yes, maybe, but given that he's had a contract on the table since christmas it seems pretty obvious he was always going to be looking to move on.

And if we had given him (and Saah, and Downes) longer contracts - presumably with a raise - and then got relegated people would have been coming on here complaining about the club's poor planning.

Basically, it's like this. at our level there are plenty of players to go around. if somebody leaves, it should be fairly simple to replace them. Nobody is irreplaceable, and building a squad is never about keeping or recruiting the 'best' players anyway. Attitude and chemistry are just as important.

i predict the same situation next summer too

bixieupnorth wrote:i predict the same situation next summer too

and the summer after that.

and the following one.

and the one after that..........

PhilGull wrote:Looking at the Poke/Saah/Downes/Howe situation, why do we always seem to let contracts run down before offering new ones?
I know there are worries about long-term contracts keeping players on high wages if we were to get relegated but this can be taken care of with clauses.

Take the players mentioned above, they all had good/great seasons in 2011/12 so why weren't they offered contract extensions last summer? I can understand the fringe players, the likes of Stevens et al but surely you want to keep the core group of your best players at the club for as long as possible, Why were they not given contract extensions at the end of last season? It does seem incredibly short sighted. If they didn't want to sign new contracts, we could have looked to sell them last summer while they still had some value. It does seem crazy to me that someone is going to get (probably at least) 15 goals next season for nothing!

Thoughts?

Poke and Downes weren't here in 2011/12 so not sure how you imagine we could have offered them extensions to their non-existent contracts. And Poke isn't out of contract anyway!

Howe was offered an extension but didn't want to sign it, not a lot we could do about that.

If Ling wasn't off sick we may well have offered Saah one before the end of the season as well, it's a bit difficult when you don't have a manager.

Seems like you're criticising the club for a situation that doesn't actually exist.

Jerry wrote:
Seems like you're criticising the club for a situation that doesn't actually exist.

That'll be situation normal, then. A bit like that time we gave Nicky Forster the manager's job, then gave him the boot as he was driving down the M4. :}

Matt.

or sacking an alcoholic manager

PlainmoorRoar wrote:or sacking an alcoholic manager

:-o who was that then, cant think of a time when we have done that, we wouldnt do a thing like that and want to keep it quiet for all sorts of libelous and legal reasons would we. :rules:

It is starting to be a concern when it seems everybody else is 'weeling and dealing' and at the moment we are running with what we had last season but minus a few key players. I expected at least 4/5 new faces at this point and the excitement building, as it is, the situation is quite worrying !

it is only june 1st, and we all realise that people are on holiday. but if players are out of contract all around the country surely it'd make sense for the idiots to go on holiday AFTER they've sorted a new job??

i really do want some news on signings soon, this is shaping up to be a very dull summer indeed!! roll on 19th june anyway!

off out for a few sunny ales, university arms then down to kelham island is the order of the day

Jerry wrote: Poke and Downes weren't here in 2011/12 so not sure how you imagine we could have offered them extensions to their non-existent contracts. And Poke isn't out of contract anyway!

Howe was offered an extension but didn't want to sign it, not a lot we could do about that.

If Ling wasn't off sick we may well have offered Saah one before the end of the season as well, it's a bit difficult when you don't have a manager.

Seems like you're criticising the club for a situation that doesn't actually exist.

Yeah, but no need to let the facts get in the way of a good whinge or rant!