Town’s out-of-contract players and coaching staff will learn whether they will be offered new deals a meetings with boss Roy Keane next couple of weeks. David Wright, Richard Wright and Shane O’Connor are the most prominent players whose deals are up this summer.

Pim Balkestein, Ed Upson, Jack Ainsley, Liam Trotter, Reggie Lambe, Troy Brown, Devann Yao and Ian McLoughlin also see their terms end in the close season, while coaches Ian McParland, Steve Foley and Chris Kiwomya will also be out of contract.

Keane says everyone in that position will know their position once he has met with Marcus Evans: “They’ll probably all know in the next week or two. A lot of these things have to be looked at, not just players, the budget, where we’d like to go with the staff and the gym.

“All these things are on hold until I get a chance to sit down with the owner and get the thumbs up for X amount or whatever it might be.

“That happens at every football club, you take stock and you reflect on what you feel needs improving, particularly for myself after my first year at the club.”

Keane says that ideally he would have preferred to have spoken to some of the younger professionals before now: “We’ll sit down next week and speak to the boys who we feel we want to be part of that young, hungry reserve group next year, along with Luke Hyam, Tom Eastman and the rest from the youth team.

“There’s Reggie Lambe, there’s Jack Ainsley, Ed Upson and a number of other players. We probably didn’t want to leave it this long but the way that the season has panned out, I plan to sit down with these players early next week.”

The Blues boss also hints that the gym at Playford Road could be set for a makeover, the Training Centre already having received extensive attention last summer: “The training ground is now absolutely brilliant when you consider that at the end of last season it was of a poor standard, but I knew that was for financial reasons.

“I’ve had good back-up in terms of changing the training ground and now it’s very, very good, I’ve no complaints, but we’re always looking to improve certain areas of the club.”

Photo: Action Images

bennyblue added 07:40 - Apr 24 i wish roy roy was out of contract imagine if we got rid of roy all of the sunderland rejects the c grade irish players and the expensive euro-flops and started again with a proper manager we would be up in 7 months
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frenchblue added 08:30 - Apr 24 bennyblue; So we lose the Sunderland rejects; Murphy who has the highest strike rate this season, Leadbitter who is one of the better midfielders in the division and Colback, the players' player of the year, the C grade Irish players, that's Delaney and McAuley from our defence, and the Euro-flop that is Pablo and we are in the Premiership in 7 months. Dream on. Could I suggest that you utilise the close season to go back to school and learn how to write a grammatically correct sentence so that we can all understand your words of wisdom.

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FarringdonBlue added 08:33 - Apr 24 well done frenchy!!
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homer_123 added 09:01 - Apr 24 Err @Frenchblue - it would quite expensive to loose Leadbitter as he's under contract with us - we signed him - he's not on loan.
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jamesy_itfc_keano added 09:10 - Apr 24 well done frenchblue! Some people just have not got a clue
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nodge_blue added 09:23 - Apr 24 Doesnt the fact that Colback has won the award prove the opposite of what Roy has said. i.e. we dont necessarily need experienced players, we need players with ability. I dont care what age they are as long as they can play.
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nodge_blue added 09:26 - Apr 24 Doh - posted the comment under the wrong story!
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Mark added 11:33 - Apr 24 I remember that Magilton used to be in contact with Evans on a very regular basis, I got the impression most days in fact. I know Clegg has come in to replace Bowden, but communication with the owner is surely important and the manager and players need to know where they stand for next season. I would have liked O'Connor especially to be signed up now to make sure he doesn't sign for another team.

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jas0999 added 11:53 - Apr 24 I can't see the club keeping Richard Wright. He must be on big wages. It may be time to say goodbye to him. Pim can also go. I would be doing everything I could to keep D Wright and O'Conner though Frenchblue - well said. Some people find every excuse to mock Roy. It is becoming quite tedious - particularly when they mock players who have actually been outstanding for us this season.

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pottyblue added 12:50 - Apr 24 bennyblue if you did that we would be left with lee barrat lol
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arc added 13:38 - Apr 24 Keep DWright, O'Connor, Brown, McLoughlin. Offer contract to Trotter in the hope of compensation (or is that utterly unethical??). Let others go. Keep the coaches.
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Lightningboy added 14:13 - Apr 24 Hopefully Mr Evans will be giving Mr Keane his marching orders during this forthcoming meeting. I for one would rather keep Pablo,Garvan & David Wright on the wage bill and take our manager and his assistants off of it...and Clegg for that matter.
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brockleyblueboy added 22:28 - Apr 24 What a surprise Bennyblue aka bennygreenandyellow and lightning boy having a dig at Keane yawn yawn. We need tohave a good look at the team and trim the fat. For the players out of contract not discussing terms now will make sure they perform for the last game and also put the boot up them in training. We will see who wants to stay at the club and wear the shirt, for those that don't fine see ya later. A few good signings over the summer, and early signings means we can have a decent pre=season and get going for next season. Good luck Roy and the boys

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jamesy_itfc_keano added 10:46 - Apr 25 When i see bennyblues commented, i dont even read them anymore. Clearly isnt a fan! Come on town! KEANO!
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njw1568 added 17:12 - Apr 25 cant see richard wright staying,david wright should get new contract .On players that i would like to see go are lisbee, priskin ,stead,martin
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Dalty added 23:35 - Apr 25 Well said frenchblue, the type of people who post constantly unobjective negativity like the moron you were referring to are usually pretty friendless in the real world. I usually avoid commenting about them as I think they buzz off the "fame" they get from people reacting to their drivel but the comment you put was brilliantly argued! I've got no problem with people being for or against Keane but they should at least try and write with intelligence and perspective. Personally I'm generally a Keane supporter but have been unhappy with him on occasions this season and don't mind saying so. The person you were referring to always posts negative dross even when we've played well, the oddball

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bennyblue added 07:29 - Apr 26 what a bunch of deadheads..surely wickham has the highest strike rate this season
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PhatCookie added 10:02 - Apr 26 i think the only 2 worth keeping are the wright brothers, bot good players and Richard is still a top goalkeeper, i just think he will have to take a paycut to stay. I would offer Pim another 2 years, he always looks a good player, upson and ainsley have not had a chance to show what they can do, so it would be harsh on them too go, but should both find another lub, not to far down the road, colchester is nice, lol, oh and FYI i know they are not brothers, bahahahaha

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ipswich1992 added 13:14 - Apr 26 The squad needs serious chopping and changing. Players Out- R. Wright, Balkenstein, Quinn, Murphy, Healy, Stead,priskin,martin,edwards, counago Players In- 2 strikers ( chopra, simeon jackson someone like that) left winger (ambrose?) centre back (jay demerrit?) natural left back ( hard to find one who might be available- maybee lee naylor he wants to move back to england) I think gven the financial situations of cardiff, watford and palace and gillingham being unable to stop championship interest alll of them players would be available and we would have a great championship squad and the playoffs should be or minumum target. Keane is now beginning to win me round and i am very excited for next season. COME ON YOU BLUES!!!!

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Dalty added 17:27 - Apr 26 Yet again another negative comment based on a minor technicality bennyblue. frenchblue would have been likely referring to total appearances, where Murphy does indeed have the best strike rate. If you were going on starts then Wickham would be the best but he has also had a lot of substitute appearances. A normal person would have thought about this before posting a response, but you just post your usual short, negative posts (despite being short the grammar is usually very poor too) with no attempt to construct a reasoned and intelligent argument.

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