Town manager Paul Jewell has admitted that he has concerns that only 12 members of his squad are currently contracted for next season. The Blues boss has sought to address this to some extent this week by offering new terms to youngsters Josh Carson, Luke Hyam and Ronan Murray.

Jewell said: “It does [concern me] and I said this time last year that I don’t really want to be in this situation again, but we are. I’ll take responsibility, I’m not hiding behind anyone.

“We signed a lot of players on short-term, one-year deals and there are a lot of players whose contracts are running out, and the fact is that we haven’t done well enough as a team or as individuals to really extend those contracts at the moment. But there’s still time for players to do that.”

He says he has spoken to his squad about the situation and told them it’s down to them to win new deals: “I had a conversation with the players last week and said to them that I know there is a lot of uncertainty, a lot of players out of contract and a few loan players.

“But the ball is really in the players’ court. I understand the uncertainty but it’s really up to them make us make up our minds, and if it isn’t going to happen for them here, or they don’t want to be here, move somewhere else.

"But we’ve got 20-odd games left of this season, there’s an awful lot of football still to be played.”

Those contracted beyond this season are Jaime Peters, Damien Delaney, Lee Martin, Arran Lee-Barrett, Andy Drury, Nathan Ellington, Jimmy Bullard, Jack Ainsley, Joe Whight (all June 2013), Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, Michael Chopra (2014) and Aaron Cresswell (2015), while Lee Bowyer, Jason Scotland and perhaps other members of the squad have options for further years based on appearances.

Photo: Action Images

itfc1981 added 08:24 - Jan 19 Scrap the lot start again. Very good.
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Wickets added 08:26 - Jan 19 Jamie Peters!!! What happend to him??
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SomershamBlue added 08:33 - Jan 19 "...we haven't done well enough as a team or as individuals to really extend those contracts at the moment" And this is the point. It's the lack of confidence on both sides (management/players) that leads to a reluctance to commit. To paraphrase RK on TV last night 'Winning football matches sorts things out".
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Dolly2.0 added 08:38 - Jan 19 Yeah, coz RK was the expert when it came to winning matches
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Karlosfandangal added 08:40 - Jan 19 How can a player concentrate on his game if the club have no faith in them. Scotland has not been the greatest of succsess but has showed a lot of effort and has improved this season, so he must be thinking what do I need to do to get a contract, Carson played well at the end of last season and looked to be a regular this, but Jewell dont play him. is it any wonder

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hodgie1989 added 08:44 - Jan 19 I really don't understand why the same situation has happened again. He said he didn't want it to happen again, so why offer Hyam and Murray 1 year deals. That quite frankly makes no sense.
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MaySixth added 08:55 - Jan 19 How has this happened again? Mismanagement of the highest order. On the field strategy that concentrates on old players or loans meaning no club spirit has been fostered and no common purpose. Players not signing contracts as they don't know which division they will be in or who the manager will be. This needs to be sorted out - if players don't sign up I can only assume they do not believe in the manager or vision.

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walberswick added 08:55 - Jan 19 Its events that are dictating descisions. Wrong way round.
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Rossm added 08:58 - Jan 19 Exactly what he said wouldnt happen. We need to sign people this month!
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bedsitfc added 08:58 - Jan 19 the players know if their contracts expire they will get in somewhere else but maybe at a lower level, so its in their interest to pull their fingers out and win themselfs new terms. its too easy for everyone to blame everything on management P.J, S.C and M.E its about time our players stepped up to the plate.
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Mutiny added 09:05 - Jan 19 Common denominators since Magilton was tossed out - Evans and Clegg - blame them for the current shambles. Q If Jim had stayed where would we be now? A A lot higher than the current position
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Stato added 09:15 - Jan 19 Clegg's and Jewell's contracts run out when ?
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cornishnick added 09:24 - Jan 19 "I'll take responsibility, I'm not hiding behind anyone" Off you go then. It's just been mistake after mistake after mistake
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PauloJulio added 09:27 - Jan 19 So we've go that lemon Ellington for another season!
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Bergholtblue added 09:31 - Jan 19 PJ new it was a problem last year and said he didn't want it to happen again, yet here we are. So who is to blame? Has PJ sat on his backside and let things slide, or is this down to Clegg not getting things done? Whoever, is responsible needs to pay the price and receive his P45.
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DurhamTownFan added 09:50 - Jan 19 True, many players have under-performed this year. BUT, I don't see how PJ can achieve his vision of stability unless he shows some faith in the players. We have one of the best squads in the division. What we lack, is confidence and grit. How do you improve confidence and grit (i.e., caring about the future of the club and trying your utmost to achieve this in every game)? NOT by leaving players dangling, witholding contracts and threatening their careers. YES by sticking with the same team every week and tying worthy players down beyond the summer. NOT by signing every Tom, Dick and Harry that you come accross hoping that new players will turn the tide. Whatever happened to coaching and team talks?

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saffronblue added 10:07 - Jan 19 Most of them don't deserve a new contract!
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newboy added 10:09 - Jan 19 Last year when PJ took over he slated RK for allowing so many contracts to run down and said himself he would not allow it to happen again (so why are we in the same situation a year later) start at the top and work down and remember pay peanuts get monkeys
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sonian_blue added 10:21 - Jan 19 Spot on Newboy, you beat me to the point. Jewell Out Now.
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Ozzie_OwDoo added 11:10 - Jan 19 Like all good Town supporters I want to see Jewell succeed, but it doesn't help when he admits to his failings so freely,they seem like clayton apologies. He's accepted, he's made mistakes with past signings and now he takes responsibility for contracts being an issue again. It's not exactly inspiring to hear this.
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jas0999 added 11:23 - Jan 19 Is this the same PJ who said this situation would NEVER happen again? In fairness, I don't think PJ is to blame. It's Clegg.
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Vexorg added 11:39 - Jan 19 One year deals for Hyam/Murrey? Smacks of makings sure we get a fee for them when they b@gger off rather than committing to them as good longer-term prosects
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Pip50 added 12:36 - Jan 19 3 years for Carson 1 for Hyam and Murray think I would sod off. I wasn't very good at Maths but doesn't one year from now equal this time next year and same old problem!!
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arc added 13:18 - Jan 19 Cue panic signing of a player who hasn't earned another contract just to make the point. The trick is to work out which players have actually earned a new contract and which need to be kept hungry–case in point: Delaney went to pot last year when given a contract extension. And isn't it getting clearer and clearer what a disastrous few months of business Jewell did last summer? Have any of his signings been good ones, except Creswell?

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davnunn added 13:47 - Jan 19 I'm with DurhamTownFan on this. Amazing these can be done when confidence flows through a squad. But the management team (Jewell and above) have to seed that confidence by showing faith. The trouble is now we are in a catch 22. Results are bad so we don't want to commit to starting places on the pitch or contracts with players who are not cutting it. And the flip side... outsiders are tentative about joining us. ME and Clegg need to give Jewell the backing to break this cycle. Show some bottle. Back players, make them believe.... then we'll start flying again.

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