Town boss Paul Jewell says the Blues are looking to negotiate a new deal with striker Jason Scotland because the clause in the Trinidadian’s current contract is unaffordable with the new Financial Fair Play rules coming in next season. An extra year at the 33-year-old’s existing wage will be triggered if he makes two more league starts during the remaining weeks of the campaign.
Jewell says Scotland has begun talks with chief executive Simon Clegg: "Jason’s had a chat with Simon but I’m not quite sure of the outcome of that because I’ve not seen Simon since. I don’t know what the progress is.
"The club have made Jason and offer and I think he’s considering it. I’m not 100% sure where things are. I’m trying to stay out of the contract talks so I can’t give you guys any misinformation, but as soon as I know I’ll let you know.”
He says the terms of the deal agreed when Scotland signed from Wigan for £1 million in the summer of 2010 aren’t realistic given the break-even model that Championship clubs will be moving to next season, skipper Carlos Edwards having already agreed a much reduced new contract: "I think the clause that we’ve got we can’t afford to give him, basically.
"The clause is decent money and with the Financial Fair Play rules that are coming in and the economic climate that we’re in, wages are not going up, they’re going down. That’s life.
"Jason understands that, he’s a year older and has been very reasonable about it. I don’t know what the figures are and that’s not for the public domain anyway but it will be a contract worth less. I don’t know what’s in it, although I know there is dialogue going on.”
Jewell says the striker has never dug his heels in about the clause: "I spoke to Jason a long time ago and he knew he had the clause in his contract and he knows [the situation].
"I think he’s been a really good player for us since I’ve been here. He’s a good positive lad around the place, he’s come on as sub and he’s done well, he’s started games and he’s done well.
"He came from a Premier League team, but he’s sensible [about the clause]. I never want to get into the situation where we don’t play him because it triggers that clause because that makes it messy for everybody.” It’s likely that Town have offered the ex-Swansea goal-getter a new one-year deal with the option of a further season on top of that. Jewell says Scotland, who will be back from his adductor injury for tonight’s game against Middlesbrough, was missed at Watford on Saturday: "We didn’t really have an option. Jason’s a valuable member of our squad because it’s not just about the starting XI it’s about everybody and being a position influence, and he’s certainly that.” As regards the other players who are out of contract in the summer, such as Grant Leadbitter, Tommy Smith and Lee Bowyer, and Daryl Murphy, who is on loan from Celtic with another year remaining on his deal there, Jewell says he has much to do in the weeks to come having recently met with the club’s owner Marcus Evans: "There’s an awful lot of work for me to get through between now and the end of the summer with people who are out of contract, people who have to play so many games to trigger clause in their contracts and Daryl on loan. "I had a meeting with Marcus on Thursday and I’ve got a host of things to do and those will be dealt with over the coming weeks.” Photos: Action ImagesWhat to read next:
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