New boss Paul Jewell says the situation of 21 players’ contracts coming to an end in the summer is far from ideal and needs addressing. Skipper David Norris, reportedly subject of a £250,000 bid from Portsmouth, and key defender Gareth McAuley are amongst those whose current deals are up at the end of June.

Jewell said: “Obviously David Norris and Gareth McAuley are out of contract, along with plenty of other players. Decisions have got to be made by us and the players, but at the moment I haven’t sat down with any player and spoken to them about leaving the football club, all I’ve spoken about is how we’re going to try to move forward.”

Once players get to the point where they have only six months left on their deals they are able to officially speak to other clubs, although Jewell says that sort of conversation goes on anyway: “Let me tell you, even if they are in contract they speak to other clubs, let’s have it right!

“Out of that 21 there are a lot of youngsters, but there are also key players. We’ve got to address the situation, it’s not an ideal situation, I have to say. We’ve got to make sure in the future that if we can help it we don’t get players coming into the last year of their contracts because of the speculation in the press and the player can get unsettled.

“It’s not easy, but it’s something I have to deal with and something that hopefully we can stop happening in the future.”

Jewell doesn’t blame players for wanting to get their situations resolved: “Players want to know what their future holds and I will address that and hopefully we can get the right results for everybody.”

Photo: Action Images

suffolkpoker added 09:09 - Jan 21 Atlast somebody with some sense when it comes to contracts. This should of be dealt with in the summer!! Sort it out please Mr Clegg
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Surco72 added 09:19 - Jan 21 This is not just Cleggs issue ,he was being guided by Keane who it has been reported on numerous occasions here and at Sunderland likes making the the players wait and earn a new contract .In todays game where the players have the upper hand this is terrible decision making probably because Keane couldnt make up his mind of his best team or players from week to week let alone years in advance . I believe Jewell will guide Clegg in the world of football and its ways alot better than perhaps the relatively inexperienced Keane could and things will be sorted for a good year next season

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muhrensleftfoot added 09:25 - Jan 21 rank bad management. Clueless Clegg is no football man & Keane should have known better than to let this situation occur. It's a disgrace.
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blueblood66 added 09:30 - Jan 21 this is where Jewel will differ from Keane, he will want to be managing the club properly, not just coaching and picking the team, a bit of proper man management.
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bigfish added 09:40 - Jan 21 Basic business - the man Clegg should had it in hand earlier as M.E will be set to lose millions if the likes of Norris gose on a free or knocked down fee.
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whippet added 09:54 - Jan 21 at least Jewell realises that there is a serious issue and wants it addressed
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jas0999 added 10:09 - Jan 21 "Let me tell you, even if they are in contract they speak to other clubs, let's have it right!" - same thoughts echoed by Roy before his sacking I believe. Money talks! Clegg is responsible for contract negotiations - so has to start making decisions.
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petermorris added 10:10 - Jan 21 At the risk of the bed wetters having to think about RK again, Surco is right — RK has a track record of toughing out players (wrongly) over contracts (as well as falling out with players and stuffing things up on the pitch). The turnaround, and I think there will be one under PJ, is going to be slow and frustrating but he has one hell of a mess to sort out and no time. We need to get down there and SUPPORT HIM.

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itfc1981 added 10:26 - Jan 21 Dead in the head Clegg
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BwoodBlue added 10:36 - Jan 21 It's absolutely unbelievable that we have 21 players out of contract. It's just complete and utter incompetency from Clegg and Keane
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brogansnose added 11:08 - Jan 21 So glad i'm not ME seeing people waste my money on average, underperforming players and then letting the half decent ones walk out the door, mind you he did appoint his own staff though so what goe's around.....
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LollITFC added 11:20 - Jan 21 Do you bunch of dullards honestly think there is nothing going on in the background re this ???? Why dont you run the football club, i''m sure you could do a better job, you clearly are more intelligent than those in charge at the moment.
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itfc1981 added 11:46 - Jan 21 LollITFC , I'am sure inanimate carbon rod could do a better job.
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LollITFC added 11:57 - Jan 21 We are run as a business, not some cosy little football club, get that into your heads and we can move on ..... stop living in the past.
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JewellintheTown added 13:00 - Jan 21 LollITFC - couldnt agree more.
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MyBlueHeaven added 13:13 - Jan 21 @lollitfc - so what are you implying is going on in the background re this? no, I can't run the football club but from my perspective as a supporter i think it's crazy the club can allow a situation to develop where a full squad of players could leave the club in one go. let's just repeat that... full. squad. of. players. if you want to use the business angle, which is fine, cos i agree that that's what football's about now, then it's not sensible to put yourself in a position of potentially losing the vast majority of your assets all at once.

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depressed added 13:16 - Jan 21 How can you blame Keane for this ! Keane identifies the players he wants to offer new contracts to. Clegg then gets involved with negotiations,having already been given a budget by ME. If there are issues regarding length of contract, salary, etc then the players agents will advise their clients to see what other offers are available. Pretty basic stuff . Move on people Keanes gone and stop being so narrow minded>

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trueblue added 13:43 - Jan 21 Shame for PJ, he could offer a contract to a player he wants out in six months
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Back_The_Boss added 14:07 - Jan 21 C'mom PJ, we can do it.
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petermorris added 15:29 - Jan 21 Amazing how people keep saying Keane is gone and we're to ‘move on' — as if being a gnats fart away from the drop and having a squad full of out of contract players is suddenly nothing to do with him....
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depressed added 16:15 - Jan 21 petermorris......Managers do not get involved in contract negotiations, that is left to the Executives and Owners..FACT.
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petermorris added 19:47 - Jan 21 depressed... but managers do tell their Executives who they want to keep and who they want to sell, and our last manager was obviously too busy piddling about with selections and waffling on to the press about 'his' players instead of nailing a team to go forward with. If RK had stayed Priskin would have been out of the door by now, with or without a contract, and probably McAuley, Norris etc (at the beginning of last season when McAuley got sent off, RK said that he didn't want our by then ex captain 'playing in a blue shirt again', well, 'til he needed him that is) My point - RK caused this mess, therefore not mentioning him and 'moving on' does not make sense.

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