Jewell Aims to End Annual Contract Woe
Friday, 13th Apr 2012 08:43

Boss Paul Jewell says Town will offer new deals to players who have a year left on their current terms to prevent the annual impasse as contracts come to an end. Last year David Norris and Gareth McAuley left on free transfers as their deals came to an end without new terms having been agreed, while the same could happen this year with Grant Leadbitter, who is understood to have been offered a deal by Middlesbrough.

Jewell said: “I don’t want to get into a situation every year where we’re having this conversation. The lads who have got a year to go, if we want to keep them we need to make them offers and if they don’t want to accept, I think we need to sell them. Peterborough have done that with a couple of their players [Paul Taylor and George Boyd].

“At the end of the day I don’t want to get into the situation every season where we’re talking about players’ contracts.

“You’re never going to be able tie everybody down, not everyone’s going to sign, but if Player A has got a year left and we’ve offered him a deal and he wants to keep his options open, maybe we’ll try to sell him and move on. We want to keep the better players we’ve got.”

Jack Ainsley, Jimmy Bullard, Damien Delaney, Andy Drury, Nathan Ellington, Arran Lee-Barrett, Lee Martin, Jaime Peters, Ryan Stevenson, Joe Whight and Cormac Burke all have deals which are up at the end of June 2013, while skipper Carlos Edwards and Luke Hyam both recently signed new one-year contracts.

Despite his lack of involvement in recent weeks — his last start came at Burnley in November — Jewell insists that Bullard, who is currently out ill, is still in his plans: “He’s got another year on his contract. Like every player here, you’re never out of the door.”

Photo: Action Images

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Karlosfandangal added 08:50 - Apr 13

Dont get this

Same thing was said last year and now again, yet we are still offering players 1 year deals

Hyam can walk for free next season are we now about to offer him a new deal a month or so after he has just signed.

Edwards and Scotland are the same, I can see because of their age, but are the club saying only one year left guy and you are out of here.

jas0999 added 08:56 - Apr 13 He said the same thing last year!
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Urchin added 09:08 - Apr 13 Jas - "He said the same thing last year" Heaven forbid that you would ever be accused of repeating yourself!
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Mark added 09:14 - Apr 13

Lee Martin is the crucial one, we must get him signed up onto a long term contract but it won't be easy given the wages he is on.

I thought Ryan Stevenson was only contracted to the end of this season? Maybe there is an option for a further year?

I don't think the others listed are big financial assets that we need to worry about too much, as most of those would accept contracts from Ipswich rather than move to other clubs. It's about protecting players with transfer values so really only Martin is worth much.

saffronblue added 09:18 - Apr 13 Offer deals now to those that you want to keep and sell the others in the summer. To be fair he did this last year and new contracts were offered to several players, the frustration is that Grant did not sign and will now walk away on a free in the summer.
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Blue041273 added 09:38 - Apr 13

I don't get this either. We are about to enter a brave new world where football clubs will be required to live within their means. Squads will inevitably be reduced in size and wage budgets will also be tightened. In such an environment it makes sense to keep the bulk of the squad (particularly the older ones) on short term contracts. Of course players for whom we have invested a transfer fee should have longer term contracts and if these players are considered long term investments and are deemed critical to the development of the squad their contracts need to be re-negotiated well before they run out. Similarly younger players need to be protected by the security of longer term contracts while they learn their trade. It's called investing in the future. Otherwise the general trend will be for short term deals so as not to tie up the wages budget on deadwood players when new blood is required.

Tractorog added 10:24 - Apr 13 For once Jas is right. Even a broken clock can be right twice a day.
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StowTractorBoy added 10:28 - Apr 13

I know we all get annoyed when deals are not tied up before a contract comes to an end but the reality is you cannot force players to sign contracts and you cannot force them to go at any given time. McCauley and Norris are casing points - they were offered contracts but knew they would be leaving knowing that when they leave at the end of the season a nice juicy signing on fee awaits them. The players have all the advantages sadly and whilst Ipswich Town do not always help their cause its not always their fault. Many other Clubs find themselves in exactly the same scenario so its not just us.

WarkOn added 10:58 - Apr 13

Let's face it - in current times, you're only going to be attracted by an offer from Ipswich if you think its easier to get into the first team than elsewhere.

Because of the dire 'reserve league', if you're not in the first team then you're not playing meaningful, competitive football, whatever age you are.

That may be fine for journeymen looking for a last payday, but you can understand why younger players would look elsewhere.

bontcho added 11:34 - Apr 13

Problem here is it takes two to tango.

What happens if Player X turns down our contract offer and those from other clubs too? For instance Leadbitter turned down our contract offer a year ago but showed little interest in moving last summer either because he wanted to keep his options open. It's not like the old days where the clubs controlled things, the players do now.

So while PJ obviously wants to sort out some key contracts it's not as easy as that.

buryblue77 added 11:38 - Apr 13 Over the last few years due to our contract policy we have basically pi$$ed millions up the wall as the likes of Norris, McAuley, Priskin, Fulop and co have all moved on in one way or another on a free and Leadbitter could potentially do the same. Hopefully Jewell will get a grip of this situation before more money (if there is anymore left) gets wasted.
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brian_a_mul added 12:50 - Apr 13

Football at this level is in financial transtition.
The large transfer fees we saw in the past (Leadbitter etc) are becoming less and less. Free transfers and nominal fees are becoming the norm.
This gives teams demoted a big advantage when coming to champ, they have bigger income (parachute payments) to get the players they want and dont have to scrounge/scratch around for frees. West Ham bought Nolan for a few quid etc but if they dont get straight back up they are in big financial trouble!

muhrensleftfoot added 13:18 - Apr 13 What nonsense PJ talks. What was the point in offering Hyam 1 year then. Does that mean he's going to try and sell him now? Young players like him and Tommy Smith should be offered 3 years. Leadbitter should have been put on the transfer list the day he refused to sign. Same with Norris & MacAuley.
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50yearsablue added 13:22 - Apr 13

While players have historically held all the aces, I feel that era is coming to an end. Because of the economic situation, and the new financial rules, more players will be on shorter contracts and on less money. Some may hold out for more but many will be in a weak bargaining position as there will be a lot of out of contract players waiting to take their place. It is unfair to criticise our current prudent approach