Post by Cantankerous Gas on May 22, 2015 7:02:17 GMT
BRISTOL Rovers boss Darrell Clarke will begin preparations for life in League Two next season when he sits down with his out-of-contract players to discuss their futures over the weekend.
A total of 12 senior professionals among Clarke's promotion-winning squad had deals due for renewal after success at Wembley – although The Post understands that four of those players – Steve Mildenhall, Mark McChrystal, Matty Taylor and Lee Brown – have already committed their futures to the club in the last few weeks and will start next season at the Memorial Stadium.
That leaves the futures of eight players – Will Puddy, Daniel Leadbitter, Neal Trotman, Jake Gosling, Andy Monkhouse, Angelo Balanta, Abdulai Baggie, Stuart Sinclair – still to be resolved.
Clarke will hold meetings with all of those players over the next two days and is set to reveal which of them will be offered new deals and which of them will be released when Rovers make public their full retained/released list early next week.
Midfielder Chris Lines has returned to Port Vale – where he still has a year on his contract to run – at the end of his loan spell, but has already confirmed that he would be open to a permanent move back to the Memorial Stadium if Rovers are interested in doing a longer-term deal, which has yet to be confirmed.
The manager is already believed to have sorted out the futures of the first-year professionals among his squad and The Post understands that Jamie Lucas, Danny Greenslade and Dominic Thomas are all likely to be kept on for varying lengths of time.
Clarke, pictured, has already been inundated will calls from agents since Rovers managed to secure a return to the Football League at the first time of asking following a dramatic penalty shootout victory over Grimsby Town at Wembley Stadium on Sunday. "The first priority for me is to decide which of the players we will be retaining," said Clarke. "If we can get everyone together we should have finalised all of those details by the early part of next week.
"I would imagine we will then be looking to bring in probably four or five quality players over the summer to strengthen the squad in readiness to make a realistic challenge in League Two next season."
The club, meanwhile, are believed to have suspended season-ticket sales for the time being. Finance director Toni Watola was unavailable for comment when contacted by the Bristol Post, at the time of going to press.
Senior players under contract: Nathan Blissett; Lee Brown; Ollie Clarke; Jermaine Easter; Ellis Harrison; Tom Lockyer; Lee Mansell; Mark McChrystsal; Steve Mildenhall; Tom Parkes; Matty Taylor.
Senior players out-of-contract: Abdulai Baggie; Angelo Balanta; Jake Gosling; Daniel Leadbitter; Andy Monkhouse; Will Puddy; Stuart Sinclair; Neal Trotman.
A total of 12 senior professionals among Clarke's promotion-winning squad had deals due for renewal after success at Wembley – although The Post understands that four of those players – Steve Mildenhall, Mark McChrystal, Matty Taylor and Lee Brown – have already committed their futures to the club in the last few weeks and will start next season at the Memorial Stadium.
That leaves the futures of eight players – Will Puddy, Daniel Leadbitter, Neal Trotman, Jake Gosling, Andy Monkhouse, Angelo Balanta, Abdulai Baggie, Stuart Sinclair – still to be resolved.
Clarke will hold meetings with all of those players over the next two days and is set to reveal which of them will be offered new deals and which of them will be released when Rovers make public their full retained/released list early next week.
Midfielder Chris Lines has returned to Port Vale – where he still has a year on his contract to run – at the end of his loan spell, but has already confirmed that he would be open to a permanent move back to the Memorial Stadium if Rovers are interested in doing a longer-term deal, which has yet to be confirmed.
The manager is already believed to have sorted out the futures of the first-year professionals among his squad and The Post understands that Jamie Lucas, Danny Greenslade and Dominic Thomas are all likely to be kept on for varying lengths of time.
Clarke, pictured, has already been inundated will calls from agents since Rovers managed to secure a return to the Football League at the first time of asking following a dramatic penalty shootout victory over Grimsby Town at Wembley Stadium on Sunday. "The first priority for me is to decide which of the players we will be retaining," said Clarke. "If we can get everyone together we should have finalised all of those details by the early part of next week.
"I would imagine we will then be looking to bring in probably four or five quality players over the summer to strengthen the squad in readiness to make a realistic challenge in League Two next season."
The club, meanwhile, are believed to have suspended season-ticket sales for the time being. Finance director Toni Watola was unavailable for comment when contacted by the Bristol Post, at the time of going to press.
Senior players under contract: Nathan Blissett; Lee Brown; Ollie Clarke; Jermaine Easter; Ellis Harrison; Tom Lockyer; Lee Mansell; Mark McChrystsal; Steve Mildenhall; Tom Parkes; Matty Taylor.
Senior players out-of-contract: Abdulai Baggie; Angelo Balanta; Jake Gosling; Daniel Leadbitter; Andy Monkhouse; Will Puddy; Stuart Sinclair; Neal Trotman.
