How pressing do you see the issue of player contracts at the club?
Very pressing, especially as our prized asset Mr Armstrong is one of them and if he doesn't sign a new deal within the next six months his potential value will rapidly decrease.
Followed closely behind him in team importance in my opinion is Ryan Nyambe. It's imperative he signs a long term contract as he will be difficult to replace.
Lewis Holtby and Derrick Williams may get offered a year deal as they are injury prone. There will be no deals offered as I see it for Charlie Mulgrew, Elliott Bennett and Corry Evans which will in turn free up the wage bill. I can't see Harry Chapman staying as he needs to be a regular starter at his age.
I’m pretty sure Joe Rothwell and Joe Rankin-Costello will be offered and sill sign new deals whilst the jury is out on Bradley Johnson and Stewart Downing as they will be on big wages.
The only other one who I'm 50/50 on being offered a new deal on is Amari’i Bell he has come on since he came to us but maybe there are better full backs out there.
Andrew Robinson
It depends as to whether Mr Mowbray is content to persist with his present squad and philosophy or should he have a radical rethink and throw the babies out with the bathwater.
Assuming he soldiers on then I would be tempted to dispense with the services of Bell, Mulgrew and Bennett while the future of the injury prone Evans could be called into question. Nor should we be relying on the likes of Stewart Downing to bolster the team.
Nyambe, Rothwell and Chapman would not have any trouble finding new clubs who in turn probably feel they can unleash the true potential of these players This is something that Rovers have so far failed to do consistently, so I would prioritise efforts to get them to stay.
Holtby, Johnson and Williams' future is, I feel, open to doubt and discussion as you are never quite sure how they will perform from one game to the next.
However, a lot can happen between now and the end of the season with Rovers' finishing position and current finances probably being major factors in the club's thinking. One would hope that the players out of contract would be straining very sinew to secure their future but I'm a little too old and cynical to entertain such speculation.
Paul Yates
I think it’s coming to the crunch for Rovers with several players. We haven’t sold a player for a fee since David Raya, and as Mowbray has previously said, Rovers would need to break into that top six, or show that they could, to get players to sign new contracts or keep hold of them.
They did it with Bradley Dack and the hope is that will get more players to decide to stay, but we’ve not seen it as yet.
I would prioritise keeping hold of Nyambe and Rankin-Costello because I think we need to be protecting our own and giving them the best chance to make it with us.
It’s a big summer for Adam Armstrong who I think will either sign a new contract, or be sold, as while Rovers won’t want to lose him, they can’t afford to let his contract run down.
I think we have to remember that players have a say in this too, and the more experienced members of our squad, some of who have been here a while, could look to hold-out to the summer to see where Rovers are, and what deals are out there.
The scrapping of the League One salary cap might make moves to teams in that League One more attractive than they were last year.
James Harrison
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