Hill hoping to avoid January troubles at Oakwell

KEITH HILL admits he is anxious to sort out the futures of Matty Done, Jim McNulty and Craig Davies – to avoid the ‘catastrophe’ that beset the club in January.

Hill, whose Barnsley side are seeking their third successive Championship home win and clean sheet againist Blackpool at Oakwell today – with the game marking the club’s 125th anniversary – wants to begin contract talks with several senior players this autumn to follow on from a host of promising starlets recently penning fresh terms.

At the start of the New Year, the transfer of several key players not tied to the club on loan-term deals such as Ricardo Vaz Te, combined with some untimely injuries, ravaged the Reds and almost ended in relegation, with Hill desperate to avoid a repeat.

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Hill, whose squad has been beset by injuries already this term, with little money to bring in new recruits, said: “I don’t want the catastrophe of what happened last January happening again. I’m very confident we’ll sit down with those players and the rest to sort out their futures and the short-term future of the football club as well as the long-term strategy. We’ve got to take care of both.

Hiill hit another brick wall on the recruitment front this week after an out-of-contract player of ‘very good’ pedigree turned down a move to Reds – with the frustrated boss confounded at the mentality of those whose chief concern is money and not putting themselves at least in the shop window.

On the unnamed player, Hill added: “His wage demands for a player who currently hasn’t got a football club were quite ridiculous and unreasonable in respect to what we can offer.

“I find it quite amazing that there are still players who are still turning money down and contract offers. I’ve made two offers to players who are out of contract and haven’t got another club to play for and they are probably cutting off their nose to spike their faces a little bit (by not coming).

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“Even (though) the money we offered them isn’t in line with what they were previously earning, I just think footballers should be playing football and giving themselves the opportunity to showcase their talents.

“We’ve previously seen it with Ricardo Vaz Te.

“We paid him in football terms a pittance and within the space of six months, virtually went onto become a millionaire.”