Clarets quintet await fate
Published Date:
05 May 2008
IT'S D-Day for Burnley's out of contract quintet.
Clarets boss Owen Coyle will today sit down with Brian Jensen, James O'Connor, Jon Harley, John Spicer and David Unsworth to thrash out their futures, as he plots the way forward after finishing 13th in the Championship.
Garreth O'Connor has already been allowed to leave Turf Moor.
And back in March, player of the season Wade Elliott put pen to paper on a new three-year deal.
Coyle will set about building his own team, after inheriting the squad from Steve Cotterill in November, adding Stan Varga, Andrew Cole and Mark Randall on loan in January.
And he promises new faces, as he looks to bolster a soft underbelly which has seen the side ship 67 goals in 46 league games – with only Southampton, Scunthorpe United and Colchester United conceding more.
Coyle said after the humiliating 5-0 reverse at Crystal Palace on Sunday, in which Clarke Carlisle was dismissed for a professional foul after only six minutes: "It reinforces what I knew we needed, in terms of personnel, and we'll endeavour to do that in the summer.
"Defensively we've not been good enough.
"Albeit it with 10 men, there's no getting away from the fact that we've given away real soft goals from our point of view.
"It's hurtful. And I've told them to make sure nothing like that ever happens again, whether it's the last game of the season or not.
"I'll speak to the players on Tuesday and we'll take it from there.
"There will be some we make offers to, and some we won't.
"We'll get a few coming in to add to what we've got."
The club have already moved to offer two second year apprentices professional contracts.
Youth team captain Adam Kay and striker Alex MacDonald, who made his second appearance for the first team at Palace, have both been rewarded with deals after being fast-tracked into the senior squad.
Burnley-born Kay, 18, is a product of St Theodore's High School, and was ever-present in the successful Lancashire Schools' FA team.
A skilful and athletic central midfielder, he came to the Centre of Excellence from local junior side Borrowdale United.
Adam, who registered as a first team player in December 2007, has yet to make his first team debut.
MacDonald, who hails from Warrington, joined the Centre three years ago, having been spotted playing for Cheshire Schoolboys.
A diminutive, but quick, strong and aggressive player, the 18-year-old scored two crucial goals in the 2006 Lancashire FA Youth Cup Final.
In March 2008, he stepped up to train with the first team, and capped a remarkable few months with his first team debut in the final home game of the season against Cardiff City, earning an assist with a header for Carlisle's goal in the 3-3 draw.
Remaining second year apprentices Thomas Bradley, Lewis Craig, Jonathan Sergeant, Dean Stott and Rob Turner have not been offered professional contracts.
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Last Updated:
05 May 2008 1:29 PM
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Source:
n/a
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Location:
Burnley