Hill resigned to losing star duo

KEITH Hill has offered new deals to some of his outof-contract stars – but is resigned to the probability of losing some of them.

Out of contract players Conrad Logan, Matty Lund, Donal McDermott, Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, Reuben Noble-Lazarus and Joe Rafferty have all been offered new contracts at the Crown Oil Arena.

Matty Gillam has been offered his first professional contract while Johny Diba and David Owusu, who are out of contract, will be leaving the club.

This week also saw loan players Jack Redshaw, Joel Taylor and Ben Wilson return to their parent clubs.

Hill said this week that, despite offering Lund and Mendez-Laing new deals – and the fact that he would like them to stay at the club – he believes both will depart.

“Those two players in my opinion, will leave the football club,” said Hill.

“I want them to stay and we are doing everything we possibly can to retain the services of those two players. But financially, we are resticted in being able to offer the kind of financial deals they are being offered elsewhere.

“The majority of Rochdale fans will understand that – we don’t want to break ourselves financially.

“We have been in these situations before and we have found another way. The one thing you can’t do as a manager or as a supporter is panic.”

And should Hill lose the services of Lund and Mendez-Laing, as he expects to, he is confident of enjoying more success when it comes to recruitment.

“There are players and agents who want to do business now,” he said.

“I am probably going to lose a few players. I have players put out of contract who are sought after and I have players in contract who are sought after.

“We will have to let the dust settle and see what we have got left going into next season.

“But I am optimistic, I know the league and the players within the league who are available and I genuinely believe I know ●●Joe Rafferty, pictured being presented with the Supporters’ Player of the Season Award by Murray Knight of the Dale Supporters Trust, has been offered a new deal at the club

‘Those two players, in my opinion, will leave the football club’

how to get the best out of a team and out of individuals. Sometimes, when you can’t retain players, you have to find a different way of being successful and we’ve done that in the past.

“When we were previously in League One, having been promoted, we had a really good passing team, averaging 400 passes a game and we didn’t have an awful lot of spontaneous skill or pace. We have pace in this side but we might have to look at a different option and see where we go next season.

“I am open minded with respect to recruitment and I am not going to go speed dating, get teased by a load of good looking players and end up with the two o’clock in the taxi job!”