Steelmen deny exploiting Covid crisis with Tait offer

Motherwell have denied claims by former player Richard Tait that they tried to exploit the Covid-19 crisis by offering him reduced terms on a new contract.

Tait, who signed for St Mirren last week, stated in a BBC interview that his terms were amended after he had sent off a signed contract to commit to Motherwell for another season.

Tait (left) told the BBC that he had sent the signed deal to Motherwell before the pandemic and did not hear back until football in the country had been forced to shutdown for public safety.

The 30-year-old said:“Obviously, the league finished and Motherwell were third, so I thought the contract was fine. But they rang me and pretty much tried to change terms. I walked away out of principle more than anything.

“I’ve no ill feeling towards the club but I felt at the time they were just taking advantage of a bad situation.”

Motherwell released a statement to “clarify”the remarks, which read:“Towards the end of May, Richard was offered revised terms, with the full explanation this was being done in light of a predicted much-reduced football budget.

“At the time Richard was offered revised terms, we were unsure when the 2020/21 season would commence. We are still in the situation where we do not know when a crucial revenue stream – having supporters in the stadium – will be available to us again.

“Despite this, we offered Richard a new contract in the hope he would stay with us. The basic salary of this contract was less than the previous offer, but on no lesser basic terms than he had been on at the club during his time here. It also included the incentive to pay for him to undertake coaching qualifications, with a view to being a member of our coaching staff once his playing career came to a close.

“Additionally, we made a promise to Richard that we would look to review his contract at a later date, once there was greater clarity over supporters being able to return to stadiums.

“We are disheartened that someone who has been part of the fabric of our club for four years would make an accusation that we would try and take advantage of a grave situation like Covid-19.”