Summer shake-up on the way at the Shay
Neil Aspin is set to embark on a summer shake-up at The Shay and is already in talks with possible new signings. The Town boss says the club’s poor form towards the end of the season, which saw them win only once in 15 games, has increased the need for reinforcements.
Two-thirds of the squad are out- of- contact in the summer, but Aspin, who expects to speak to his Town squad over the next couple of weeks, has warned that even those contracted for next season may not survive the cull.
“There are more players needed than I thought a month ago,” Aspin said.
“We need to change a lot of personnel because if you’ve got players who have to play above themselves to compete, you can only do that for so long.
“The last month has been disappointing and I haven’t enjoyed what I’ve seen.
“There will be some players who are disappointed. They might find they were expecting to get offered something but don’t.
“Even if a player is contracted for next season it doesn’t mean their place isn’t in jeopardy.
“There’ll be players who are talking to clubs now.
“If a player doesn’t want to stay as far as I’m concerned he can leave and we’ll get some- body else in.”
Aspin revealed negotiations were already underway with transfer targets and said there were a few players he would like to sign “as early as possible”.
Aspin also confirmed striker Richard Peniket is set to have an operation on his anterior cruciate ligament later this month and would then be out for around eight months.
Town are targeting goals in their summer transfer drive, but Aspin admits value for money has to be a consideration.
“A young, hungry player is the type we need to find because it’s not just their desire but their cost and wages are a lot cheaper,” he said.
“We are looking and we’ve been looking all season but it is getting harder to get them because every time we have interest in a player, there are other teams who become interested as well.
“We’re looking at all areas but we need goals. We’re struggling to score but everybody in the country is looking for goalscorers.
“We need goalscorers from wide areas as well.
“We need to change things in midfield and we need to keep looking to strengthen at the back when Marc Roberts leaves.”
Aspin would like to keep Roberts and Lois Maynard but admits both may be difficult to hang on to.
“Marc’s attitude has been first-class,” Aspin said. “He had the disappointment at the start of the season, seeing a move to Barnsley fall through, which is on his doorstep.
“But he kept playing and then Birmingham were in for him, but that didn’t happen.
“He’s done really well. I can’t speak too highly of him because that is difficult.
“Marc doesn’t earn a lot of money at the club and he’s turned down a much better contract because he wants to try and test himself higher.
“My only hope is he gets to a club that really benefits him and that he really kicks on.
“Lois has done really well for me considering the level he came from. He’s scored a lot of goals this season.
“We’re going to try and keep him if we can.
“Lois hasn’t attracted the interest Marc has and we have to do our best to keep him.
“I’ll be disappointed if he goes but if the club does it’s best and he still leaves then there’s nothing more we can do.”
Aspin is expecting to work with a similar budget to this season, but says the fact that Town don’t pay players dur- ing the summer makes it harder to attract new signings.
“With the gates we’ve had there’s no way the budget could be increased,” he said.
“I know we have a problem because a lot of the clubs pay for 52 weeks and we only pay for 38, so far a start you’re 14 weeks short.
“That’s a difficult stumbling block.
“I don’t know all the other budgets but we’re going to be in the bottom half of the table for our budget.”