AFC Telford yet to talk with skipper over new deal
Skipper Luca Havern is among a group of players still to have crunch talks over whether they are still wanted at AFC Telford United.
The 28-year-old centre-half is yet to meet Bucks boss Rob Smith – who has been holding meetings with members of last season’s squad to let them know if they are in his plans going forward.
So far, defender Ben Bailey and midfielder Joe Fitzpatrick have agreed fresh deals at Telford, while Dave Hibbert, Danny Reynolds, Joel Dielna, Connor McCarthy and Josh Wilson have been let go.
Dan Westwood has accepted an offer to train over pre-season in a bid to impress, while a few others are understood to be weighing up offers on revised terms.
Smith said: “We are down to some of the last meetings now.“I have got Eddie Jones to speak to – he had a hernia operation on Tuesday so we were waiting to speak to him after that.
“We have also still got to speak to Zak Lilly, Paul McCone and Luca Havern yet so we will be meeting with those players over the next eight to 10 days.”
In terms of the five players let go so far, the consensus among supporters on social media is that their exits did not come as a surprise.
When asked if there any shocks in store though, Smith said: “It depends what people regard as a shock, we will speak to the players first and then see what the fallout is from that.”On potential new faces, Smith was upbeat and added: “We have got quite a few players who have agreed to come to pre-season so that is good news.
"We are very close to doing some deals as well. At the moment, it may seem like we are just letting people go and not working to bring any in, but we have put in a lot of groundwork.”
“We have spoke to upwards of 25 players so far, there’s only been one night off in the last three weeks.”
