We caught up with The Gaffer shortly after the retained list was announced.
Firstly, attention turned to news that Club Captain, Matty Brown, has been transfer listed. Brown has been put up for sale due to the defender being unable to commit to the new training schedule for the 20/21 campaign.
As Wild explained; “He’s been transparent in the past and he could manage with the current set-up, but he couldn’t and didn’t want to commit to the new way of doing things, and we respect that. We gave him a new deal when I came in, to make sure he was settled, but I have to move the Club forward and unfortunately, that will be without Matty.”
The gaffer added on Brown as a player; “He’s been an excellent servant for the club, he’s been fantastic and helped us across the last 12 months in our understanding of Non-League. I’m sure he’ll get the accolades he deserves from the fans, he’s still a player at the Club, but obviously, he’s transfer listed, and we’ll pay him the respect he deserves when everything gets sorted.”
Another defender who has been transfer listed is Jacob Hanson, Hanson joined the ‘Shaymen’ permanently in January 2019, and has found game time hard to come by this season; Wild was honest in his reasoning for the 22-year-old being surplus to requirements.
“Jacob’s had limited opportunities this year, and we feel that would be the same next season. He’s a young lad who needs to play football, and I need to be fair to him, and allow him to play regular football elsewhere.”
As for released players; goalkeeper Will Appleyard, defender Jerome Binnom-Williams, midfielders Josh MacDonald & Liam Nolan, and striker Jack Redshaw have all exited The Shay.
Wild was clear and concise on why fans’ favourite, MacDonald was one of the quintuple parting ways with the club, stating he was “another fantastic servant for the football club.” The 25-year-old joined in 2015 from Marske United and was part of the FA Trophy win over Grimbsy Town, alongside Matty Brown.
Going into detail, the Gaffer said “Josh needed a new challenge and had to enjoy his football again”, before adding; “It was unfortunate that he was injured when we came in, and the lads in his position had done well, he just didn’t get that chance to force his way back in. He goes with our best wishes and deserves all the accolades he’ll get from the fans.”
Wild explained why Jack Redshaw was also on his list to depart, the major factor being Redshaw’s lack of gametime/the way Wild wants to play not suiting both parties, “… and I can use his money in a way to make sure I get the best out of the way we want to play,” explained Wild.
Thirteen players remain, they have been either offered a new deal by the club or are still contracted at The Shay: Sam Johnson, Nathan Clarke, Michael Duckworth, Niall Maher, Cameron King, Jeff King, Jack Earing, Charlie Cooper, Josh Staunton, Danny Williams, Jamie Allen & Tobi Sho-Silva all fit into one of those two categories; as well as, Jay Benn who signed his first professional contract recently.
The Gaffer remained clear on the situation of those players that have been offered new deals, saying; ”If lads want to accept what’s on the table, then great, but they’ve been given a quick turnaround to accept or decline, and if they decline then I will move on [in my search for replacements]”.
We’ll update you on all First Team news as and when we have concrete information from the Gaffer during pre-season.
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