Celtic and Wigan to profit from Boro’s contract delays?
By Shaun • Apr 20th, 2009 • Category: Boro NewsWhether it is club policy or whether they simply have not been able to strike deals with the players, Middlesbrough continue to stall on signing Matthew Bates and Ross Turnbull to extended deals.
I can see how leaving all contract negotiations until the end of the season may allow everyone to concentrate on the task at hand but it is a risky game to play. The contract status of both players appears to have alerted Steve Bruce and Gordon Strachan who are rumoured to be weighing up moves for the Boro youngsters.
Steve Bruce's Wigan Athletic have already benefited from Middlesbrough's youth policy with the signing of England Under-21 International Lee Cattermole and, according to the Daily Mail, they are now looking at defender (though he has operated more as a midfielder in the last few weeks) Matthew Bates. Bates is also said to be attracting the attention of West Ham and Everton and with his contract due to expire at the end of the current campaign he could walk on a free transfer.
Another player who could walk away for nothing at the end of the season is goalkeeper Ross Turnbull. Turnbull started his Boro season very well and looked like the long term answer to the departed Mark Schwarzer, he has subsequently lost his place to Brad Jones and is now rumoured to be interesting Scottish giants Celtic.
I would be majorly disappointed to see both players walk away from the club for nothing, both have a lot of talent and have decent sell on value to the club. Finance aside, I would prefer to see both players signed up and continue as Boro players. I rate Matthew Bates very highly, have done ever since seeing him play for the Youth Cup winning team, and i believe he could mature into a very handy player for us if he can put his injury problems behind him.
Ross Turnbull is, in my opinion, a better goalkeeper than Brad Jones and I would hate to see him walk away from the club. Turnbull made mistakes this season, but I think at times he was badly let down by the players in front of him.
Are Boro the only team who wait this late before sorting out players contracts?
Shaun is A Boro fan and owner of BoroMania.com. Born and brought up in the North East. Favourite players are Juninho, Slaven and David Wheater.
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Why do we always end up losing players on a free, if we don’t want them we should be selling them before it gets to this stage. Personally I think we need to keep both, but i have heard Bates is thinking of leaving if we go down
I reckon this is just paper talk but if its not then I think Matthew Bates should have the decency to sign a contract with the Boro seeing as we have been paying for his rehab and his wages whilst he has been injured. I think he should sign one if he wants to go so we get some money for him, even if that means not getting as much wages at his next club seeing as he couldn’t go on a free.