Motherwell boss Stuart Kettlewell is relaxed about players’ contract situations and says there’s nothing more that can be done.
A number of players are out of contract in the summer and speculation has surrounded several of them, such as Max Johnston and Dean Cornelius, while striker Kevin van Veen is likely to be in demand as well.
Kettlewell hinted that offers have been made to the players he wants to keep, and hopes people will stop asking the question.
He said: “To make it as clear as possible I think we’ve been really proactive – as much as we possibly can be, in a number of situations.
“As a person I’m always very calm in these situations, I get asked the question constantly, I hear people start to panic and worry and all the rest of it.
“I think when you as a football club and as a manager have taken every step and every stride that you possibly can, make it known what players you want, put offers down in front of them, try to make that as lucrative as you possibly can, in relation to what your club can offer, then I think there’s a point where you have to step back and just be calm about it.
“Allow players to make decisions, take advice from the relevant people.
“I believe in development, I believe in trying to hit milestones as a player; playing game-time, being on the park, becoming a better player and person as well, keep putting those two things together, and .I believe in all those factors.
“If you think that Motherwell’s the place where you will become both a better player and a better person then this is the right place for you.
“If it’s not, then it’s not, and I don’t ever get too caught up in it.”
Kettlewell added: “This is never a personal attack on players or anything like that, but there has to come a point from me and from people at the football club where we take a step back.
“We’ve done everything we possibly can, I’m really comfortable in my own skin in that, and then we’ll find out what decisions are, through time.
“Sometimes players want that extra few weeks, sometimes they want a bit of extra time to see if there are other things available.
“From my point of view there’s not another thing we can do with regards to players that we want to keep and players that we think will add real value to our group.
“As far as I’m concerned it’s probably settled there, and people can probably stop asking me the question.
“I’m going to keep giving the same answer, because we can’t do another thing about it.
“What I do know is that a number of players that have been referenced, I think you can see they’re fully committed to the cause, and if they weren’t, that would create an issue.”
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