2026 retained list

[OldNewtown]

I feel sorry for the Championship lads, but let's be clear, if we had a team with Patto, Cirkin, Neil, Roberts, Mepham etc etc we'd be preparing for a season back in teh Championship right now.

Heart says sorry for them, head says absolutely the right thing

I think it shows the difference in mentality between the likes of Ballard, ONein and the likes of Neal, Cirkin etc. Some just have that certain something in their approach that makes them different and drives their desire to get to the top.
Others are just in it for the money or are being badly advised / led and just don't have that mental spark or drive that makes the difference between a good player and a great player.
In my humble opinion of course.
I could, however, be spouting bullocks and its just down to natural talent and pure dumb luck but somehow I don't think so.
Some people are leaders whilst most people are followers

 

[young2077]

Dan was offered a contract at the start of this season as was Dennis. Dan in particular was offered a new one in the promotion season around the time Ballard signed his.

His agent has obviously told him to hang fire. Very bad advice. You get that first big/biggish contract signed, and go from there. They have both left a lot of money on the table they'll never get back.

Both good lads though, and I really wish them well. But I don't think it's quite right for anyone to say they were pushed out, though they might have left anyway.

So they even had the same offer at the start of a season in the prem?

I assumed the offer had cooled on promotion as the club wanted to see if they were good enough to keep around.

Madness to not sign the deal when it was first offered. As said get the contract sorted and wage increase let the 3xyra money come in and look at moving on if needed after that! And thats in the championship to not sign whem promoted to premier leagues is even more baffling!

People always say badly advised agent this or that but these lads listen to it and must agree with whats being said!

Look at Ballard in contrast, more consistent, more likely to have premiership interest if we didn’t get promoted and he signed as he knows if they don't get promoted and a premier league club comes in with a good offer and a decent move the club won't make it difficult if I want to move!

 

[Daz]

I feel sorry for the Championship lads, but let's be clear, if we had a team with Patto, Cirkin, Neil, Roberts, Mepham etc etc we'd be preparing for a season back in teh Championship right now.

Heart says sorry for them, head says absolutely the right thing

Yeah I agree, will be forever grateful to those players for getting us to where we are now and wish them nothing but the best. This club is waking up and they have played a huge part in that.

 

[Brainy Dose]

I think it shows the difference in mentality between the likes of Ballard, ONein and the likes of Neal, Cirkin etc. Some just have that certain something in their approach that makes them different and drives their desire to get to the top.
Others are just in it for the money or are being badly advised / led and just don't have that mental spark or drive that makes the difference between a good player and a great player.
In my humble opinion of course.
I could, however, be spouting bullocks and its just down to natural talent and pure dumb luck but somehow I don't think so.
Some people are leaders whilst most people are followers

Agree with this. Footballers are no different to people in every other walk of life.....there are some who are driven to try to get to the top,and others who don't feel the drive.....everyone is different. Even in the Championship what these players can earn is,to some of them,an eye-watering amount of money....they are content beyond their dreams and they just can't find the drive necessary to propel themselves higher up the ladder. Perhaps they know when they've reached their level and just aren't prepared to take the risk.

 

[C Montgomery Burns]

Dan was offered a contract at the start of this season as was Dennis. Dan in particular was offered a new one in the promotion season around the time Ballard signed his.

His agent has obviously told him to hang fire. Very bad advice. You get that first big/biggish contract signed, and go from there. They have both left a lot of money on the table they'll never get back.

Both good lads though, and I really wish them well. But I don't think it's quite right for anyone to say they were pushed out, though they might have left anyway.

From what I heard (which may be wrong) Cirkin wanted to stay and the club still wanted him but he wanted more than the club were prepared to pay him because of his injury record. So it ended at an impasse and the club moved on but never withdrew the offer he had. He still could have signed it at any time but didn't.

 

[alcoauth]

The club have outgrown Dan Neil and Dennis Cirkin, that is the sad reality, It was well documented that Dan Neil had extensive negotiations about renewing his deal in 2024 and they were unable to come to terms. My assumption is the same with Dennis, we did a lot of renewals between 2022-2025 that were incremental and usually only added 2 years to their existing deals, probably a way to reward the player a little bit without burdening the club financially, and I guess these lads wanted a more substantial bump in wage.

Whatever happens with these two, I'll look forward to seeing where they go.

 

[rowley]

From what I heard (which may be wrong) Cirkin wanted to stay and the club still wanted him but he wanted more than the club were prepared to pay him because of his injury record. So it ended at an impasse and the club moved on but never withdrew the offer he had. He still could have signed it at any time but didn't.

Yep, we will never know, but I'd bet a good sum on this; both would have been way better signing last season, like Ballard did. You get that decent contract signed, you get the reward for the sacrifices made, as you might only get that one chance. And we weren't messing about last year on deals, our wage bill was about £54m, a big increase on the previous year. (Swiss Ramble)

But agents too often advise players on the basis of what is good for the agent, and that is most often a move, fees for the agent, and sometimes a cut in the signing on fee. If it doesn't come off, the agent, especially these agents attached to specialised agent companies where they have multiple clients, just move onto the next player.

Good luck to the lads, they both did well for us and I really hope they go well in the future. But I hope they start making all their own decisions, and don't listen to their agent's patter. They are big lads now.

 

[Bobcat]

Completely agree on the impact of agents in situations like this. I’m willing to bet good money that some of these lads got ****ty advice along the way.