Saints Boss Jim Goodwin says lockdown limbo has put player contract talks on hold with as many as eight St Mirren Players currently facing an uncertain future as contracts run out in the summer.
With the current ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the Irishman has been unable to hold talks with any members of his squad as a results contract talks have been completely on hold over the past month.
Club captain Stephen McGinn and striker Cody Cooke are two of the eight players with deals running out in the summer and are yet to receive fresh offers from the club.
With clubs becoming increasingly uncertain about how long they can sustain themselves till football resumes, it is becoming difficult for clubs to act on certain aspects like contract extension talks without having an idea of what sort of budget they can expect for the next season and that is something that Jim Goodwin highlighted.
Speaking to Express Sport, Jim Goodwin said :
“Everything is on hold. We’ll just have to wait and see.
“If UEFA or the SPFL decide that we’re going to go and finish the rest of the season, then that’s what we’ll go and do, and we’ll need to do that with the current squad.
“But, my honest feeling is that we just need to wait and see, really.
“We haven’t been able to speak to any of our own players that are out of contract and we haven’t been able to make offers to anyone as of yet.
“Because, quite frankly, clubs don’t know how long this is going to go on for. They don’t know how long they are going to go without an income.
“It’s hard to make contract offers to players when you don’t know what your budget is going to be next season.
“It’s all up in the air at the moment.”
Meanwhile Saints boss Jim Goodwin had been previously spotted at the Star Project offices to help hand out parcels to hundreds of Buddies.
The Star Project has been working closely with the St Mirren’s Charitable Foundation since the beginning of the Coronavirus lockdown to help the needy people in the community and that is where the Saints boss decided to give a helping hand by joining in to donate food to the vulnerable citizens of the community.
We need 3 volunteers to help unload a large food delivery from Fare Share at the Tannahill Centre today 3pm. Please email me directly if u can help.
Gayle.brannigan@stmirren.com @saintmirrenfc @stmirrenwfc @smisa @SMFCFansCouncil @StMirrenAcad ??❤️ pic.twitter.com/aEhqPWKwLU— St Mirren FC Charitable Foundation (@SMFC_CF) April 22, 2020
As football continues to remain on lockdown for the foreseeable future, the financial repercussions from not having football among us is becoming increasingly difficult for certain clubs to bear and it might not be long before we start seeing a domino effect as some of the clubs in our country start becoming a thing of the past.
Also it is worth noting that St Mirren are one of the rare few clubs who are completely debt free as a result will come out standing from this crisis but thats not how it is for plenty of others out there who might have to go administration if this situation persists past August.
For the sake of the club and numerous others, lets hope we can put this horrid coronavirus affair behind us at the earliest and start thinking about how to conclude the present Scottish Premiership season at once.
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