McCall threatens his out-of-contract men with real video nasty

Sports Writer

Wednesday 27 February 2013

THE footage of Motherwell's defeat by Ross County on Saturday was so grim that even Stuart McCall could not bear to sit through it all again.

Darren Randolph is one of several players in Stuart McCall's squad whose contracts are expiring

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Stewart Fisher

Indeed, the Fir Park manager yesterday threatened to burn it on to a DVD and send it out to agents and clubs in an attempt to fend off interest in his players.

As it turned out, the 3-0 disaster in Dingwall was the first instalment of a miserable weekend for the Motherwell manager as on Sunday he was at Wembley to watch former club Bradford City's Capital One Cup fairytale being crushed by Swansea City. Yet it was his current side's performance – and the futures of those players whose contracts are nearing expiry – that occupied his thoughts yesterday. "I managed to watch an hour of it but I had to turn it off," he said. "Having got out of the doldrums, watching that was putting me back into them.

"The only time I've mentioned contracts to them was on Saturday when I said I'd happily sends DVDs to all the agents and see if they could sell them now. Now they might all be knocking on my door to sign a new deal here because of the fear of me sending that tape to any potential suitor."With Steven Hammell and Shaun Hutchinson the only men contracted beyond the summer, negotiations will commence soon enough. But McCall, who is still to finalise an extension to his own deal, is well aware every point and league placing is a prisoner for the remaining 11 games of the season. "We know the contract situation and although I've spoken to a lot of the lads' agents, the club aren't in a definite position to offer," said McCall. "If we offered the boys we'd like to keep the contracts they'd like, and they accepted them, we might be in trouble. We might only have 10 players next season."We'll see where we are but we've got a little idea of who we're looking to keep and who'll probably be going. I'd imagine a lot of players will have opportunities to go and possibly play in the Championship but we'll see where we are and hopefully we'll keep a couple that people don't expect us to keep."One man who falls into that category is goalkeeper Darren Randolph, who has been linked with tonight's opponents Celtic, among others. Randolph says there has been no concrete interest from any clubs, but is prepared to wait until the summer to reach any decision. "I don't think anyone has been spoken to so I will just carry on," said the 25-year-old Irishman. "The club are just going to wait and see where we finish and take things from there. I'm happy to wait and see what happens. It is a new trend, but your future is in your hands and the contract you are offered depends how you play. A contract is not just going to be handed to you, you have to put in the performances."Centre of attention during tonight's match will, inevitably, be James McFadden, who has made two losing substitute appearances to date. McCall says only that he will feature at some stage, but Randolph refutes the suggestion the prodigal son's return has distracted the Fir Park side. "It is great to have him around the place but it hasn't affected us players," said Randolph. "If he had been in the starting XI maybe we could use that as an excuse but we are the ones who started the games. "I'm on the end of his free-kicks and shots at training and he still has everything that got him where he was. When they don't fly over the bar, they fly past me."

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McCall threatens his out-of-contract men with real video nasty

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