PLAYERS TAKE WAGE CUTS

Conor Hagan, Mark Turkington, Kyle Neill and Tony Grant have signed new one-year contracts at the club whilst Brendan Shannon has put pen to paper on a three-year deal.

However, Mark Miskimmin, Cameron Grieve, Chris Lavery and Gerard Rooney have not had their contracts renewed and leave the club.

Boss Gary Hamilton is delighted that his players have agreed a drop in their wages as his budget has been slashed ahead of next season.

“Every player has taken a pay cut to stay here,” he said.

“I am very thankful to them for doing that, as are the club. It shows their commitment and drive to play for the club and it’s great for us with the budget having to be cut.”

The gaffer also says that 35 year-old striker Grant earned himself a contract with his performances after he rejoined the club in January, having appeared to have retired six months earlier.

“Tony was always going to get another contract after the way he played when he came back,” said Hamilton.

“He’s certainly had an impact at the club since he returned and you know what you’re getting with him. His attitude is brilliant. He’ll not cause any problems if he’s on the bench.”

Meanwhile, Hamilton is also keen to nail down 21 year-old centre-back Mark Haughey, who has been offered an extension to his current contract, which has 12 months left to run.

“I’ve had a good conversation with Mark and I’ve offered him a two year extension to his current contract. That would be a three-year deal in total and I’m hoping that I’ll have some good news on him in the next few days,” he said.

However, Mark Miskimmin has been moved on despite hitting form near the end of the season.

“Mark came to the club with a big reputation but he didn’t reach the hype that he had at Linfield,” said Hamilton.

“Our budget has had to be cut drastically and I had to take everything into account. People had to make way and Misky was one of our highest paid players so he’s gone. I wish him all the best though.”

Andrew Mitchell, Kris Lindsay, Ciaran Doherty, Niall Henderson and Andy Coleman are also contracted to remain at the club next season whilst Hamilton will be discussing contracts with Jay Magee, Jonny Magee, Peter McCann, Matty Burrows and Davey O’Hare in the next few days.