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O'Kelly must stay
This season is over. It is time to look forward to next season, the start of which is no more than thirteen or so weeks away. And there will be friendlies, probably within ten weeks.
In the meantime Graham Turner has to decide who he wants to keep at Edgar Street, apart from those already signed. Some postings on the forums are suggesting that several players will leave but the financial side of the game is no better than twelve months ago in many clubs except perhaps at Hereford where income has increased recently.
At Conference level very few clubs are making profits. Shrewsbury and Morecambe are beleived to be able to afford reasonable wages for players and Aldershot are looking to go full-time which probably means that they will require a few new players. But many of the other clubs will not want to pay out relative fortunes for players. After the problems at Telford, clubs will want to live within their means. Next season, should a club go into a CAV, they will be deducted ten points.
Not all clubs are financially sound in Division Three either. Whilst Yeovil appear to be well run and could be looking for a few extra players, many others look to be cutting the amount of players on their books. The fall-out from the ITV Digital farce still seems to be having an effect.
Even in Division One, Cardiff City, for example, are beleived to be close to £20 million in debt and it may be any further spending at Ninian Park will be curtailed.
It looks as though for the next few months we will see a buyers market for players. This could benefit Hereford United as, on the one hand, few of their exsisting players are likely to be offered much better deals elsewhere, and on the other hand, some young potentially exciting players may be released from higher clubs and will be looking for new homes.
For these reasons Graham Turner should be able to keep most of his squad intact. He may have to offer slightly better terms to keep players for next season with the usual promise than should an opportunity to move on comes then the club will not stand in the players way, such as with Paul Parry.
However as yet nothing has been announced about the future of Richard O'Kelly at Edgar Street. Many supporters beleive that the success of the team this season came about because of the partnership between Turner and O'Kelly. Should O'Kelly stay then that could persuade more players to sign a new contract.
Some players could also have at the back of their minds the situation of Matt Clarke. He alledgedly moved from Hereford to Telford for more money. He is probably wondering what the future holds for him at present.
If Turner can keep the best part of the present squad together, allowing them to play the kind of football many of us have been priviledged to see recently, then supporters will continue to attend home games in large numbers keeping the income level up and helping the club challenge for the top spot in the Conference.