Telford boss Kevin Wilkin keen to Buck trend with longer deals
Kevin Wilkin has challenged the AFC Telford United board to commit to offering key players multi-year contracts, as well as utilising the loan market more effectively.
The Bucks did not borrow a single player during the 2023/24 campaign and signed every single player on a deal until the end of the season.
And after he was entrusted with a two-year deal in February, the Telford boss is hopeful similar faith will be put in valuable members of his squad.
“We need to put some real time and effort into players, so they aren’t just here for a few months, they’re here for a lot longer than that and build a real affinity for the club and what it’s all about,” Wilkin said. “It’s encouraging to know you have players who want to grow with the club, and I’m sure that will happen in time.”
Telford have been no strangers to offering players extended deals, most notably when they signed defender Harry Flowers on a stunning three-year deal in 2022.
But after that, and several other signings at the time, ended sourly Wilkin is fully aware that the higher ups at the club may take some convincing before dishing out similar contracts.
“I think (offering multi-year deals) is something the club have to gain confidence in again and in time I’m sure they will do,” Wilkin said. “With players performing consistently and the club having confidence I’m sure we can look at extending situations, but after a few years in the doldrums we need to have some consistency and build back up to that bit by bit.”
He added: “Almost everyone in the squad last season had a really solid time with the club, and if there’s that desire to keep that relationship going with the club it’s certainly something we’ll consider.
“As things are starting to unfold the majority of the players that we want are committed.”
The Telford boss is also hoping to be able to utilise the loan market to strengthen his squad throughout the season, something they avoided last year.
Similarly to multi-year deals, Telford have been hampered by their over-reliance on temporary players in previous seasons, and Wilkin explained that they key this summer’s squad building is striking the right balance.
“We didn’t use the loan market last season at all, the strength always came from within and by and large we were able to get through certain situations with the level of consistency and togetherness within the squad,” he said. “Then the season before I felt we relied too heavily on the loan market because our recruitment wasn’t where it needed to be.”
