JIM GOODWIN has revealed that St Mirren are hopeful of agreeing extensions with their out of contract players if it is deemed legally viable to do so.
The Buddies are aiming to do all they can to see their squad through the current coronavirus crisis and short term deals are an option that the club hierarchy are exploring.
Saints boss Goodwin has watched on as other top-flight clubs in Scotland released players in recent weeks and he admits it would be unjust upon loyal St Mirren servants if his team were to go down the same route.
He said: “I have been having conversations with the club captain and Tony Fitzpatrick and I know they are ongoing at board level.
“They are out with my control and I think every club and every company out there to be quite frank would want to continue to pay all their employees through these difficult times to make sure they are having some level of income.
“I can only answer from St Mirren’s point of view, those answers are ongoing and legally if it is something we can do then most certainly I am sure we will do it.
“We are not the type of club that are just going to discard those players who are out of contract who have been fantastic servants to the club.
“They have helped the club over the past two or three years to get back into the Premiership and it would be wrong of us just to send them on their way without offering them that help and advice along the way.
“So if we can extend contracts throughout this difficult period until things get back to normal then we will.
“I’ve been there myself I had been a professional footballer for the best part of 20 years and then all of a sudden you have that taken away from you.
“A lot of these guys have wives and kids, mortgage payments and as of the end of their contracts unfortunately all that is taken away.
“A lot of footballers and people who have been used to that structure in their life it can be very difficult and it can bring a lot of anxiety.
“Not knowing where that next wage is going to come from I think will be extremely distressing for a lot of them.”
Goodwin also expressed St Mirren’s stance on Hearts’ recent league reconstruction proposal.
Tynecastle chair Ann Budge is aiming to introduce a 14-14-14 set-up for the next two seasons to replace the current 12-10-10-10 version.
The Jambos would ultimately be saved from relegation if the plans were passed, but Buddies gaffer Goodwin cannot see the suggestion getting the green light from the majority of Scotland’s professional clubs.
He continued: “It is terrible what is happening in football all over the world and we don’t like to see any club punished unfairly and that’s not just Hearts, there are a lot of other teams in Scotland who are being affected at the moment as well.
“Hopefully we can come up with a solution that pleases everyone, it is going to be difficult to do that.
“The overriding majority was that over 80 percent voted for the leagues to finish and I think there was an overwhelming discussion among the chairman and the different boards that reconstruction wasn’t going to get the votes required.
“If I wasn’t involved with St Mirren then my decision would be that reconstruction prior to this wasn’t something that we needed to look at.
“I felt at the time all the leagues were working just fine the way they are. Whatever the people at the top decide to do we will back it.”
St Mirren yesterday launched a mental health support service for all employees of the club alongside major shareholder Kibble.
The child and youth care charity have set up the facility to ensure the wellbeing of everyone involved in the St Mirren community.
The service will offer staff, players and management private, online one-to-one sessions with Kibble’s psychologists as well as access to a confidential phone service manned by one of Kibble’s experienced staff therapists seven days a week.
On the launch, Goodwin added: “The initiative is a huge positive from the football club’s point of view. It shows how beneficial the partnership with Kibble is going to be.
“Mental health nowadays in everyday society is more talked about and we are starting to understand more about it.
“From the football perspective and maybe just men in general we are all a little bit reluctant to talk about these kind of things.
“The fact Kibble are offering that kind of service to the players and the staff here is fantastic.”
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