Rangers could still offer contracts

Stafford Rangers have not ruled out offering contracts to players for next season despite their relegation from the Blue Square North.

The club have started negotiations with the current squad for 2011-12 but, last season, only captain Craig McAughtrie and top scorer Ben Mills had one-year deals.

The rest were on non-contract forms and even manager Matt Elliott and his assistant Jon Reeves worked without terms, which will continue next season.

McAughtrie and Mills are unlikely to get similar offers after Rangers took the drop but chairman Mike Hughes - who leaves his post this summer - has admitted they would consider a contract in the right circumstances.

Any such deal would have to fit into the limits of Elliott's budget but, at the right price, the manager could be permitted to tie down his stars, especially if the club believed the player had a significant sell-on value.

There's also the need to prevent key players walking away after a seven-day approach and, with that in mind, Hughes concedes contracts can never be off the agenda at Marston Road.

He said: "You can never say that because, if the right person comes along with a lot of potential, you would be silly not to put them on a contract.

"It depends, it takes two parties to make a contract and it works both ways, but you can never rule it out.

"Ideally, you would like to have all of your squad on a basic contract and pay them incentives, but players won't tie themselves down to that.

"It depends on who the manager talks to and who he gets but, yes, there could be contracts."