Contract offer for King and Groves (From Dorset Echo)

Contract offer for King and Groves

8:52am Thursday 16th February 2012 in Local Sport By Ky Capel

LONG-TERM STABILITY: Matt Groves and Brendon King

GEORGE Rolls is hopeful that management duo Brendon King and Matt Groves will pen new long-term contracts this weekend.

The former, whose wife Amanda is the majority shareholder at Weymouth, believes King and Groves have done more than enough to warrant extended deals.

And he would love to see the pair sign on the dotted line this Saturday – the same day Banbury United visit the Bob Lucas Stadium.

Rolls told Echosport: “They are doing a good job this season, the players as well, and we are above our target for the season.

“Both Matt and Brendon have been offered new long-term contracts and hopefully they will put pen to paper soon, maybe even at the weekend.

“We have spoken about it before as we want stability on the management side of things.

“Myself, Amanda and the rest of the board are more than happy with them and they will both be here next season.

“We’re looking forward to the rest of the season. We’ve proven we can beat the top sides and yes we have been a bit inconsistent, but that’s because we have lacked a bit of experience at times.”

Rolls also dismissed continued speculation linking him with a possible takeover of Blue Square Bet Premier outfit Kettering Town.

Meanwhile, despite witnessing an alarming second-half slump at Chippenham, manager King was buoyed by the displays of debutants Ben Joyce and Mark Ford.

Both forwards made their first competitive appearance for the club during Tuesday night’s 3-0 loss at Hardenhuish Park, with Joyce starting from the off and Ford coming on as a 73rd-minute substitute.

And King was happy with their efforts.

He said: “Ben did really, especially in the first half.

“He linked the play up very well,he brought people into the game, he is a clever player and he looked sharp.

“Mark came on and did a couple of nice things. It’s just disappointing to lose the way we did.

“We asked people to take responsibility out there in the second half but they didn’t.”

King remains optimistic that a new loan deal for Byron Napper will be completed in time for Saturday’s Evo-Stik Southern Premier Division clash – the Terras’ first home game since January 14.

He added: “There are one or two things that need to be sorted but hopefully it will be done for Saturday.”

Weymouth are currently three spots clear of the bottom four, but only one point adrift of 12th-placed Banbury.