BURNLEY chairman Frank Teasdale will take over the negotations of players' contracts following Chris Waddle's exit from Turf Moor.

Nine senior players have new deals on the table with seven out of contract.

They are Gerry- Harrison Jamie Hoyland, Damian Matthew, Mark Winstanley, Chris Woods, Chris Vinnicombe and Paul Weller, with all free to leave under the Bosman ruling with the exception of Weller who is under 24.

Offers have been put to them all but further negotiations will be needed in most if not all cases before they put pen to paper.

In the absence of a manager, Teasdale will deal directly with the players to sort out their futures as quickly as possible.

"The biggest problem is the ones out of contract who we want to keep and I will be talking to them at the earliest opportunity," said the chairman who had previously been liasing with Waddle regarding the players' terms.

Midfielder Matthew had been planning to talk Waddle later this week to try and reach agreement on his two-year deal. He said: "I was hoping things would get sorted out in the next two or three weeks so I could go and enjoy the summer break and look forward to the season but now it's going to drag on.

"It has happened to me before, not with a manager leaving, but where it has taken all summer to sort out and we are professional footballers and we just have to get on with it."

Glen Little and Andy Cooke have also been offered new enhanced three-year contracts but they still have 12 months to run on their existing deals so there is not the same level of urgency to reach agreement with them.

And in any case the pair are unlikely to commit themselves long-term to the club until they know the identity of Waddle's successor as manager.

Burnley have already been approached by a number of potential candidates and the board will be looking to make a swift appointment to give the new man time to shape a squad for next season.

"From a practical point of view the quicker it's done the better but I don't mean rushing blindly into it," added Teasdale.

Despite the impending prospect of a Turf Moor takoever, Teasdale has stressed that the current board will find Waddle's repalcement.

He said: "Any decision will be taken by the current board. Nobody knows takeover-wise and it's our job running the football club to do the best for the club and there is no more important appointment than the manager." The contracts for Little and 20-goal striker Cooke were proposed by Waddle who thought the future was bright for the club before he decided he was unable to continue in his position.

"We wanted the young players tied up because if the side is kept together for the next two or three years then it's good enough to get out of the division.

"We put them on long-term contracts because we thought these players could do it in the First Division. The object was to keep the nucleus of the side together because I could see them doing well," he said.

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