Knill ready to wield the axe

7:30am Thursday 8th May 2008

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ALAN Knill is preparing to spring some surprises in his first retained list today.

The Shakers boss has already told some players that their contracts will be renewed, but will tie up the loose ends with three others this morning before the official announcement is made around lunchtime.

Dave Challinor, Andrew Mangan, Colin Woodthorpe, Aaron Grundy, Ben Leonard and Jim Provett are among those thought to have been told that their futures lie elsewhere, leaving Glynn Hurst, Brian Barry-Murphy, Andy Parrish, Cameron Belford, Jordan Stepien and Dale Stephens yet to be officially confirmed either way.

Nicky Adams and Dave Buchanan have been offered new deals but Knill is thought to have used a short holiday to make his final decision on the squad he takes into next season.

Two of the club's longest-serving players, Challinor and Woodthorpe, are likely to leave Gigg Lane after a combined 350 appearances.

Though Challinor began the season as club captain, a knee injury sustained against Peterborough in November saw him drop out of the reckoning. He returned briefly, but struggled to get back to regular full fitness.

His last appearance was in March in a 1-0 defeat against Peterborough at London Road.

Woodthorpe said a fortnight ago that he was expecting to leave the club and is likely to move into coaching after a 23-year playing career.

He has made 38 appearances this season but dropped out of contention after Knill's arrival in February.

Summer signing Mangan has not played since February and was loaned back to Accrington for the latter part of the season to regain full fitness.

He arrived back still plagued by a groin problem and did not figure again in the first team.

Despite his recent impressive stint in the side, Provett will also make way after just one season at Gigg Lane.

He was a first choice under previous manager, Chris Casper, but was replaced in Knill's second game in charge by loanee Darren Randolph.

When the Charlton keeper returned to the Valley, Provett conceded just one goal in the final four games. But to compound his luck, he was injured during the victory at Accrington on the last day of the season and replaced by Belford from the bench.

Youngster Grundy has also been told to find another club after making six appearances in two seasons as a professional.

Knill has maintained throughout the final throes of the season that he had not changed his mind about the changes that he would make to the squad.

And it would seem a different approach might well be used on the team's return in the summer.

Last season, a hoard of trialists played in the club's first pre-season games, to the extent that two separate sides were fielded - barring Andy Parrish - at Altrincham.

But Knill says he has a shortlist of players that he is looking to approach in the summer and is looking to do his bidding as early as possible before the pre-season schedule, which is likely to begin against Radcliffe Borough on July 15.

"I think when you get them back for pre-season you can have one or two trialists, but you can't have 10. To me, it looks like you are not really sure what you want to do," he said.

"Quite a lot of the time, trialists are not better than the players you have already got.

"It's important you do your homework. If you are going to bring anyone in, they had better be close to getting into that first team."

Check out burytimes.co.uk for the full retained list, due later this morning.