Sheffield Wednesday: Owls plan Llera contract talks
Milan Mandaric and Dave Jones are set to hold talks regarding defender Miguel Llera’s future at Hillsborough, the Sheffield Wednesday chairman has revealed.
Spaniard Llera, a popular figure with Wednesday fans, signed an 18-month contract when he arrived at Hillsborough from Blackpool a year ago - meaning he can walk away from the club in the summer for free.
Llera’s agent suggested that his client could have left Wednesday in the January transfer window, but no move materialised - and now Mandaric is set to meet with Jones to discuss offering the 33-year-old fresh terms at the Championship side.
Asked about Llera’s contract situation at a midweek fans forum at Hillsborough, Mandaric told the assembled Owls fans: “As the Chairman I can say the we will look at new contracts, and myself and Dave are discussing that.
“Our priority is to stay up and build the club back to where it should be.”
Jones added: “Llera is obviously, right now, a part of the back four that is not currently conceding goals.
“I’ve spoken to Miguel today and told him the only thing he needs to start doing is scoring those free kicks!”
Jones and Mandaric also welcomed the implementation of Financial Fair Play rules, which come in to force next season in the Championship.
“I think financial fair play is a good thing to create stability,” Mandaric said.
“We’re in pretty good shape as far as Financial Fair Play is concerned.”
“There may be some clubs in the Championship that may struggle with Financial Fair Play,” Jones added.
“So it could be a leveller.”
The Owls host Nottingham Forest on Saturday, in a Sky-televised clash kicking off at 5.20pm.
That is the start of a tough week for the 19th-placed Owls - after playing eighth-placed Forest, they then travel to automatic promotion contenders Watford on Tuesday, and then go to fellow top-six side Leicester City the following Saturday.
“It’s another tough home game against Forest, so it’s nice to go into that with a bit of confidence,” Owls captain Anthony Gardner said, after last weekend’s 1-0 win over Crystal Palace at Hillsborough.
“Then there’s a couple of tough away games too, so it’s a demanding spell.
“The teams we play are trying to push for promotion, or push for the play-offs.
“But we’re trying to get ourselves up that league, too, to get ourselves safe, but we’re under no illusions that it’s another test for us.”
Mandaric, meanwhile, told Owls fans at the forum that he has “learnt a lot” from the “couple of months of frustration we had recently”.
“We will not be measured on how well the little battles go, but how we win the war,” said the Owls chairman.
* Follow Danny on Twitter: @dannyhall04
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Weather for Sheffield
Tuesday 21 May 2013
Today
Light rain
Temperature: 7 C to 15 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 3 C to 12 C
Wind Speed: 20 mph
Wind direction: North west
