Joey Barton would rather sell Fleetwood players next month than see them leave Highbury for free

Fleetwood Town boss Joey Barton says he would rather sell players next month than see them walk away for free in the summer.
Cian Bolger will be out of contract at Fleetwood Town in the summerCian Bolger will be out of contract at Fleetwood Town in the summer
Cian Bolger will be out of contract at Fleetwood Town in the summer
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Cian Bolger and Ashley Nadesan will be out of contract at the end of the season and head coach Barton says their futures will be decided by chairman Andy Pilley. Centre-half Bolger, 26, has been unable to hold down a regular place under Barton, while striker Nadesan, 24, is on loan at Carlisle United.Bolger remained on the bench for last Saturday’s win over Burton Albion and the defender’s future is up in the air ahead of Town’s visit to his former club Bristol Rovers on Saturday.Nadesan has netted eight times for Carlisle but is due back at Highbury next month. With striker Chris Long set to leave the club, young Ged Garner is the only other competition for 10-goal Paddy Madden and Ched Evans (eight) up front.Carlisle boss John Sheridan, Barton’s predecessor at Fleetwood, has said Town want to sell Nadesan. It was a topic on the agenda at Barton’s recruitment meeting with Pilley and chief executive Steve Curwood yesterday. Barton said: “It is tough to call.You have that fine balancing act when contracts run out in the summer. If they do not renew their contracts they leave for nothing.“It depends whether they want to sign contracts or not. If they don’t, then we have a decision to make. Do we let them walk away for free?“I’d rather sell someone I thought I was going to lose for nothing a little earlier and get something for him, then maybe reinvest that in the club. But it is Andy’s decision because it’s his money!”Barton says Fleetwood need to avoid a repeat of summer 20017, when they lost experienced trio David Ball, Jimmy Ryan and Conor McLaughlin for free. He said: “I have voiced concerns that in the history of this club too many good players have walked out without creating revenue for us.“That should never happen and cannot happen going forward. That takes real strong leadership at many different levels at the club.“Hopefully we do not get in a situation where any player leaves this club for free because that cannot happen if this club is going to build a sustainable business model moving forward.“We are trying to improve all of those processes as well as winning games of football. That is the challenge.“I’d love to be on the grass and just do football. Ideally I’d turn up, have all the players on the training pitch and that would be my job. But unfortunately this job does not allow you to do that all the time.He said: “We have to be very strategic in how we recruit.“I have voiced concerns that in the history of this club too many good players have walked out without creating revenue for us.“That should never happen and cannot happen going forward.“That takes real strong leadership at many different levels at the club.“Hopefully we do not get in a situation where any player leaves this club for free because that cannot happen if this club is going to build a sustainable business model moving forward.“We are trying to improve all of those processes as well as winning games of football. That is the challenge.“I’d love to be on the grass and just do football. Ideally I’d turn up, have all the players on the training pitch and that would be my job. But unfortunately this job does not allow you to do that all the time."