Barnsley Football Club won't be discussing David Flitcroft's contract until the end of the season, it was announced this week.
Flitcroft's deal as manager expires at the end of the season, while his backroom staff, assistant Micky Mellon and coach Martin Scott, are also out of contract.
After winning ten out of his 16 games in the hotseat, Flitcroft has become increasingly popular with fans and there have been calls for the club to tie him down to a longer deal. But general manager Don Rowing this week told the Chronicle that no talks would begin until the end of the current campaign.
Despite their remarkable run, the Reds are still only two points clear of the drop zone and Rowing says the focus must be on staying in the Championship. He told the Chronicle: "We've said from word go that we don't want to talk about contracts until the end of the season. That applies to the manager's contract and players' contracts. All our energies and efforts have to go into remaining in the Championship. Once we get to the end of the season then we can look forward from there and decide what we are going to do. "
"David and his staff have done a tremendous job so far and long may it continue. Many people thought we were dead and buried and that we would certainly be relegated to League One but credit must go to David, his staff and the players for pulling us out of the mess and turning around our season."
The Reds also risk losing some of their key players in the summer and the long list of those out of contract includes Luke Steele, Bobby Hassell, Stephen Foster, Rob Edwards, Jim McNulty, Martin Cranie, Tom Kennedy, Matt Done, Kelvin Etuhu, Tomasz Cywka and veteran strikers Jason Scotland and Marlon Harewood.
Flitcroft said he was no stranger to fighting for his future. "I've had 14 contracts in my career whereas most players have had five or six," he told the Chronicle.
"I've had month-to-month contracts and even week-to-week ones so this is nothing unusual for me. "The uncertainty could affect performance and mindset and the team could be pulled apart at the end of the season but we can't worry about that now.
"My remit when I took the job was to keep the club in the Championship and we are giving that a good go. I'd love the challenge of a pre-season and so would Micky and Martin. We are enjoying the adventure."
