EVANS WANTS WISE CALL
BY SAM GREEN
09:50 - 26 May 2006
Rhys Evans is hoping to receive a phone call from Dennis Wise by the start of next week - otherwise he is likely to leave Swindon Town. The highly-rated goalkeeper has rejected Town's first offer of a new contract and is still waiting to hear if an improved deal will be put in front of him.
Evans, 24, also has an offer from Blackpool and has been contacted by a manager from another interested League One club.
If the situation was not complicated enough, Wise's appointment as Swindon manager last week has further clouded the issue.
The new boss has stated his intention to speak to each of Town's out-of-contract players and although he is now on holiday, he has taken his mobile phone with him.
But it is still far from clear whether or not Wise will fight to keep former England Under-21 stopper Evans at the County Ground.
"The end is definitely drawing nearer," Evans told the Daily Press last night. "Certainly by the beginning of next week I will be clear on what I am doing.
"I have had discussions (with Swindon) but am still waiting for a (revised) offer to come through.
"At every stage when I have spoken to (chief executive) Mark Devlin I have given every opportunity for them to say they want me to stay.
"But I have not received a phone call from the new manager yet. I know he has spoken to one other member of the team, so I'm not sure if he wants me or not.
"The longer I do not receive a phone call from Dennis Wise, the more I am going to think he has got someone else in mind and does not want me.
"I go away on holiday soon and I do not want this thing to drag on like it did last summer. I want to be able to relax and enjoy my holiday this time.
"Next week is the date I have set in my own mind as to when I want things resolved by.
"I want to stay, but I have to do what's right for me and my family."
Evans confirmed that the Blackpool offer remained 'live' but he stressed that he had not wanted that particular situation to become public knowledge in the first place.
"The Blackpool offer is still there and if Swindon do not get back to me then it's one of my options," said the former Chelsea man. "But I want to stress that I did not want that to get out.
"I stayed with someone who is supposed to be a friend (Blackpool defender Peter Clarke) and, after I had left, he did an interview up there and told people about it."
If Evans does leave Swindon, it will be the third consecutive year that the club's player of the season has departed.
The goalkeeper is popular with Robins fans and is well known for taking part in community work.
However, one thing Evans is clear about is that he will not sign a deal he is unhappy with just because his young family is settled in the area.
"It is an exciting new era at the club," he said. "But at the same time they are mistaken if they feel they can rely on me staying because I am a home town boy and I have my family here."
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