Carlisle United's David Holdsworth says players shouldn't "bleat" about contracts "while playing Space Invaders with fans"

And the director of football said they certainly should not discuss their deals “while playing Space Invaders with fans”.

The Blues man was responding to questions from supporters at a fans’ forum which followed remarks made by Rhys Bennett over the weekend.

The defender told supporters on a live gaming stream that he had received a contract offer on reduced terms from Carlisle which he felt was “quite disrespectful”.

He also said his deal with United ran out a week ago – unlike other contracts in football which often last longer into the summer.

Asked about the level of deals Carlisle were offering players, Holdsworth said he did not want to talk about any individual’s contract or wage situation, and described Bennett as a “really good guy”.

But he did not disguise his contempt for any player who publicly complains about a deal they and their agent had been content to sign.

And he pointed out that Carlisle's approach when negotiating certain deals over recent months had helped save the club money.

“Some of those players decided that they didn’t want 18-month contracts, and only wanted short-term contracts, because they might be able to go to League One,” Holdsworth said.

“Fair enough. I spoke to all of their representatives.

“Why would Carlisle United be expected to pay a player who doesn’t want to be there, unless he’s in League One, through May and June, and give him a severance pay - when he doesn’t want to be there?

“That would accumulate to rather a lot of money.

“Those players have representatives, and signed the contract – they should be happy with the contract.

“[If they’re not], don’t come to me, don’t come through Carlisle United. Go to their agent.

“Each and every one were given deals that expired at different dates. That was for the best of this football club. Doing the due diligence on that has saved us money.

“It’s good housekeeping. If that player had wanted to stay beyond that time, he had the opportunity to do so. He has an agent, he signed a deal – stay with the deal.

“Don’t bleat about it afterwards. And certainly don’t discuss it while you’re playing Space Invaders with a fan. I don’t get that.”

Rhys Bennett (photo: Barbara Abbott)

Holdsworth said he was “aware” of Bennett’s comments, which were made on his stream on Saturday, discussed by several fans on social media over the weekend, and reported by the News & Star.

He said: “It’s very important when we speak about confidentiality – I’m not here to speak about one person’s contract.

“It’s not the done thing. Carlisle United won’t respond to an individual about wages.

“Rhys is a really good guy. The others that have been made [to out-of-contract players] are all in confidence.

“I notice [in those comments] that Rhys didn’t mention what he was turning down. But I suggest we keep that private.”

United offered new deals to six players at the end of the 2020/21 season – Bennett, Paul Farman, Omari Patrick, Offrande Zanzala, Nick Anderton and Morgan Feeney.

The latter has since signed a new one-year contract.

Holdsworth said: “A number of players are still in negotiations with us to stay.”

Holdsworth, meanwhile, said it had proved to be good business by United to offer deals last summer which contained options, allowing Carlisle to extend the terms of several players this summer.

He said that would mean much less “turnover” in the squad this time, with players such as Callum Guy, Joe Riley and Jack Armer extending their stays at Brunton Park.

The director of football added that Carlisle had done all they could to try and sustain their promotion bid in 2020/21, and will be aiming for success next term.

“We want a successful season. Chris [Beech, head coach] wanted to retain the majority of this group. There’s a very good togetherness in the group,” he said.

“They did everything they could. But we want to challenge for at least a play-off place next season. Without a doubt.”