Danny Lennon issues hands-off warning as he looks to keep Paul McGowan at Saints

ST MIRREN manager Danny Lennon claims that former Celtic forward Paul McGowan is the best player in Scotland and insists that only an astronomical bid will tempt him to sell his star man.

The 24-year-old has been outstanding for Saints in an attacking midfield role and his five goals in the current campaign include last weekend’s winner against Rangers.

A long line of scouts from down south have come to Paisley to assess McGowan in recent weeks but, as far as Lennon is concerned, they are wasting their time.

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“Paul’s been an inspiration, a real positive for us throughout the campaign,” he said. “I think the level of his performances would make it very difficult for Scotland to overlook him.

“I believe Craig Levein was at the game on Saturday, so he’ll know a wee bit about Paul and Kenny McLean. I wouldn’t say there is a better player in the SPL at this minute in time than Paul McGowan in terms of his consistency.”

McGowan spent last season on loan with the Paisley club before signing a two-year contract in the summer and Lennon is confident that Saints can hold on to him in spite of the interest from England.

“I wouldn’t say I’m wary of that: I probably take it as a compliment,” he said. “We’ve got players playing to their full potential and long may that continue.

“We’re in a good situation at the club. We’ll always be a selling club if the price is right, but we’re in no debt and in no rush to sell.

People can come and have a look and if they’re interested they can make an offer, but that’s as far as it goes. If the offer’s not right, we won’t sell.

“We’ve got young talent as well as good experienced players. The balance is good. We are a club that is going to develop homegrown talent, young lads.

“We are very fortunate at this moment in time, with the facilities we have and the wonderful board that we have, that we are debt-free.

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“I don’t want to lose any of my players at the moment, as I want to continue to build.

“I want to keep all the quality players we are producing and I want to continue to build upon the success we are having.”

He added: “I would be disappointed if there wasn’t interest from bigger clubs with the quality of these players.

“But we are not in a position where we have to sell. Sometimes when finances come into it, it’s taken out of the manager’s hands, but I’m here to build something.”

But even though he is keen to keep his group of players together, Lennon is in no rush to offer new deals to those who will become free agents in May.

“I’ve spoken to a few of the boys, but it’s early days,” he said. “It’s been busy over Christmas and once we get over that we’ll sit down again.

“There’s one in particular I would like to get done, but it’s about getting the balance right between getting them tied up and keeping them hungry.

“One school of thought is that you reward them early and hope they continue to play well, and another is that if you do that they then drop their standards.

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“But I wouldn’t like it to drag on too much and if you give them a bit of security, they might give you more back in return.”

Meanwhile, Saints have confirmed that Ilias Haddad has left the club.

The 22-year-old Dutch-Moroccan defender – who came through the youth system at AZ Alkmaar and had recently completed a 50-game loan spell with Telstar – arrived in Paisley last August.

His deal was due to expire at the start of the new year after a contract extension offer was taken off the table.

A club statement read: “All at the club would like to thank Illias for his services to the club and to wish him all the best in his future endeavours.”