Pat Lam gave an official line on reports the club have got themselves into a contracts mess ahead of next season after missing a deadline, but also provided some more insight.
Lam’s comments to BT Sport before his side were beaten 39-22 by Northampton Saints at Franklin’s Gardens, comes following reports Bristol face losing several wanted core players in their squad as the club desperately look to offload contacts to squeeze under the salary cap as a serious administrative blunder has put them at risk of exceeding it next season.
The Daily Telegraph report the Bears missed a deadline to notify a number of players that they would not be taking up the option of an extra year on their contracts; as a result, the deals have technically automatically kicked in meaning the club could be at risk of overspending under the reduced £5m salary cap unless they find savings elsewhere, which they are doing.
Speaking for the first time since the story broke, Bristol director of rugby Lam said: “A DoR’s job is one of the most exciting jobs going around.
“It is like the weather in England, you get the sun shining, the rain, but the sun always comes out.
“I am not going to comment on the internal process. Everything we are doing is trying to get better and learn from mistakes, but ultimately like like we said in the statement issued yesterday we have always been under the salary cap and we will continue to be under the salary cap and that is not an issue.
“As far as the squad goes, I do a lot of my work early.
“For our fans out there are our squad is going to continue to improve and be stronger - which is always the aim.
“There are always little moments and stuff, but ultimately we are in a good place.”
Indeed Lam has done his recruitment work early, already signing the Leicester Tigers’ loosehead captain Ellis Genge, USA captain AJ MacGinty and Scottish international backrower Magnus Bradbury. Further additions are expected to be confirmed next week along with some contract renewals.
However, they will also be big-name outgoings at the Bears with former England international Dave Attwood confirmed as joining Bath next season and former England number eight Nathan Hughes moving to Clermont.
Lam continued: “Every year the team changes, the majority of the people we wanted to keep were done early and then you get to this stage and you go through [the rest of the squad].”
With the salary cap in the Gallagher Premiership now down to £5m from £6.3m in 2019/20 and marquee players - whose wages fall outside of the cap - going down from two to one next season, Lam said directors of rugby and players across the country are feeling the squeeze.
He explained: “The challenge we face as DoRs, and every other club, is that with the salary cap drop, every week there is a senior player leaving from one club to another club, and there is a risk there are going to be players who don’t have contracts right across the Premiership.
“That is the risk we are all facing.”
