I think Clare is underrated. He has a football brain but cannot cover every position all at once on his own. If we had several clones of him on the pitch we'd be well on the way to a proper football team.
I don't think he has much of a football brain myself. Switches off far too easily and often.
Agreed. Clare's worst attribute is that he doesn't have a football brain.
Clare - Keep, but would like to see him in midfield at some stage.
Inniss - Keep, he’s managing his body better and think with a manager like Holden, mistakes will be fewer.
Thomas - Release.
Clayden - Release.
Henry - Keep. He needs to start playing games and think he’ll be one we regret to lose if he was to choose to leave.
Morgan - Release. Think it’s time to let it go. He’s not progressed as we’d like, and he’s not the standard we need. For his career, a move to someone like Orient could be ideal.
Gilbey (Currently on loan at Stevenage) - Release. Signing for Stevenage.
Bonne - Release.
Hector - Keep. He has been solid overall, yet not played for about a year. He would be excellent in this league with a pre-season behind him.
But as @LargeAddick mentioned, shipping out players like Kirk, Lavelle and McGrandles is going to be the challenge. You can add DJ to that list as well. And I would say Payne too.
That’s 5 players under contract we need to find a new club for.
Then you have the loanees and the only ones we could have a chance to sign would be Kane and potentially Sessegnon.
But as @LargeAddick mentioned, shipping out players like Kirk, Lavelle and McGrandles is going to be the challenge. You can add DJ to that list as well. And I would say Payne too.
That’s 5 players under contract we need to find a new club for.
Then you have the loanees and the only ones we could have a chance to sign would be Kane and potentially Sessegnon.
It’s a huge job in the summer.
I'm sure Ipswich would be very happy to sell us Penney!
But as @LargeAddick mentioned, shipping out players like Kirk, Lavelle and McGrandles is going to be the challenge. You can add DJ to that list as well. And I would say Payne too.
That’s 5 players under contract we need to find a new club for.
Then you have the loanees and the only ones we could have a chance to sign would be Kane and potentially Sessegnon.
It’s a huge job in the summer.
I'm sure Ipswich would be very happy to sell us Penney!
I would say to Morgan, you are just the player we need if you can score 1 in 4, maybe 1 in 5. Might give him next season to show he can do it if he can show some signs in the remaining games.
I'd keep Claire as a right back and a back up for midfield in emergencies.
A big part of next season is going to be the step ups Kanu and Leaburn make.
Clare: This is the toughest one. He is versatile. He can be really good at times. Believe he was linked with Championship clubs in the summer, and after the second half he had last year, you can understand why. But he is also infuriating at times, and doesn't have a natural position he can play well. He relies a lot on his athleticism. I probably wouldn't keep him, but I won't be offended if we do. We will have Egbo, I'm still interested in us maybe trying to sign Kane permanently given his pedigree, and if Clare ends up as 5th choice FB and CB, I'm okay with it.
Inniss: No. Shouldn't have resigned him this season. The things he does well, you can find other players at this level who do them well. The things he does poorly make him a liability. By all accounts does some great work in the community, and he should be applauded for that, but I think it's time to move on from him.
Thomas: I was quite intrigued by this signing in the summer given he played in the Championship the last two seasons, and he's relatively mobile for his size and decent on the ball. But he didn't have a proper preseason, and as he got up to speed, he immediately got hurt, and then when he came back we had a load of other CBs in his way. Realistically, replacing three CBs, hopefully four if we can get rid of Lavelle, in the summer is going to be tough, so I think you have to keep one of the ones we have who is out of contract. I'd prefer to keep Hector.
Clayden: No. Easiest one on this list.
Henry: Yes. I am surprised at how many people say no. I think there is a lot of ability there. He should have gone out on loan this season given how many CMs we started the season with. It really cost him a year of development, and I'm worried that we're going to "Albie Morgan" him in that he's too good for the reserves but doesn't play for the first team regularly enough to develop properly. But definitely keep, maybe a 1+1 deal, let him fight for a spot in preseason, and if he doesn't get it, send him on loan.
Morgan: No. He has the tools to be a decent player in this league, but I don't know how to get the best out of him. If he stays I won't be outraged, but I just feel like both he and the club need to go their separate ways. I think we've tried a lot of things to get the best out of him, and it hasn't quite worked. I suspect he needs a change of scenery, and the club need to try to stop attempting to solve the Albie Morgan puzzle.
Gilbey (Currently on loan at Stevenage): No. Always worked hard but seemed to get worse as time went on. Good luck to him though.
Bonne: I wasn't a fan when he was first here, I wasn't a fan when he nearly signed in the summer, but when we signed him in January, I felt it was low risk, high reward given we needed a striker who could stretch defenses and run in behind. He has been as poor on the ball as I remember, and we don't create the types of chances he thrives on. As a change of pace, he makes sense on paper, but I just saw on Twitter he hasn't scored a league goal in something like 14 months. Cheers for bringing in 2m the first time around, Macca.
Hector: Keep. There is pedigree there. He hasn't been brilliant, but he hasn't been awful, which he could well have been after not playing football in what, a year? Year and a half? As we saw this summer, replacing a lot of defenders is hard, so I think keeping one of the current crop (in addition to Ness) is required. I would keep Hector, as I think he has far and away the biggest upside.
Kane: Adding him in--I would try to keep him. It's rough luck with the injury, but he's played a lot at Championship level and I believe he's out of contract in the summer, which might make for a convenient marriage all around.
I would say to Morgan, you are just the player we need if you can score 1 in 4, maybe 1 in 5. Might give him next season to show he can do it if he can show some signs in the remaining games.
I'd keep Claire as a right back and a back up for midfield in emergencies.
A big part of next season is going to be the step ups Kanu and Leaburn make.
For Leaburn, I suspect it's going to be a step up to the Championship.
I would say to Morgan, you are just the player we need if you can score 1 in 4, maybe 1 in 5. Might give him next season to show he can do it if he can show some signs in the remaining games.
I'd keep Claire as a right back and a back up for midfield in emergencies.
A big part of next season is going to be the step ups Kanu and Leaburn make.
Back up to Egbo surely? Still think we have to give Clare a couple of games in midfield to see how he does, if Egbo is fit.
Would 100% keep Inniss.
Ness, Hector & Inniss plus one more signing, with the four of them being able to rotate. Mitchell might be that fourth CB, because he’s looked very good on the couple of occasions I’ve watched him.
Think you need a unit like Inniss against the more physical sides. And he can dominate smaller sides like Morecambe (on Tuesday).
Clare: This is the toughest one. He is versatile. He can be really good at times. Believe he was linked with Championship clubs in the summer, and after the second half he had last year, you can understand why. But he is also infuriating at times, and doesn't have a natural position he can play well. He relies a lot on his athleticism. I probably wouldn't keep him, but I won't be offended if we do. We will have Egbo, I'm still interested in us maybe trying to sign Kane permanently given his pedigree, and if Clare ends up as 5th choice FB and CB, I'm okay with it.
Inniss: No. Shouldn't have resigned him this season. The things he does well, you can find other players at this level who do them well. The things he does poorly make him a liability. By all accounts does some great work in the community, and he should be applauded for that, but I think it's time to move on from him.
Thomas: I was quite intrigued by this signing in the summer given he played in the Championship the last two seasons, and he's relatively mobile for his size and decent on the ball. But he didn't have a proper preseason, and as he got up to speed, he immediately got hurt, and then when he came back we had a load of other CBs in his way. Realistically, replacing three CBs, hopefully four if we can get rid of Lavelle, in the summer is going to be tough, so I think you have to keep one of the ones we have who is out of contract. I'd prefer to keep Hector.
Clayden: No. Easiest one on this list.
Henry: Yes. I am surprised at how many people say no. I think there is a lot of ability there. He should have gone out on loan this season given how many CMs we started the season with. It really cost him a year of development, and I'm worried that we're going to "Albie Morgan" him in that he's too good for the reserves but doesn't play for the first team regularly enough to develop properly. But definitely keep, maybe a 1+1 deal, let him fight for a spot in preseason, and if he doesn't get it, send him on loan.
Morgan: No. He has the tools to be a decent player in this league, but I don't know how to get the best out of him. If he stays I won't be outraged, but I just feel like both he and the club need to go their separate ways. I think we've tried a lot of things to get the best out of him, and it hasn't quite worked. I suspect he needs a change of scenery, and the club need to try to stop attempting to solve the Albie Morgan puzzle.
Gilbey (Currently on loan at Stevenage): No. Always worked hard but seemed to get worse as time went on. Good luck to him though.
Bonne: I wasn't a fan when he was first here, I wasn't a fan when he nearly signed in the summer, but when we signed him in January, I felt it was low risk, high reward given we needed a striker who could stretch defenses and run in behind. He has been as poor on the ball as I remember, and we don't create the types of chances he thrives on. As a change of pace, he makes sense on paper, but I just saw on Twitter he hasn't scored a league goal in something like 14 months. Cheers for bringing in 2m the first time around, Macca.
Hector: Keep. There is pedigree there. He hasn't been brilliant, but he hasn't been awful, which he could well have been after not playing football in what, a year? Year and a half? As we saw this summer, replacing a lot of defenders is hard, so I think keeping one of the current crop (in addition to Ness) is required. I would keep Hector, as I think he has far and away the biggest upside.
Kane: Adding him in--I would try to keep him. It's rough luck with the injury, but he's played a lot at Championship level and I believe he's out of contract in the summer, which might make for a convenient marriage all around.
Agree with most of this.
Of the Centre Backs Hector is a must.
Of the others a lot depends on the budget and also whether we will regularly play three at the back. If so I can see a case for keeping Clare , Inniss and Thomas as part of a rotational scenario.
I see Egbo and Kane being good options at Right Back / Right Wing Back depending on who we are playing. We probably need to sign a similar left footed duo to compliment them.
Amazes me the amount of people that want to keep Inniss. Mistake after mistake, red card after red card. Surely we can do better.
Couldn’t agree more. I think there needs to be a term for this hankering to keep toilet players on the books that has emerged over the last few years. I’ll call it ‘Squaditus’ as anyone wanting to retain them often follows it up with ‘they’d be a good squad player’. It’s happening more and more. The team is on course for another one of the lowest league finishes in its history, yet X ‘could be a squad player’
It’s like Japanese knotweed. I’m surprised no one as advocated for Gilbey yet. Someone will
Amazes me the amount of people that want to keep Inniss. Mistake after mistake, red card after red card. Surely we can do better.
Couldn’t agree more. I think there needs to be a term for this hankering to keep toilet players on the books that has emerged over the last few years. I’ll call it ‘Squaditus’ as anyone wanting to retain them often follows it up with ‘they’d be a good squad player’. It’s happening more and more. The team is on course for another one of the lowest league finishes in its history, yet X ‘could be a squad player’
It’s like Japanese knotweed. I’m surprised no one as advocated for Gilbey yet. Someone will
Gilbey’s season at Stevenage surely ends any debate that he could become a goalscoring midfielder. Stevenage are second so he’s in a good team, but he’s scored twice in 28 starts.
Amazes me the amount of people that want to keep Inniss. Mistake after mistake, red card after red card. Surely we can do better.
Couldn’t agree more. I think there needs to be a term for this hankering to keep toilet players on the books that has emerged over the last few years. I’ll call it ‘Squaditus’ as anyone wanting to retain them often follows it up with ‘they’d be a good squad player’. It’s happening more and more. The team is on course for another one of the lowest league finishes in its history, yet X ‘could be a squad player’
It’s like Japanese knotweed. I’m surprised no one as advocated for Gilbey yet. Someone will
Gilbey’s season at Stevenage surely ends any debate that he could become a goalscoring midfielder. Stevenage are second so he’s in a good team, but he’s scored twice in 28 starts.
For some they’ll still hold a candle. Coincidentally, when the Gilbey debate was going on last season I went back across his career and he averaged 1 goal every 11 games, most of them in League 2. 2 in 28 sounds about right. He was always naff.
I can’t see Stevenage wanting to keep him. Perhaps Col U as that’s where he started and is from Essex, but I don’t think Garner rated him. Crawley maybe
Clayden? Looked him up, didn’t realise he’s no longer out on loan. Nowhere near getting in a match day squad. He’s the most certain to be released out of all of them. He’s 23 later this year, not a promising youngster.
Clayden? Looked him up, didn’t realise he’s no longer out on loan. Nowhere near getting in a match day squad. He’s the most certain to be released out of all of them. He’s 23 later this year, not a promising youngster.
Did not let the side down when he played .. very unlucky to be left out and sent on loan
Clayden? Looked him up, didn’t realise he’s no longer out on loan. Nowhere near getting in a match day squad. He’s the most certain to be released out of all of them. He’s 23 later this year, not a promising youngster.
Did not let the side down when he played .. very unlucky to be left out and sent on loan
No, he was very poor when forced to play left back or just generally defend. Decent at overlapping when Kirk tucked in, and they created an overload well in a couple of games, but he looked like a fish out of water if he wasn't in the final third.
As a winger, he doesn't seem to have enough pace, trickery, or crossing ability to play there regularly, particularly as a chalk on your roots left winger.
I could see him dropping down a couple of levels, playing for a couple of years, then moving back up the pyramid. He's not atrocious. He's just not a LB, and not good enough to be a winger at this point.
Clare: This is the toughest one. He is versatile. He can be really good at times. Believe he was linked with Championship clubs in the summer, and after the second half he had last year, you can understand why. But he is also infuriating at times, and doesn't have a natural position he can play well. He relies a lot on his athleticism. I probably wouldn't keep him, but I won't be offended if we do. We will have Egbo, I'm still interested in us maybe trying to sign Kane permanently given his pedigree, and if Clare ends up as 5th choice FB and CB, I'm okay with it.
Inniss: No. Shouldn't have resigned him this season. The things he does well, you can find other players at this level who do them well. The things he does poorly make him a liability. By all accounts does some great work in the community, and he should be applauded for that, but I think it's time to move on from him.
Thomas: I was quite intrigued by this signing in the summer given he played in the Championship the last two seasons, and he's relatively mobile for his size and decent on the ball. But he didn't have a proper preseason, and as he got up to speed, he immediately got hurt, and then when he came back we had a load of other CBs in his way. Realistically, replacing three CBs, hopefully four if we can get rid of Lavelle, in the summer is going to be tough, so I think you have to keep one of the ones we have who is out of contract. I'd prefer to keep Hector.
Clayden: No. Easiest one on this list.
Henry: Yes. I am surprised at how many people say no. I think there is a lot of ability there. He should have gone out on loan this season given how many CMs we started the season with. It really cost him a year of development, and I'm worried that we're going to "Albie Morgan" him in that he's too good for the reserves but doesn't play for the first team regularly enough to develop properly. But definitely keep, maybe a 1+1 deal, let him fight for a spot in preseason, and if he doesn't get it, send him on loan.
Morgan: No. He has the tools to be a decent player in this league, but I don't know how to get the best out of him. If he stays I won't be outraged, but I just feel like both he and the club need to go their separate ways. I think we've tried a lot of things to get the best out of him, and it hasn't quite worked. I suspect he needs a change of scenery, and the club need to try to stop attempting to solve the Albie Morgan puzzle.
Gilbey (Currently on loan at Stevenage): No. Always worked hard but seemed to get worse as time went on. Good luck to him though.
Bonne: I wasn't a fan when he was first here, I wasn't a fan when he nearly signed in the summer, but when we signed him in January, I felt it was low risk, high reward given we needed a striker who could stretch defenses and run in behind. He has been as poor on the ball as I remember, and we don't create the types of chances he thrives on. As a change of pace, he makes sense on paper, but I just saw on Twitter he hasn't scored a league goal in something like 14 months. Cheers for bringing in 2m the first time around, Macca.
Hector: Keep. There is pedigree there. He hasn't been brilliant, but he hasn't been awful, which he could well have been after not playing football in what, a year? Year and a half? As we saw this summer, replacing a lot of defenders is hard, so I think keeping one of the current crop (in addition to Ness) is required. I would keep Hector, as I think he has far and away the biggest upside.
Kane: Adding him in--I would try to keep him. It's rough luck with the injury, but he's played a lot at Championship level and I believe he's out of contract in the summer, which might make for a convenient marriage all around.
Agree with most of this.
Of the Centre Backs Hector is a must.
Of the others a lot depends on the budget and also whether we will regularly play three at the back. If so I can see a case for keeping Clare , Inniss and Thomas as part of a rotational scenario.
I see Egbo and Kane being good options at Right Back / Right Wing Back depending on who we are playing. We probably need to sign a similar left footed duo to compliment them.
Yes, you bring up a great point: budget. I took the approach that we would have a budget to bring in improvements, but not a top five in the league budget (I expect it to be the three who come down, maybe apart from Blackpool, plus at least one of Ipswich or Derby).
As such, I'd be okay keeping Clare and Hector. I think Hector has the pedigree to be one of the best CBs in the league, and I think Clare can provide cover in different places, and as long as he isn't the first choice RB all season, he should be fine.
If our budget is roughly the same as the summer, then I think keeping Morgan and Thomas comes in to play as well.
Either way, as has been pointed out, we will almost certainly try to move on the likes of Kirk, Lavelle, DJ (is he out of contract?), and maybe McGrandles.
We'll lose JRS and presumably Sess. It'd be great if we could keep Sess but I just think there will be other clubs higher up the pyramid who will take a punt on him if Fulham are ready to sell.
All while fending off interest in Dobbo, Leaburn, and probably Fraser.
It's going to be a busy summer. We have a lot of players to replace, and many places where we need both quality and depth (CB, LB, ST, Winger), which is hard to add all at once in one window.
It's depressing. A lot of people bang on about the lack of money spent, and while they're not wrong in the short term, when you look at who we spent fees on under TS, the list is awful: Lavelle, Kirk, DJ, Stockley, Aneke. Only Fraser has been an unqualified success, though you could probably add Clare in as a success given he didn't cost much.
We could be looking at 10-12 outgoings this summer. And while that's not all bad, you have to replace them.
Clayden? Looked him up, didn’t realise he’s no longer out on loan. Nowhere near getting in a match day squad. He’s the most certain to be released out of all of them. He’s 23 later this year, not a promising youngster.
Did not let the side down when he played .. very unlucky to be left out and sent on loan
You are on crack, he was terrible as a wing back and rightly dropped and shipped out on loan as he was way out of his depth at wingback. Chin operated better there and he's predominantly a right back
Amazes me the amount of people that want to keep Inniss. Mistake after mistake, red card after red card. Surely we can do better.
Couldn’t agree more. I think there needs to be a term for this hankering to keep toilet players on the books that has emerged over the last few years. I’ll call it ‘Squaditus’ as anyone wanting to retain them often follows it up with ‘they’d be a good squad player’. It’s happening more and more. The team is on course for another one of the lowest league finishes in its history, yet X ‘could be a squad player’
It’s like Japanese knotweed. I’m surprised no one as advocated for Gilbey yet. Someone will
Do you think someone like Ipswich's back ups are better than our best team?
Of our current best team were all second choice because we signed better that would be OK wouldn't it?
Clayden? Looked him up, didn’t realise he’s no longer out on loan. Nowhere near getting in a match day squad. He’s the most certain to be released out of all of them. He’s 23 later this year, not a promising youngster.
Did not let the side down when he played .. very unlucky to be left out and sent on loan
You are on crack, he was terrible as a wing back and rightly dropped and shipped out on loan as he was way out of his depth at wingback. Chin operated better there and he's predominantly a right back
That's debatable. He had a couple of awful games in that position, worse than Clayden did.
Comments
Clare - only a 1 year extension at most, if he's happy to play utility back-up and/or bridge to something better long term
The rest - no thanks
That’s 5 players under contract we need to find a new club for.
Then you have the loanees and the only ones we could have a chance to sign would be Kane and potentially Sessegnon.
It’s a huge job in the summer.
Edit: Phew, just seen Ipswich have the option of offering him an extension
I'd keep Claire as a right back and a back up for midfield in emergencies.
A big part of next season is going to be the step ups Kanu and Leaburn make.
Kane: Adding him in--I would try to keep him. It's rough luck with the injury, but he's played a lot at Championship level and I believe he's out of contract in the summer, which might make for a convenient marriage all around.
Still think we have to give Clare a couple of games in midfield to see how he does, if Egbo is fit.
Of the Centre Backs Hector is a must.
Of the others a lot depends on the budget and also whether we will regularly play three at the back. If so I can see a case for keeping Clare , Inniss and Thomas as part of a rotational scenario.
I see Egbo and Kane being good options at Right Back / Right Wing Back depending on who we are playing. We probably need to sign a similar left footed duo to compliment them.
It’s like Japanese knotweed. I’m surprised no one as advocated for Gilbey yet. Someone will
As a winger, he doesn't seem to have enough pace, trickery, or crossing ability to play there regularly, particularly as a chalk on your roots left winger.
I could see him dropping down a couple of levels, playing for a couple of years, then moving back up the pyramid. He's not atrocious. He's just not a LB, and not good enough to be a winger at this point.
As such, I'd be okay keeping Clare and Hector. I think Hector has the pedigree to be one of the best CBs in the league, and I think Clare can provide cover in different places, and as long as he isn't the first choice RB all season, he should be fine.
If our budget is roughly the same as the summer, then I think keeping Morgan and Thomas comes in to play as well.
Either way, as has been pointed out, we will almost certainly try to move on the likes of Kirk, Lavelle, DJ (is he out of contract?), and maybe McGrandles.
We'll lose JRS and presumably Sess. It'd be great if we could keep Sess but I just think there will be other clubs higher up the pyramid who will take a punt on him if Fulham are ready to sell.
All while fending off interest in Dobbo, Leaburn, and probably Fraser.
It's going to be a busy summer. We have a lot of players to replace, and many places where we need both quality and depth (CB, LB, ST, Winger), which is hard to add all at once in one window.
It's depressing. A lot of people bang on about the lack of money spent, and while they're not wrong in the short term, when you look at who we spent fees on under TS, the list is awful: Lavelle, Kirk, DJ, Stockley, Aneke. Only Fraser has been an unqualified success, though you could probably add Clare in as a success given he didn't cost much.
We could be looking at 10-12 outgoings this summer. And while that's not all bad, you have to replace them.
That's if we're serious about promotion.
The side should be
Maynard-Brewer
Egbo New New New
Dobson Fraser New
New Leaburn Blackett-Taylor
Harness (sell Wollacott)
Clare
Ness
Henry
New
Campbell
New
So all in all 7 new players in a 18 man squad (just over a third) but most of them ready made first team players
Of our current best team were all second choice because we signed better that would be OK wouldn't it?
Honestly can’t believe anyone would still want to give Morgan another contract!
That's debatable. He had a couple of awful games in that position, worse than Clayden did.