Through the out door

I don't disagree but we've all said how poor the squad depth is this year and now we're advocating for more outgoings than incomings. we definitely need to freshen up the squad but we can't release players without better replacements.

 

We have the quantity, not the quality. We have 26 players who have featured this season. Ok, a few are kids but they havent been the worst players!!! Id say Staunton and Cousin-Dawson two of the better.

Id be absolutely fine if the 6/7 mentioned went and we brought only 3/4 in. I think we are ok for bodies, its the strength in depth we lack.

We cant get much worse than BRE, DMH, Samuels and Guthrie. Id take that risk. They are simply appalling.

 

thing with BRE is that when first signed people were raving that we'd finally signed a dominant centre-half. someone who would tackle and won headers and during his first season under Bowyer he was decent (you can't be a member of the a back four with one of the best defensive records in the league if you aren't half decent).

towards the end of last season, like everyone, he began to struggle and to be honest - most did. this season under McCall he was played in an unfamiliar system and asked to do things, like others, that he simply couldn't. he lost his place to a kid, confidence was clearly shot and when called upon couldn't find any form.. I agree it's time for him to look elsewhere. simply because if we want to progress and get out of this league, we need players who can play league one and that isn't him.

 

GK - O'Donnel, Hornby

DF - Hossanah, Cousin-Dawson, French, POC, AOC, Staunton, Wood

MF - Sutton, Watt, Cooke, Scales, Pritchard, Ismael, Evans.

ST - Novak, Clarke, Donaldson

I dont think Ismael or Donaldson leave just yet. Ideally its Longridge, BRE, DMH, Samuels and Guthrie.

Replace them 5 with a CB, MF and ST and im happy enough. As long as they are improvements.

 

A fair assessment. But for me he was released by Accrington. He did ok at the start but Bowyers negative tactics probably protected him. Hes shot this season. Time to go.

 

No way is an injury prone player going to agree to be let go. He would rather stay and take a wage. As would I to be fair

 

Yes I agree about BRE. When he signed I thought we'd signed the bully we had been missing. The problem is that although he isn't slow he gets turned too easily and more importantly he doesn't look comfortable with the ball at his feet. The two O'Connors look a better bet at the moment, in the last five games they look safe and seem to know eachother's game.

 

My view of Wood is that Stuart's switching about trying to get things right didn't do Connor any favours. I think it has shown that he is far more comfortable as an old fashioned attacking, overlapping fullback, rather than a wingback. Under Trueman and Sellers he looks happier and far more like the player we first brought in.

 

I don't disagree - I've always thought he goes to ground too much and his distribution is poor. on the same note, if we want to progress we have to have 7 or 8 players who walk into every other clubs first XI's. I'd guess at the moment we have 3 (maybe). it's a big job for new recruitment team to build a squad capable of challenging at the right end.

 

Hard to get a tune from a permanently broken instrument.

 

Don’t think Longridge is a loan

 

Can’t imagine us losing Wood or Staunton. If we let them go we might aswell forget the recent turn around. Unless they were sold for £250,000+ each, accepting anything less would scream utter stupidity.

The three to go are as follows, very weak and of no benefit whatsoever. Non league next for these 3 or maybe Amazon drivers....

BRE useless - get rid
Guthrie useless - get rid
DMH useless - get rid

Those talking about the Don. He won’t be going anywhere unless it’s retirement. He will stay imo. I’ll stand corrected if not but he’s staying. Too much of a character and Bradford lad to let go. Experienced and good for team morale.

Then two new signings - a striker and a winger, which is exciting. Let’s hope Turnbull can get the fans on side at the first opportunity by selecting some very shrewd additions. If he doesn’t get it right, we need to ask why we brought him in.

 

I was told by Accy fans when BRE signed he would start reasonably well but because he has outside buisness interest (I believe something to do with clothing) his head would eventually turn more towards that.

 

As Wood is over 24 and is out of contract in the summer and unlikely to gain interest much higher than League One, in a Covid ravaged industry, talk of £250k for him is wide of the mark. If he goes in this window it’s more likely to be for the outstanding value of his contract. Staunton has a long time left on his contract and a decent fee with a sell on clause would be expected.
The other three can go as can Samuels. I’d agree the Don is going nowhere until he retires in June.

 

There is absolutely no way on earth Wood or Staunton are worth £250k at this moment in time.

I agree we need to keep hold of them if possible but if club comes in with a cheeky low offer our heads would be turned. It always is.

 

I doubt we'd get £250k for the whole squad.

 

On the plus side, severance pay doesn’t count towards the salary cap so we could pay off the shite and free up space for better players.

 

Some of the comments on Samuels are a bit harsh. He didn’t do all that well under Stuart (did anyone!), but he set up the goal at Crawley, but hasn’t played much since. I’d like to see him stay for the season to see what Trueman and Sellars can do with him under their formation.

 

Odd reply to my post, Park.
I was referring to @Sergio Pinto III 's comment about Ismael, which I highlighted in bold in my quote.

 

I agree that like many others, he didn't do well under Stuart and we might see a different player under T&S, but we aren't really at the stage where we can afford to be charitable to young unproven players. Getting Guthrie and/or Don off the wage bill will be harder than terminating Samuels loan and if that has to happen in order for us to bring in better, so be it.