Question Rebuilding for the NL season

[KevinJH]

If, as SC has intimated, the talks for the prospective candidate for the CEO position goes ahead next week, it could be a potentially interesting marker on seeing how RM is going to move the club forward.

With the added posibility (probability ?) of a huge clear-out of playing staff over the summer and the confirmation of a manager required, it's going to be another season ahead of squeaky bum time in the hope of an immediate bounce-back to the League.

 

[NZamba Legend]

And Walsh and Ferguson are under contract.

I think White and Holmes will stay and maybe Demetriou - their only other options will be retirement or Colchester. Dieng I reckon will be offered something.

Phil has already shown what he thinks of Akinola and ANG. If he stays they won’t be nor possibly Ferguson. Phillips isn’t physically strong enough.

You‘ve then got to think how many of the others will get better offers bearing in mind they have just got relegated.

The hard one is the youngsters - who might want to chance their arm and stay in the League somewhere if they get offers. Low cost low risk for other clubs but would they be good enough to get us back up if we keep them?

Every one of our squad will want to stay in the football league if they can.

 

[LBBlue]

Our form has been okay since before Christmas. At least we've stopped the rot and we are not getting whupped every week. Hopefully we go down with three wins on the bounce.

A little sequence of results over Christmas is very misleading. Before the win at Newport in February our 5 wins will have been against the other 5 sides in the bottom 6 of the table - 4 of them at home.

Over the season 21 of our 44 points came from 10 games against those other 5 teams and 23 points from the other 35 games.

Sadly we lost the 1 game against those bottom 6 sides that would have made the difference..

 

[LBBlue]

O

Every one of our squad will want to stay in the football league if they can.

Of course they will apart from those who don’t want to relocate.
They will all have relegated from the League on their CV and some 2 successive relegations.

 

[Shrimper]

And Walsh and Ferguson are under contract.

I think White and Holmes will stay and maybe Demetriou - their only other options will be retirement or Colchester. Dieng I reckon will be offered something.

Phil has already shown what he thinks of Akinola and ANG. If he stays they won’t be nor possibly Ferguson. Phillips isn’t physically strong enough.

You‘ve then got to think how many of the others will get better offers bearing in mind they have just got relegated.

The hard one is the youngsters - who might want to chance their arm and stay in the League somewhere if they get offers. Low cost low risk for other clubs but would they be good enough to get us back up if we keep them?

At least if the likes of Clifford or Elvis go elsewhere we'll get compensation

 

[Chapperz]

Our squad and their contract lengths (obviously ignoring any relegation clauses).

It seems strange that Akinola and ANG haven't featured under Brown as they are contracted next season. This could be either of 4 things, a contract clause, injuries, them saying they want out, or they are a couple of the ones Brown referred to as "hiding in the treatment room".

Those with options to extend, I can see most being activated. I'm unsure about Demetriou, could be a high earner and he isn't getting younger. I would keep him and play him RB as I can't see Bwomono staying. Lennon would be a solid NL defender, but his injury record is horrible. I think most of us forget he is still with us! Klass showed promise in some games but he is another that just disappeared and can't see him being here next season. Mellis played about 32 minutes (1 minute less than Klass this season), so hard to judge him, but he didn't look useless. Goodship .... no thanks.

Out of those expiring, I can see most leaving due to either high wages (Oxley, Dieng), lack of game time (Kyprianou, R Taylor), approaching retirement age (McCormack, Halford, Holmes and White, or thinking they can get a league 2 club (Bwomono, Hobson). I would like to see Hart, Hobson, Kinali and White stay. With Ralph and Clifford potential options at LB, I can't see Richard Taylor sticking around. As for Acquah and Ranger, I don't know. If they both stay then I hope Acquah will be 4th choice striker and that Ranger gets a good pre-season for his fitness and shows professionalism all season.

I don't think we will get any of the loanees on a permanent contract. Cordner and Olyainka would get league 2 clubs and the other two still have contracts.

Contracted beyond this Summer
Phillips
Nathaniel-George
Ferguson
Akinola
Walsh

Contract expiring, but option to extend
Seaden
Demetriou
Ralph
Clifford
Lennon
Gard
Klass
Egbri
Mellis
Goodship
Rush

U23 - Howard, Osimeh, Mitchell-Nelson, Benton, Stewart

Contract expiring
Oxley
Bwomono
Kyprianou
Dieng
White
Hart
Richard Taylor
Hobson
Kinali
McCormack
Holmes
Acquah
Halford
Ranger

Loans expiring
Cordner - set to be released by Bournemouth, but probably will find a league 2 club
Kyle Taylor - still under contract
Hackett-Fairchild - still under contract
Olayinka - contract expiring, but probably will find a league 2 club

 

[south247]

Would love to keep Hobson. But..

 

[Leigh_Seasider]

O

Of course they will apart from those who don’t want to relocate.
They will all have relegated from the League on their CV and some 2 successive relegations.

Not to be harsh, but most of those with 2 successive relegations need to go and the majority will go. I’d keep a handful .. I’d say Egbri, Howard, Hobson, Clifford, Rush, Kinali .. ones with a good attitude. The likes of JW, JD, Hart .. sorry but no. Dieng, Oxley, Lennon, Elvis .. no. Goodship - hell no!!! ANG and Ferguson … no.
I wouldn’t keep any, even if we could. Not to say they’re all awful players but they couldn’t keep us in league 1 or league 2, so to think they’ll be able to get us out the NL is absolute madness. We do need decent replacements and this is where a CEO and/or Stan’s contacts might help us out.

 

[Jacob Sladder]

You would keep Lennon?

Maybe the six months since I saw him play has been kind to him in the memory banks! Let's face it, in that time we've had new faces that would have made Liam Ridgewell look like Messi.

 

[Boreham Blue]

The truth is we need a team with a blend of experience and youth, affordable within a tighter budget and at least some that haven’t only known relegation. Some players will be subject to league club offers and go - Oxley, Dieng, Elvis. Do JW, JD & RH have another season in their legs as their experience and commitment to club will be valuable? Will Ranger recover and be given the chance to prove himself in pre-season? An in form Ranger could terrify NL defences. Our younger players in and around the squad should be of the right quality in NL.

 

[dannypav]

Every one of our squad will want to stay in the football league if they can.

Maybe they should have thought about that more over the past few months ?

 

[Chalky]

We've sponsored Harry Lennon for three seasons, I've defended him staunchly, but you can't seriously expect we'd keep him in the NL? He's one of our higher earners and has had some pretty horrific injuries which must make his legs suspect now anyway.

I've said this on the match report from yesterday:

There's actually only three players in our current squad under contract - assuming they don't have relegation clauses - Phillips, Akinola and Nathaniel-George. Of those with options, you have several high wage earners and I don't expect many of the options to be exercised, Seaden, Howard, Clifford, Egbri and Rush probably. All of these could do well next season with the right manager in place.

Add to that, I'd keep John and Ricky if they will accept the salary implications. I suspect all the others will want to stay in the EFL and be looking for Clubs. Of the loanees, I'd love to keep Kyle Taylor and Taylor Cordner, but very much doubt they would go into the NL.

Isn't Nathan Ferguson under contract also? Says on club website he signed an 18 month contract.

 

[OldBlueLady]

Isn't Nathan Ferguson under contract also? Says on club website he signed an 18 month contract.

He may be, I was going by the thread on here.

 

[hlane17]

Our squad and their contract lengths (obviously ignoring any relegation clauses).

It seems strange that Akinola and ANG haven't featured under Brown as they are contracted next season. This could be either of 4 things, a contract clause, injuries, them saying they want out, or they are a couple of the ones Brown referred to as "hiding in the treatment room".

Those with options to extend, I can see most being activated. I'm unsure about Demetriou, could be a high earner and he isn't getting younger. I would keep him and play him RB as I can't see Bwomono staying. Lennon would be a solid NL defender, but his injury record is horrible. I think most of us forget he is still with us! Klass showed promise in some games but he is another that just disappeared and can't see him being here next season. Mellis played about 32 minutes (1 minute less than Klass this season), so hard to judge him, but he didn't look useless. Goodship .... no thanks.

Out of those expiring, I can see most leaving due to either high wages (Oxley, Dieng), lack of game time (Kyprianou, R Taylor), approaching retirement age (McCormack, Halford, Holmes and White, or thinking they can get a league 2 club (Bwomono, Hobson). I would like to see Hart, Hobson, Kinali and White stay. With Ralph and Clifford potential options at LB, I can't see Richard Taylor sticking around. As for Acquah and Ranger, I don't know. If they both stay then I hope Acquah will be 4th choice striker and that Ranger gets a good pre-season for his fitness and shows professionalism all season.

I don't think we will get any of the loanees on a permanent contract. Cordner and Olyainka would get league 2 clubs and the other two still have contracts.

Contracted beyond this Summer
Phillips
Nathaniel-George
Ferguson
Akinola
Walsh

Contract expiring, but option to extend
Seaden
Demetriou
Ralph
Clifford
Lennon
Gard
Klass
Egbri
Mellis
Goodship
Rush

U23 - Howard, Osimeh, Mitchell-Nelson, Benton, Stewart

Contract expiring
Oxley
Bwomono
Kyprianou
Dieng
White
Hart
Richard Taylor
Hobson
Kinali
McCormack
Holmes
Acquah
Halford
Ranger

Loans expiring
Cordner - set to be released by Bournemouth, but probably will find a league 2 club
Kyle Taylor - still under contract
Hackett-Fairchild - still under contract
Olayinka - contract expiring, but probably will find a league 2 club

Out of these listed, I would keep:
Walsh
Seaden (good backup at NL level I reckon)
Clifford (will get at least a top L2 club though, might be good to extend then sell him on)
Egbri
Rush
White (player-coach role)
Hobson
Howard (natural replacement for Elvis and doing well in NL currently)

Otherwise, clear the books. Those not wanted but still contracted (Akinola, ANG, etc) should be loaned to reduce our obligations towards their wages.

 

[Clarky176]

My worry is if we keep PB. he'll want to keep the high earners he signed, mainly Oxley and JD. Unless their wages become reasonable for the NL, they shouldn't be kept.


Keep (if possible):

Seaden
Clifford
Hobson
White
Egbri
Phillips
Gard
Walsh
Ferguson (maybe)
ANG (though not likely)
Rush
Akinola
Howard

Try and sign Cordner if possible.

 

[FarmdogSUFC]

I still think we have a decent core for next season if they wanna stay. Whoever the manager is hopefully sees that and doesn’t make wholesale changes again. We cannot start next season the same as this

 

[RHB]

Listening to BBC Essex PB seem to suggest if the budget was right he would carry one

What's the one? Sawn-off shot gun, Lie Detector, Sun Bed? So many choices where Ron's concerned.

 

[BP Blue]

I think the key objective now is to make important decisions ASAP and lock down contracts meaning that by the end of May, early June the work for NL can start. Then come start of pre season we have a manager with a clear plan in place, a core of a squad ready to train and get a full pre season in them. This is something we haven’t had in a couple of seasons.

On the manager front, I probably lean in the favour of Phil Brown - known entity, knows the club and I don’t really like the thought of rolling the dice once again. That said, if he is staying it needs to be sorted in the next 2/3 weeks. Contract on the table with a take it or leave it date. If he wants to be here, put pen to paper. If he thinks there could be something better out there, I don’t want us waiting 2 months while he waits to see what better offer he can get. If that’s the case, no hard feelings and we look at other contenders.

Players - same on the contract front. Those with extensions and we want next season, offer the contract with a cut off date. If they go, so be it. We need a squad of players who want to be here and want to leave nothing out there every game next season.

CEO talk all promising and exciting but this has to happen in parallel with those discussions. A deal like this could take 4/6 weeks to get done if it gets done. We need to see action from Tuesday morning. I’ll give them the bank holiday!

 

[Richard Hearn]

I think the key objective now is to make important decisions ASAP and lock down contracts meaning that by the end of May, early June the work for NL can start. Then come start of pre season we have a manager with a clear plan in place, a core of a squad ready to train and get a full pre season in them. This is something we haven’t had in a couple of seasons.

On the manager front, I probably lean in the favour of Phil Brown - known entity, knows the club and I don’t really like the thought of rolling the dice once again. That said, if he is staying it needs to be sorted in the next 2/3 weeks. Contract on the table with a take it or leave it date. If he wants to be here, put pen to paper. If he thinks there could be something better out there, I don’t want us waiting 2 months while he waits to see what better offer he can get. If that’s the case, no hard feelings and we look at other contenders.

Players - same on the contract front. Those with extensions and we want next season, offer the contract with a cut off date. If they go, so be it. We need a squad of players who want to be here and want to leave nothing out there every game next season.

CEO talk all promising and exciting but this has to happen in parallel with those discussions. A deal like this could take 4/6 weeks to get done if it gets done. We need to see action from Tuesday morning. I’ll give them the bank holiday!

Exactly this.

 

[MisterStubbs]

I’m intrigued to read whatever waffle Ron puts out in this “end of the season” statement he promised us. As previously mentioned, it’s vitally important we get Brown or whoever tied down before pre season starts.