Sandat and Dackers will go back. I'm not sure where Dackers is with his contract at Salford but I do wonder if Maher & Co might fancy him if he's available permanently. I also wonder if is more effective playing slightly deeper - I'm thinking of Solihull away where he caused them real problems by dropping back. Admittedly they were off form. Sandat's a good player but this isn't his league - he needs another 6 months coaching at Hull then a loan to league 2.
I'm not sure David Martin will retire, and I think having him in the background as an emergency goalkeeper is a good thing. We don't name a keeper on the bench and Collin is very clearly the number 1, so I'm not sure that allocating the salary to a second choice keeper is a sensible use of funds - presumably we don't have unlimited funds for players wages, and we have a stadium that needs a fortune spending on it. If Collin gets a slight injury, Martin can cover for a game. If Collin is out for 6 weeks and we're not happy that Martin can do that job, it's very easy to loan a keeper in - lots of clubs have youngsters who they can't get enough game time for.
Demetriou is an interesting one. I think he's a very useful squad member as he can cover so many positions - it's a question of when his time is up. When I've watched him this season I've not thought 'you're off the pace mate' - so it's a question of whether the management team think having him on the bench and around the place is a good use of funds.
I suspect Fonguck and Wood will go - the latter because he's clearly at the bottom of the pile already. He must want first team football - he's clearly good enough for it - and unless Maher has a complete change of heart, he's not going to get it here, so a move is in the interests of all parties.
Powell I'd keep, although I'm not sure Maher will. He's got limitations in his game which we all know (hence he's not playing higher up) but he offers something very different to what we have elsewhere, and in certain matches he causes teams at this level real problems - he's a proper pest when he's at it, and they've not got much pace at the back.
It's then a question of who might get a move elsewhere. No one is irreplaceable and we're in the rare position that if X did leave I'd have a lot of confidence in our management team to find a good replacement. So if any better of our better players are poached by clubs higher up, be it Bridge, GSM, Husin, Cardwell etc - that's good for them and it gives our team the chance to evolve (which it needs, as we aren't the finished product). Whilst I say everyone is replaceable, I'd hope we manage to keep hold of Collin - because I think he's better off in our first team than in a bigger club's under 23s, and Cardwell - because I think he's as complete a centre forward as I've seen at this level and is the one player that might test my 'everyone is replaceable' theory. We've loaned multiple forwards in whilst we've been in this league and none has been as good as him.
As an aside, we got caught in possession at the back yesterday and it cost us a goal - that's happened on a few occasions this season, and has cost us a few points as a result. Are we saying we're OK with this, because the benefits outweigh the odd mistake, or do we need to change tactics or personnel at the back? I watch football highlights on TV and see clubs up and down the country doing this (and getting caught) each week. Surely there's an argument for a team to go back to basics and 'get rid' at the back? Or am I a footballing dinosaur?
