Who do we keep?

Quite a few suggesting Coke not be retained but be given a role as a coach. I think from a few snippets of interviews in the last week or two, there were discussions with Shaun Pearson about moving into coaching. So if there are, albeit tentative, plans for that then I couldn't see us giving Coke a coaching role, even if it's another year or so away before Pearson would take up such a role. Don't know what Coke's background is with coaching but Shaun has obviously been making inroads into this for years already within the Academies both here and at Wrexham.

I'd try to keep the final match day squad, less Sousa and Abrahams. Keep the young lad Battersby as a backup goalkeeper and pay Scannell a retainer to be increased with match day bonus once he becomes fit. As for the rest thank you but goodbye.

I trust Hurst to find a few gems to fill the boots of those that leave. We're on the move upwards and need better players for our promotion push to League1. The squad has self-belief, a never say die attitude, and an excellent team spirit and the players coming in need to blend in with this sort of attitude.

I think we'll struggle to keep Fox as he's out of contract and will surely have offers from League One (Lincoln are rumoured to be interested).  We were only able to get him because of his long-term injury; he'd been playing regularly in the third-tier before that.  Would be a real boost to keep him though.

I don't think we'll be signing any of the loanees.  Smith has been outstanding and I reckon Hull might want to fast-track his development at a L1 club.  Raikhy was coming along quite nicely until his injury: he's an option but I think Hurst could find an upgrade.  Abrahams and Mani were game-changers off the bench and will be cult heroes for a while, but I think we'll need better options if we are to compete in L2.  I do agree with others, though, that there's a real goal poacher in Mani if he gets the right coaching.  Jones didn't seem to impress.

We'll need upgrades at full back as I've seen us concede too many back-post headers this season.  Amos has been promising though, he's worth another year.  We definitely need some more quality in wide areas too; both of Solihull's wingers looked really good.

Also worth noting that McAtee is likely to miss the start of next season from what I've gathered, so if we're to play a similar system we'll need another number 10.

Quoted from MarinerDevil

I think we'll struggle to keep Fox as he's out of contract and will surely have offers from League One (Lincoln are rumoured to be interested).  We were only able to get him because of his long-term injury; he'd been playing regularly in the third-tier before that.  Would be a real boost to keep him though.

I don't think we'll be signing any of the loanees.  Smith has been outstanding and I reckon Hull might want to fast-track his development at a L1 club.  Raikhy was coming along quite nicely until his injury: he's an option but I think Hurst could find an upgrade.  Abrahams and Mani were game-changers off the bench and will be cult heroes for a while, but I think we'll need better options if we are to compete in L2.  I do agree with others, though, that there's a real goal poacher in Mani if he gets the right coaching.  Jones didn't seem to impress.

We'll need upgrades at full back as I've seen us concede too many back-post headers this season.  Amos has been promising though, he's worth another year.  We definitely need some more quality in wide areas too; both of Solihull's wingers looked really good.

Also worth noting that McAtee is likely to miss the start of next season from what I've gathered, so if we're to play a similar system we'll need another number 10.

Agree with a lot of what you say, however I wouldn’t say Ben fox was a league on regular. He’s only played 37 league one games, over the course of being involved for 2 years, unsure on how many of these appearances were substitute appearances. Although this could have been affected by his injuries, so I see what you’re saying.

I think the midfield is generally upper league 2 ready - Holohan, McAttee and Fox; coupled with Clifton and another

It’s mainly clarity with Smith, a LB to challenge for the first team, a first team winger and a new striker

It is more difficult to fully-access players when changing  from a deserved relegation to a new team, which goes top of the league early in the season.  Then we have a virtually new team again.  Only Waterfall, Clifton, McAtee and Taylor are first team regulars from when we were top of the table,

We also have new loan players and Wright and Scannell injured. If Hurst wants to keep any of the loanees then it is down to the parent club.

There is less time this close-season to finalise all decisions.  At least we are now in a better position to attract higher-quality loan players and are on an upward projection.

Some very tough calls to make.

The 2 full back positions are undoubtedly areas we'll need to be stronger. Cropper has the long throw which has been pivotal in the last two games, but I'm not sure I'd be confident with him being a regular in L2 (which there's every chance of with Efete's injuries). Similar with Amos, he's definitely progressed since he's been with us, and I'd keep him in the squad, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Hurst bring in someone better.

Hopefully we've got an option to exercise on Fox's contract because the guy has been class in the last few games. Him and Holohan are the best midfield pairing we've had since Bolland & Woodhouse in my opinion.
We'll need reinforcements for the squad here though as the other centre mids in the building will be moved on I'm sure.

That leads me to my next point - Harry Clifton. First of all, he's a must-keep as far as I'm concerned. But, I wouldn't be too comfortable about going into next season with him till playing wide left. He's done a great job there in general and doesn't really let you down wherever you play him, but I'd like to see him used in the middle or as a stop-gap elsewhere in other positions rather than a permanent fixture somewhere other than CM. League 2 is a step up in quality despite what many say about the lack of a gap between the two leagues, and I'd expect us to have wingers playing in those positions (in the main, maybe with HC used there in certain matches).

Wingers is another interesting one. Maguire-Drew's technical ability would see him able to play at League One level really, but physically he isn't up to standard yet. Needs to lose weight, get fitter and be able to play at his peak level for longer. He's under contract anyway obviously, but just thinking as it may impact what we need to bring in if he still isn't capable of completing 90 minutes at a good level.
Sousa the enigma could go either way. I suspect PH will release him but I wouldn't be disappointed to see him get one more year. I thought he did OK yesterday and with some better finishing from others would have had a couple of assists. It seemed like he was focused a bit more on getting early balls into the box yesterday and a few chances came from him.

Up top, what's massively important for me is to bring in someone who can play as a no.10 so that when McAtee is injured or cramping up in games, we don't need to change the system or change the way we play too much unless we want to. We struggled in that spell when he was injured, and I'm sure PH will address that this summer. Taylor I would keep, but as he seems to not really last many 90 minutes any more it'd be worth bringing in another one who could compete with him for a start or become the main no.9.

Mani and Abrahams couldn't really have done much more to stake their claim for a new deal, more so Mani. But these two may be on the end of disappointing news I think. Purely because if we want to bring one or two new forwards in we need to make room in the squad for them. Mani perhaps has a chance of being offered a deal and almost being the "plan b" option 5th striker who would maybe just have a bit part role.

Hurst has got a job on his hands because he has built a bloody good squad  . Hard working , enthusiastic,   brilliant Team Spirit.  The bulk I would reward with contracts and then just add 2 or 3 .  In PH I trust.

Quoted from Tommy

Some very tough calls to make.

The 2 full back positions are undoubtedly areas we'll need to be stronger. Cropper has the long throw which has been pivotal in the last two games, but I'm not sure I'd be confident with him being a regular in L2 (which there's every chance of with Efete's injuries). Similar with Amos, he's definitely progressed since he's been with us, and I'd keep him in the squad, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Hurst bring in someone better.

Hopefully we've got an option to exercise on Fox's contract because the guy has been class in the last few games. Him and Holohan are the best midfield pairing we've had since Bolland & Woodhouse in my opinion.
We'll need reinforcements for the squad here though as the other centre mids in the building will be moved on I'm sure.

That leads me to my next point - Harry Clifton. First of all, he's a must-keep as far as I'm concerned. But, I wouldn't be too comfortable about going into next season with him till playing wide left. He's done a great job there in general and doesn't really let you down wherever you play him, but I'd like to see him used in the middle or as a stop-gap elsewhere in other positions rather than a permanent fixture somewhere other than CM. League 2 is a step up in quality despite what many say about the lack of a gap between the two leagues, and I'd expect us to have wingers playing in those positions (in the main, maybe with HC used there in certain matches).

Wingers is another interesting one. Maguire-Drew's technical ability would see him able to play at League One level really, but physically he isn't up to standard yet. Needs to lose weight, get fitter and be able to play at his peak level for longer. He's under contract anyway obviously, but just thinking as it may impact what we need to bring in if he still isn't capable of completing 90 minutes at a good level.
Sousa the enigma could go either way. I suspect PH will release him but I wouldn't be disappointed to see him get one more year. I thought he did OK yesterday and with some better finishing from others would have had a couple of assists. It seemed like he was focused a bit more on getting early balls into the box yesterday and a few chances came from him.

Up top, what's massively important for me is to bring in someone who can play as a no.10 so that when McAtee is injured or cramping up in games, we don't need to change the system or change the way we play too much unless we want to. We struggled in that spell when he was injured, and I'm sure PH will address that this summer. Taylor I would keep, but as he seems to not really last many 90 minutes any more it'd be worth bringing in another one who could compete with him for a start or become the main no.9.

Mani and Abrahams couldn't really have done much more to stake their claim for a new deal, more so Mani. But these two may be on the end of disappointing news I think. Purely because if we want to bring one or two new forwards in we need to make room in the squad for them. Mani perhaps has a chance of being offered a deal and almost being the "plan b" option 5th striker who would maybe just have a bit part role.

Agree on Clifton, he’s had a decent season but I think yesterday really exposed his limitations as a left winger, I thought he had a really poor game and Hurst said similar (said he had a good game, for Solihull!) . We need better in that position for a league above IMO, a good squad player and an absolute machine who gives everything.

Whoever managed to get the players fit and capable of playing three games to extra time in quick succession would be high on my list of people to make sure they're staying.

Although they might have to work on Crocombe's fitness with all that cramp he had