Well done

Quoted from mariner91

Definitely not. This is still the same side that conceded some pathetic goals within the last 8 days. We’re tighter than we were before but we can’t go a whole season with so little goal threat that we never score more than once a game. Tharme is a good signing and I’d be happy with him starting next season. But realistically if we were to go back to a back four then we’d need three new first team defenders with Mullarkey and Rodgers as back up. And a new first choice keeper. Eastwood has done well since coming back in but you can’t have a first choice keeper who loses confidence so easily.

I think some of our fans get misty eyed every time we put in a half decent performance. The reality is that we’re still 21st in L2 and still might not get over 50 points. The squad needs major surgery in the summer.

Keeper must be a priority imo and that should be the position we push the boat out on , I don't think Eastwood is a bad back up .

The defence will be an interesting one Tharme is one to build the team around for sure . I like Mullarkey , think he's a decent player but it's obvious his specialist position is as a right sided centre back and I assume Artell will want to revert to a back 4 which effectively makes his position void . Rodgers looks better in a three but at times in a back 4 has looked close to being a liability so we probably need one high quality CB .

Full backs will be interesting , as we will enter the summer effectively without any so we will need 3 or 4 if none are retained .

Thompson is too good for league 2 so that position is boxed off but he needs 2 around him who can play a bit more - I wouldn't be suprised if Hunt get's 1 last chance pre-season as Artell seems to rate him and he has done well at York after settling in . Ainley played for him consistently at Crewe so I expect him to be offered a new deal .

I'm torn on Holahan & Green as they are good players on their day but it seems inconsistent how many good days you will get out of them . But they seem good characters around the place - I suppose if we retained them we would be very top heavy in midfield though and it would leave limited room for improvement in there .

Clifton should be retained for his versatility imo , but for Harry Clifton i think it's time for a new challenge away from his hometown club for  his career to kick on , maybe a league up .

We just need to keep Vernam fit and he should be a regular starter .

Up top I don't think we have a problem and would just try hard for Obikwu back on loan next season , Pyke 4th choice doesn't worry me as he looks more than able and could cover more positions if required . I suppose the question is - does Wilson still want away ?

Quoted from Mappers

Keeper must be a priority imo and that should be the position we push the boat out on , I don't think Eastwood is a bad back up .

The defence will be an interesting one Tharme is one to build the team around for sure . I like Mullarkey , think he's a decent player but it's obvious his specialist position is as a right sided centre back and I assume Artell will want to revert to a back 4 which effectively makes his position void . Rodgers looks better in a three but at times in a back 4 has looked close to being a liability so we probably need one high quality CB .

Full backs will be interesting , as we will enter the summer effectively without any so we will need 3 or 4 if none are retained .

Thompson is too good for league 2 so that position is boxed off but he needs 2 around him who can play a bit more - I wouldn't be suprised if Hunt get's 1 last chance pre-season as Artell seems to rate him and he has done well at York after settling in . Ainley played for him consistently at Crewe so I expect him to be offered a new deal .

I'm torn on Holahan & Green as they are good players on their day but it seems inconsistent how many good days you will get out of them . But they seem good characters around the place - I suppose if we retained them we would be very top heavy in midfield though and it would leave limited room for improvement in there .

Clifton should be retained for his versatility imo , but for Harry Clifton i think it's time for a new challenge away from his hometown club for  his career to kick on , maybe a league up .

We just need to keep Vernam fit and he should be a regular starter .

Up top I don't think we have a problem and would just try hard for Obikwu back on loan next season , Pyke 4th choice doesn't worry me as he looks more than able and could cover more positions if required . I suppose the question is - does Wilson still want away ?

Did you see how Wilson pulled out of challenges and failed to make wider runs to draw defenders? He lost possession so many times too. He has a smart turn and shot inside the box but elsewhere he is a lightweight.

As for Ubikwu, we are not in a position to offer learning opportunities for naive youngsters who have no USP to build on. Not quick, strong, tricky or enough of a shithouse to trouble L2 defenders. We need someone with some of those qualities to support Rose.
Would rather develop Gardner gradually but sign some pace meanwhile.

Agree that Pike has his uses as a squad player though.

I think assuming Rose will be here is a bit optimistic - if I was manager of a mid tableish L2 side I’d be very interested in a guy who scored 15 goals in a team that struggled all season.

If we want to improve, we can't have Green and Holohan as starters next season as both have too many limitations. They both did pretty well yesterday, albeit against a team with nothing to play for, but their good performances have been few and far between. In fact, I'd hope for us to even have better options off the bench. Wouldn't surprise me to see both head down a division next season (on the assumption we stay up!).

I do think Hunt will get another chance and, providing he gets up to proper fitness, Ainley probably will be offered a new contract as well. Our midfield was badly lacking in League experience this season until the arrival of Thompson and Ainley has played a similar number of league games to him. You'd imagine Clifton would stay. He's had his worst season for us so I don't think he'll be offered a role at a higher division club (unless Hurst wants him).

Smith has looked a competent right-back to me over the past few games so wouldn't be upset if he were to stay. Not impressed with Hume but he was supposedly just coming to put himself in the shop window in any case. I'm not sure he's done a great job in that regard, but I don't think he'll stay. The fact that Glennon hasn't been seen for some time indicates he's on his way. I think he'd have done better in the back 5 we've been using but I think that, ultimately, his lack of pace is unsurmountable in a back four. Maher has had a poor season after looking decent last year. He's another who I expect to depart. Possibly back to Halifax, along with Green?

I think Wilson will leave at the end of the season. He's OK and has nicked the odd goal here and there, but for me he doesn't offer a huge amount more than being a poacher. Can pin the defender on occasion but if he's onto a moving ball, the defender generally comes out on top as he doesn't anticipate the situation in the way that someone like Rose does. I wouldn't be bothered about seeing Obikwu returning, either. He's done OK in some games and has nicked a few goals, but often looks clueless as to what he should be doing. Did my head in how he was just jogging around yesterday near the death, rather than running to put pressure on them when they had possession. If we were to try and sign him on loan again, it would be as a substitute as I don't think he really offers enough as a starter. He's got a heck of a lot to learn yet.

No idea why Hurst signed Pyke. He's clearly not a striker, but where should he play? He looks to be reasonably quick but isn't strong in possession and doesn't look like he knows how to play as a forward. I expect we'll attempt to move him on as well.

As I said the other day, there aren't too many of the current squad who I would be sad not to see here next season. We've seen plenty of teams this year with much more capable players in most positions (not just the big spenders) and we need to improve a lot.

Let's make sure we're safe and then Artell will no doubt start thinking about his options in the summer (I don't think there is any chance he will go, providing we stay up).

Quoted from Croxton

Did you see how Wilson pulled out of challenges and failed to make wider runs to draw defenders? He lost possession so many times too. He has a smart turn and shot inside the box but elsewhere he is a lightweight.

As for Ubikwu, we are not in a position to offer learning opportunities for naive youngsters who have no USP to build on. Not quick, strong, tricky or enough of a shithouse to trouble L2 defenders. We need someone with some of those qualities to support Rose.
Would rather develop Gardner gradually but sign some pace meanwhile.

Agree that Pike has his uses as a squad player though.

I like Obikwu , think he will be a player . We have given him 6 months of mens football and I think he will get better and better and could easily do double figures in league 2 given a full season I suspect .

I get what you mean about Wilson , but he has the nouse to get into good goalscoring positions ; I could see him going somewhere else and scoring a load and then it been a carbon copy of the Orsi scenario .

All about opinions I guess

Gardner sounds good maybe we will get a look at him before season end .

Quoted from Croxton

Did you see how Wilson pulled out of challenges and failed to make wider runs to draw defenders? He lost possession so many times too. He has a smart turn and shot inside the box but elsewhere he is a lightweight.

As for Ubikwu, we are not in a position to offer learning opportunities for naive youngsters who have no USP to build on. Not quick, strong, tricky or enough of a shithouse to trouble L2 defenders. We need someone with some of those qualities to support Rose.
Would rather develop Gardner gradually but sign some pace meanwhile.

Agree that Pike has his uses as a squad player though.

I’m with you on Wilson Mr Croxton trough I think Pyke CDAJATL his injury record is iffy.

The one young loanee I wouldn’t mind returning is Andrews who seems to have done better in recent weeks & does have some talent but he still wouldn’t be a first pick though.

Quoted from HertsGTFC

I’m with you on Wilson Mr Croxton trough I think Pyke CDAJATL his injury record is iffy.

The one young loanee I wouldn’t mind returning is Andrews who seems to have done better in recent weeks & does have some talent but he still wouldn’t be a first pick though.

It’s difficult regarding loanees though. If the parent club puts in a clause about game time or must be in the match day squad etc, then you can be lumbered with someone who might be keeping one of our own out of the squad.

It might be that this has happened with Andrews and Khouri this season. I’m not saying that it has but it’s certainly possible.

Quoted from Mappers

Keeper must be a priority imo and that should be the position we push the boat out on , I don't think Eastwood is a bad back up .

The defence will be an interesting one Tharme is one to build the team around for sure . I like Mullarkey , think he's a decent player but it's obvious his specialist position is as a right sided centre back and I assume Artell will want to revert to a back 4 which effectively makes his position void . Rodgers looks better in a three but at times in a back 4 has looked close to being a liability so we probably need one high quality CB .

Full backs will be interesting , as we will enter the summer effectively without any so we will need 3 or 4 if none are retained .

Thompson is too good for league 2 so that position is boxed off but he needs 2 around him who can play a bit more - I wouldn't be suprised if Hunt get's 1 last chance pre-season as Artell seems to rate him and he has done well at York after settling in . Ainley played for him consistently at Crewe so I expect him to be offered a new deal .

I'm torn on Holahan & Green as they are good players on their day but it seems inconsistent how many good days you will get out of them . But they seem good characters around the place - I suppose if we retained them we would be very top heavy in midfield though and it would leave limited room for improvement in there .

Clifton should be retained for his versatility imo , but for Harry Clifton i think it's time for a new challenge away from his hometown club for  his career to kick on , maybe a league up .

We just need to keep Vernam fit and he should be a regular starter .

Up top I don't think we have a problem and would just try hard for Obikwu back on loan next season , Pyke 4th choice doesn't worry me as he looks more than able and could cover more positions if required . I suppose the question is - does Wilson still want away ?

I agreed with your assessment until you got to the forward line, apart from rose not good enough I'm afraid.

Wilson needs to drop down the pecking order if he stays, pyke isn't a striker.

Dougie rose and Thompson look like players who could be in a promotion looking outfit.  I wouldn’t be sorry to see the rest go every single one of them including harry.  If we keep Clifton and I think we will he should be only used in a wing back capacity just doesn’t have the nous for a more creative role. Yeah we done good yesterday but we played a team on the beach and it showed big time very half hearted from them. Hopefully Swindon and spa town are half arsed aswell

Quoted from toontown

I agreed with your assessment until you got to the forward line, apart from rose not good enough I'm afraid.

Wilson needs to drop down the pecking order if he stays, pyke isn't a striker.

Neither is the midfield and to retain Green and Holohan would be a great mistake IMO as we need much better quality if we are to progress. A strong midfield would actually take a lot of pressure off our defence and we might be surprised at how certain individuals might improve with better players in front of them. That said we need a new keeper, 2 CB’s, 2 FB’, 4 midfielders and probably 4 up front to include 2 wide players and hopefully Gardner will start to get some game time to help his development and be able to add some youthful exuberance.

I’d keep Clifton, despite my previous criticisms of him, purely because off the bench he can cover a multitude of positions and is guaranteed to give his all. Unfortunately we have not seen enough of Khouri and Ainley to form an honest opinion but both could end up being decent as could Hunt. I believe Hunt has the footballing skills to make it but to date I accept some of his decision making is not the best but there is talent there and it would be great if that could come out at Town and not some other club in the future when he’s moved on.

So 12 or 13 new players for me and you would hope some of our younger lads who have been retained will start to push through and stake a claim for a starting spot.