Doug Tharme and Curtis Thompson

Agree this is both an opportunity, and the right time, to be ruthless. Personally, I’d offer Hume a contract, still think there’s a role for Clifton if we can play him alongside better players and feel we should probably offer Ainley something if only for the optics, but the rest I broadly agree with.

Worth noting though that such an opportunity is a double-edged sword; if we’re going to ring the changes then we sure as shít need to make a better job of it than we did last summer.

I don't think Hume is up to much defensively (he's crap in the air and not as quick as I'd expect from a player who has made a lot of appearances for 'big' teams in League One) and his vaunted set piece ability seems to have deserted him since he signed for us.

I suppose I'd be OK if he signed for us, but not exactly over the moon. Might do better with a better midfield in front of him, I suppose.

Quoted from Maringer

I don't think Hume is up to much defensively (he's crap in the air and not as quick as I'd expect from a player who has made a lot of appearances for 'big' teams in League One) and his vaunted set piece ability seems to have deserted him since he signed for us.

I suppose I'd be OK if he signed for us, but not exactly over the moon. Might do better with a better midfield in front of him, I suppose.

On his day Glennon is better than Hume. But Glennon is inconsistent. Hume is a solid 6 and a half L2 left-back. I think we can do better than the pair of them.

I'm seeing Hume as this years Josh Emmanuel.  

Shown glimpses of what he can do but all in nothing outstanding and definitely not someone I'd be breaking the bank to keep.  I definitely think we can and do need to do better.

I agree that there will probably be a big clear out at the end of the season, and that there probably needs to be. Also agree that we should be moving away from mediocracy.

If we did let the 14 or so go that are out of contract / loans ending and were left with the remaining 11 (or 12 with Green ) then we would need quite a few players to make up the squad. What's the likelihood that DA and his team can attract enough decent players to make us competitive, or is there a danger that we'd still end up with mediocre but just with a different set of players?

Well as others have said his recruitment so far hasn't been too bad.

Tharme - Very good
Thompson - Very good

Hume & Smith - Ok.

Obikwu and Wood - Ok.  DN35 podcast summed up Jan loans nicely this week when they described them as 'you get what you're given'.  When you consider that with the exception of George Lloyd and the two season long loans, we were absolutely dreadful in the loan market last season, especially with younger players.

If we end up with 12 then we probably need another 12.  Within that 12 if we had a 25% strike rate as good as Tharme and Thompson that gives us 3 very good additions.  You add that to an existing spine of 3 (Tharme, Thompson & Rose) and you've got over half your first XI as more than decent.  

You don't need a team of superstars to be effective at this level.  Just a strong core and a few sprinklings of quality.  

The biggest stick to hit Artell's Crewe time with was his recruitment when his young stars were sold, it was largely accepted as awful. But it feels an unfair stick to beat him with. 1) We're not at League One so let's not worry about how he recruited at that level and 2) we don't know enough about the budget constraints etc, he was working with.  

My view is he's done pretty ok with recruitment so far. I don't see any reason why he won't improve the squad in the summer.

Quoted from diehardmariner

Well as others have said his recruitment so far hasn't been too bad.

Tharme - Very good
Thompson - Very good

Hume & Smith - Ok.

Obikwu and Wood - Ok.  DN35 podcast summed up Jan loans nicely this week when they described them as 'you get what you're given'.  When you consider that with the exception of George Lloyd and the two season long loans, we were absolutely dreadful in the loan market last season, especially with younger players.

If we end up with 12 then we probably need another 12.  Within that 12 if we had a 25% strike rate as good as Tharme and Thompson that gives us 3 very good additions.  You add that to an existing spine of 3 (Tharme, Thompson & Rose) and you've got over half your first XI as more than decent.  

You don't need a team of superstars to be effective at this level.  Just a strong core and a few sprinklings of quality.  

The biggest stick to hit Artell's Crewe time with was his recruitment when his young stars were sold, it was largely accepted as awful. But it feels an unfair stick to beat him with. 1) We're not at League One so let's not worry about how he recruited at that level and 2) we don't know enough about the budget constraints etc, he was working with.  

My view is he's done pretty ok with recruitment so far. I don't see any reason why he won't improve the squad in the summer.

I also think it makes a huge difference that we have a recruitment team around Artell. He alludes in his pre match interview that we are well on the way with recruitment for next season already.

Quoted from diehardmariner

Well as others have said his recruitment so far hasn't been too bad.

Tharme - Very good
Thompson - Very good

Hume & Smith - Ok.

Obikwu and Wood - Ok.  DN35 podcast summed up Jan loans nicely this week when they described them as 'you get what you're given'.  When you consider that with the exception of George Lloyd and the two season long loans, we were absolutely dreadful in the loan market last season, especially with younger players.

If we end up with 12 then we probably need another 12.  Within that 12 if we had a 25% strike rate as good as Tharme and Thompson that gives us 3 very good additions.  You add that to an existing spine of 3 (Tharme, Thompson & Rose) and you've got over half your first XI as more than decent.  

You don't need a team of superstars to be effective at this level.  Just a strong core and a few sprinklings of quality.  

The biggest stick to hit Artell's Crewe time with was his recruitment when his young stars were sold, it was largely accepted as awful. But it feels an unfair stick to beat him with. 1) We're not at League One so let's not worry about how he recruited at that level and 2) we don't know enough about the budget constraints etc, he was working with.  

My view is he's done pretty ok with recruitment so far. I don't see any reason why he won't improve the squad in the summer.

Have to also take in to account that he was doing his shopping in January for a team in a relegation battle. He will still have to convince other players to come here in the summer but it will be with a clean slate so more appealing to more players.

Quoted from gtfc98

I also think it makes a huge difference that we have a recruitment team around Artell. He alludes in his pre match interview that we are well on the way with recruitment for next season already.

Aye.

I'm a bit reluctant to throw in the recruitment team around him though as our current recruitment team have got a mixed record at the minute.  There's so many nuances to that argument, for and against them, so it's difficult to really say if they'll help or hinder.  That's not a criticism of them at all either, my gut feeling is that they are/will be very good but the set-up last summer wasn't aligned.

It is interesting that Artell has heavily hinted working well with them in January though.  Would be genuinely interested to know how many of the six signings were players already on his radar and/or ones he identified himself.

Quoted from diehardmariner

Aye.

I'm a bit reluctant to throw in the recruitment team around him though as our current recruitment team have got a mixed record at the minute.  There's so many nuances to that argument, for and against them, so it's difficult to really say if they'll help or hinder.  That's not a criticism of them at all either, my gut feeling is that they are/will be very good but the set-up last summer wasn't aligned.

It is interesting that Artell has heavily hinted working well with them in January though.  Would be genuinely interested to know how many of the six signings were players already on his radar and/or ones he identified himself.

The only think I'd caveat that with is that from what Jason alluded to in a podcast recently Hurst rejected a lot of the suggestions put forward, with the exception of Conteh.