Squad next season

Quoted from jamesgtfc

All I will say is the player getting released is young and going to uni in York. The one I got told is getting a deal played on Sunday.

Take it you're on about Cropper, or just trying to pull our p!ssers..🤣

Quoted from Northbank Mariner

Take it you're on about Cropper, or just trying to pull our p!ssers..🤣

Cropper has done ok, i bet its Burgess not really done much although he hasn't started many games, but he is of the pace.

Quoted from jamesgtfc

There is another one out of contract at the top of the starting 11 😉

So I think he means Battersby

Very important that the players we re-sign and keep are good enough for League 2 or we won’t be ready for next season. We’re going up I feel it.

For me:

Offer new contracts to:
Michee Efete
Luke Waterfall
Danny Amos
Harry Clifton
Ben Fox
Ryan Taylor

Release:
Max Crocombe
James McKeown
Jordan Cropper
Adam Crookes
Scott Burgess
Giles Coke
Evan Khouri
Erico Sousa
Luke Spokes
Lenell John-Lewis
Max Wright
Luis Adlard
Sean Scannell

Keeping Scannell is ridiculous, we can't offer a player a new contract just cos he might get fit sometime next season. I don't know if insurance could cover him through his rehab and we'd give him a glorified trial to prove his fitness?

Max Wright's race is run, as much as it's difficult to say cos we all love the lad to bits but we can't have a player whose modal situation is get an injury, 4 weeks out, gets fit, comes on for 15 mins and looks sharp, gets injured, repeat.

Battersby will be much cheaper than Crocombe and particularly Macca, so it's better off having Battersby as your proper No2 and combining the wages of Macca and Crocombe to find a top keeper at this level, this would be even more necessary if we got promoted. Crocombe has done well but we can find better I'm sure.

Cropper was a coin toss for me but on balance I think he needs replacing. Michee is a bit fragile, he isn't going to play 46 games a season so we need to get a backup right back of pretty good quality and I think if it weren't for Cropper's long throw, we'd say he was out of his depth. It's a useful weapon no doubt but again, I think we can do better.

I think the others all speak for themselves, regardless of which league we're in, I'd keep the same players.

Can we please stop talking about binning off players when they're part of a squad trying to win the playoffs!

What happened to ancient GK Sam Russell? - The Twerp put him a 3 year contract until 2023?

Cropper hasn't put a foot wrong in any of the games I've seen him play. Not one to push forward as Efete (sometimes) does, but that throw is such an asset, that I'd have him starting regardless.

Quoted from Maringer

Cropper hasn't put a foot wrong in any of the games I've seen him play. Not one to push forward as Efete (sometimes) does, but that throw is such an asset, that I'd have him starting regardless.

Yep, (though only judging from what I've seen on videos) Cropper looks ok defensively at this level, and his throw is an asset at any level.

So both he and Efete are fit...who starts?

(I could see Efete making an effective & mobile CB or a decent defensive midfielder. I could also see him moving to a bigger club. I'll leave that one to PH)

Have we really seen enough of Khouri & Adlard to decide they should go? I'd leave that one to PH too.

Sean Scannell's injury gutted me at the time ... and I don't feel much better about it now. I posted a bit ago that if he couldn't stay fit till the season's end,
we'd have to let him go. Which is what I expect to happen.
But I wouldn't criticise the club if they offered him a contract till (say) 31st December - allowing him that time to prove fitness (& enjoy Xmas).
We're not likely be able to replace him with anyone with his class and ability imo.

I'd make a rubbish manager, I know...

Even with his injury record I think Scannell should be given a new 1 year deal. He’s a class above NL and probs LG2 should we get there. He’s worth the gamble in my opinion. We carried several injury prone players this season. Out of them he’d be the one I’d keep.