Is it too early?

I do not expect a play off place at least next season after this year I will be happy with a top 10 finish.

Promotion would be good but expect that will take another season or two before we can manage that.

Another cup run would be nice going out away to Man Utd would be no disgrace.

I dunno, DB. I think at our level it's reasonable to expect consistency only every now and then.

Quoted from DB

When he's good he's brilliant but he lacks consistency. I'm saying I do not expect that 100% all of the time as most people have bad days but I do expect consistency most of the time.

The idea that we should only keep half a dozen players and build a squad almost from scratch is frankly ridiculous.

That means signing over a dozen players.  Inevitably, a proportion of those will be misses rather than hits and it will take time to gel as a side and a squad.

This squad is relatively inexperienced at L2 level but they’ve gained massive experience this season and with a decent break and a proper pre season we should expect everyone to do better next season.

There are some obvious departures like Pearson and maybe Taylor, plus some of the fringe players but I hope PH keeps more than a dozen from the existing squad and only needs to make 5-6 new signings maximum.

We’ve had a handful of games this season where the wheels have come off, but on the whole we’ve been competitive and lost out due to poor finishing and, tbh, a lot of bad luck with injuries.  Top half and a crack at the playoffs next season.  

Quoted from Sussexmariner

In a word, Yes
History has shown many clubs coming out of the national league do well in league 2.
They have that momentum, the “feel good factor” etc  add to the fact the huge increase in season tickets sold and the money that brought in quite simply Hurst did not bring in the quality of players (for what ever reason) that was needed.
Missed opportunity in my opinion, pushing for playoff place at the very least, not looking over our shoulder at relegation.

Hurst will need to get a squad together in the summer that can challenge for promotion next season, nothing else will be acceptable

Has history shown that though? Harrogate, Barrow, Salford and Sutton have all been promoted recently and not really challenged for promotion yet. Only teams who have thrown real money at it like Stockport and FGR have had success. We won’t be doing that, guaranteed, cup run or not. So I just can’t see how people think that top 7 is a minimum next season. I’m all for ambition, but I don’t want impatience and frustration and calling for change if we fall short of unrealistic expectations. Personally, another season of progress on and off the pitch is more achievable. Hopefully we can get closer to a new training ground, improve BP and maybe a top half finish, with a view to incremental improvements year on year, ultimately leading to another promotion.

Quoted from TheFryingSquad

So back to the original poster:

Amos- pushes on too far too often and gets caught out of position.  Not good enough
Orsi-  still young but National league at best
Taylor- good player who suffers from crap service, like him and more to give
Holohan- doesn’t contribute enough and poor distribution
Morris- needs better players round him, tidy player
Shaun- wtf did we sign him for?  Not disputing his commitment but a complete waste of a wage
Scannel- good player……5 years ago
Cropper- National league at best
Waterfall- Every team needs a Luke, winner and leader
Loanies-  Smith is the only one I’d keep, the rest have been a total waste of cash.  Did Hurst actually watch them?

I know this has to be a troll but I'll bite.

Amos: Is 23 and been in and out, think there's a player there though with a bit more coaching, I'd offer him a year extension.

Orsi: Young?! he's 26 he's hardly a budding prospect though I agree he doesn't consistently effect games enough for my mind anyway.

Taylor: I imagine he's winding down now and could well take a contract a league or 2 down where he can enjoy his football with less pressure.

Cropper: Been very unlucky with injuries and is only 22, nearly 23. Not sure if he's cut out for the rigors of full time football but you can't teach that throw he has.

Loanees.
Smith: would be a decent signing and wouldnt be mad if we signed him.
Lloyd: Has played 16 games and got 4 goals and 4 assists, which equates to 1 goal contribution every 2 games. Adds something different and would be happy if we signed him in the summer.

Quoted from lukeo

I've said this many times that people are expecting too much next season.
I think we should be aiming for the play offs but the ultimate goal should be progression so therefore a top 12 finish and be within reach of the play offs with a few games to go.

I agree with this luke. Always try and go one better, so, semi finals of the fa cup next year anyone??

On a serious note, IF we recruit well, then the playoffs should be achievable. We’ve been featured in the spotlight thanks to our cup exploits so may have turned a few heads in our favour for our summer recruitment drive. What I think will not go down well, is if we get to the end of the first week of august and PH still doesn’t have his ‘main man’ through the door. Id like to think season tickets will be impressive again (I’d estimate 4500-5000) and this will fill the war chest somewhat.

Every player that’s played this season has been a part of a quite remarkable year that will go down well in the history books. What a rollercoaster it’s been!

With no new ground, think we'll be a big fish in the middle of L2 for the foreseeable future.

We really need a once in a lifetime boost to get us out of that rut (which isn't the worst rut possible admittedly).

Quoted from Yarborough Vaults

With no new ground, think we'll be a big fish in the middle of L2 for the foreseeable future.

We really need a once in a lifetime boost to get us out of that rut (which isn't the worst rut possible admittedly).

It annoyed me seeing all those empty seats at The Keepmoat(or whatever its called now) its just what we need maybe a tad smaller, and there would not be any empty seats .

I think it is possible to touch league one as we are , but then is were it would get difficult IMO . But I am sure Andrew and Jason have got a master plan he keeps going on about 'going right through ' and moving through the gears so pretty sure they do have ; excited to see how it all unfolds .

Quoted from Bigdog

GK
Crocombe (offer terms)
New signing

RB
Efete
New signing

LB
Glennon
New signing

CB
Maher
Waterfall
New signing Smith?
New signing

CM
Clifton
Green
Holohan
Hunt
Khouri (loan out)
New signing
New signing

WM
Khan
New signing Emmanuel?
New signing

CF
New signing Lloyd?
New signing
New signing
Orsi (loan out)

Tighter squad, more invested per player, only Max offered terms from players out of contract. Keep nucleus of squad for continuation, try to upgrade every position..

This looks about right to me; I don’t see many or any new contracts being offered being offered beyond Crocombe so that means saying goodbye to the likes of Amos, Cropper and Taylor who have been good servants for us but have regrettably run their course.

The addition of Emmanuel, Smith and Lloyd would be very welcome indeed but I think we’d be lucky to get any of them. I’d snap your hand off for any one of them at this stage.

Of those under contract, I’d say there’s reasonably firm evidence to suggest Clifton, Holohan and Khan are good enough to start most weeks for a team chasing the play-offs and I’d tentatively add Waterfall and Maher to that list, though Maher needs to up his consistency.

For me, the jury is out in that regard in terms of Crocombe (assuming he signs a new deal), Glennon, Efete and Green, while Hunt and Orsi realistically have a lot to prove as far as their league form is concerned.

Realistically that means we have a need to go out and sign 6 or 7 players that are markedly better than what we have had this season, 3 or 4 of which will need to be forwards / wide players.

It’s a positive that we’ve got the most scope to change and improve up front given it’s the area we’ve struggled to find consistency most this season. But it can also be a double-edged sword, in that we have a lot to do up there.

Beyond those 6 or 7 improvements, we probably need a perhaps another 4 or 5 capable bodies to help complete the squad. So up to 12 new signings this summer seems realistic, and we should have reasonable scope in the budget to do a decent job of it.

This is a big window, and one we need to get right given the likely strength of League Two in 23/24, but we have a lot of advantages over where we were a year ago. It would still be another two months before we would know what division we were playing in, and this time around we have a clear benchmark as to where we are in League Two, a better recruitment team, a bigger budget and a much longer period for players to recover and to recruit new ones.

It should be an intriguing and exciting summer, hopefully leading to a more exciting and fruitful season. Here’s hoping.

George Lloyd is a must to keep if Cheltenham aren't planning on him being in their team next year. Alongside someone who's a half decent target man I reckon Lloyd would get at least 15 in the league. If we are going to be playing 4-4-2 it would leave us needing another 2 strikers as I would keep Orsi, not been given a fair crack of the whip and needs a few games to put abit of form together. A big battering ram of a striker such as Smith who was at Orient / Umerah if Pools do go down and someone capable of winning the first ball for knock downs.

I think we need someone whos a powerhouse in midfield and can control games, a big strapping 6'2 Centre midfielder with an engine wouldn't go a miss and give us some actual height which we seem to be lacking in the middle. Another centre-mid with actual creativity alas Hunt but that can do it at League 2 level, maybe Hurst has to drop his ideas that all the centre-mids need to be work-horses and actually have players that can unlock defences.

Full-backs either side are a minimum next year as I think that Amos will be released, looks like he has too many mistakes in him and often been dominated at games I've seen him this year. Michee's first season of professional football has been frustrating, he's made so many individual errors and gets himself into good positions but then freezes; I think Hurst will keep him as a squad player to try make the spot his own next year after bringing in a good experienced RB.

Another Goalkeeper to challenge Max is a must after his form has nosedived since Christmas, I'm a big believer in becoming too relaxed if there isn't any pressure, I'd hope that we would keep him as he's a very useful keeper in this league and you will never have a perfect keeper at L2 level but would like to see someone come in to challenge him.

With Smith's interview the other day it didn't sound much like he would be returning next year which would be a shame as he's been getting regular football and still developing, I don't think he's ready for L1 football yet myself but he has the potential of playing at a higher level with a few more games under his belt. I think Shauny P will become part of the coaching staff next year, just a hunch. Which would leave us needing 2 centre-backs to challenge Maher and Waterfall. I think Bradford signed Hartlepool's best centre-back last year Odisina? But has hardly played but by all accounts has pace and was strong in the air, I'd like us to sign a centre-back with abit of a turn of pace so it drags us slightly further up the pitch. Definitely need two though for next year.

Wingers, we will have Clifton & Khan so another 2 wingers through the door. Murmurs that the Vernham deal is already complete as we couldn't get it over the line in January? Seems to be linked with us every window since we left. I would like us to go for Chapman from Bradford if available, their fans don't rate him that much but I know PH is a huge fan of him as he's complimented him greatly in interviews in the past and at BP he looked like a level above L2.