I am confused about your comments on O’Connor. He is on twice. Personally I agree with your first opinion of him. Our midfield should be built around him. Looked absolute class when he came on.
I would like to hear your views on who you would keep and who you would show the door now the time for rebuilding has begun...
Collin Decent keeper at this level, would hold on to him
Tootle Really like this guy, has a footballing brain, defo hold on to hm
Duffy Undecided on this one, some good and a lot of bad, is he worth another year?
Brisley 100% keep this guy, I think he had a very good season
Jones Another I would keep, I think he would make a cracking winger and his set pieces are very good
Aless Get rid, 5/10 minutes in a game he looks ok but not enough to keep him here
Ameobi Let go or keep him as a coach, cant see another season out of the big man
Hewitt My player of the season, never dropped his standards all season, first name on the team sheet for me
Noble Controversial but let him go, hasn't done half enough since he came back in my opinion
O'Connor Defo keep, we looked a different team when he came on last night, should be captain next season
Grant He will be back at the red dogs very soon so all you can do is thank him for all he has done for us
Forte Keep, finished the season like a man possessed, worth another year at least?
Stead Thanks for the loyal service but let him go to America if he has the chance
Virtue Back to pool anyway so easy decision
Smith Will stay in the backroom staff
Milsom Why oh why did he not get a kick for the past few months, a ball playing midfielder who should start every game, him and O'Connor would of been a cracking midfield, I can see him released now though
Hall Looked good when he played, cant see him dropping down to league 2 next season, good luck to the lad
Fitzsimons A very decent keeper, excellent back up so I hope he stays
Hawkridge One of the worst I have ever saw to pull on a county jersey, he came from non league and its where he belongs, am I wrong to think KN paid a fee for him? please release him KN
Husin Defo keep, young guy with a lot of ability
Dickinson Release, just think the guy in tortoise slow and Jones is twice the player
The rest.... never given any chance to impress so n/a
I am confused about your comments on O’Connor. He is on twice. Personally I agree with your first opinion of him. Our midfield should be built around him. Looked absolute class when he came on.
He mentions O’Connor in his appraisal of Milsom saying they would make a very decent midfield partnership.
Agree with all of your comments actually, wouldn’t mind moving on from Collin and giving Fitz the no1 jersey. I wouldn’t be disappointed and understand if we kept with the same back five we had this season though.
Hawkridge was free but we gave him a two year contract i believe with Lincoln only offering him a one year deal.
Not any striker or defender, we need far stronger players than what's here.
Apologies for the length of this post, but if a job's worth doing...
KEEP:
> Adam Collin - fine for this level, even if he's not on a par with the likes of Ward, Schmeichel and Cherry in the past
> Ross Fitzsimons - in my view sharper than Collin and better than a back-up, when he's not kicking opponents up the backside
> Matt Tootle - top notch full-back at this level and a team leader
> Dan Jones - as close as we've come to replacing Sheehan in terms of a creative defender
> Carl Dickinson - functional rather than spectacular, but definitely provides competition for Jones
> Shaun Brisley - good old fashioned tall, head it, kick it centre-half, type, of which we need two more
> Richard Duffy - OK for me as a back-up player, including right-back where he played earlier in his career, but lacks physical presence and has too many mistakes and off games to continue as an automatic starter
> Michael O'Connor - apparently over his injury and as good as you'll find in League Two or One
> Elliott Hewitt - my player of the season, which I would scarcely have believed 18 months ago, an absolute revelation when deployed as a midfield enforcer
> Rob Milsom - I would keep unless there's a serious fitness issue, because when he plays he's a good solid midfielder at this level
> Curtis Thompson - I fear Nolan will let him go, but for me Shaun Derry was right to recognise Curtis as a very industrious central midfielder who gives a team energy
> Noor Husin - a mixture of misplaced passes and flashes of real talent, but capable of competing for a first-team place so I wouldn't condemn him with the "one for the future" tag
> Liam Noble - I wouldn't have given him an 18-month contract, but he's got one, so I count him as a decent back-up player, but little more
> Lewis Alessandra - if this was his contract year he might be struggling, but other League Two teams would probably take him and he's OK as versatile wing/forward cover and chips in a few goals
> Terry Hawkridge - ditto Alessandra, needs to be more consistent to be a regular first-teamer, but he's had good games as well as bad ones, particularly earlier in the season
> Jon Stead - well past his best for me, but he's triggered an automatic extension so I would regard him strictly as an Alan Smith type back-up option
LEAVING ANYWAY (LOANS EXPIRED)
> Jorge Grant - suspect Forest will either want him for their first team or farm him out to League One
> Matt Virtue - not awful during his time here, but not special either
> Ben Hall - bigger and better than Duffy for me, so great if we could get him back, but I suspect Brighton already view him as the next Lewis Dunk
> Mason Bennett - didn't see enough to judge, but fitness and lack of career goals for a striker are the question marks
RELEASE:
> Branislav Pindroch - when Fitzsimons got suspended we rushed Collin back rather than play Pindroch, so I conclude he offers no better competition than a youth team goalie would
> Nicky Hunt - I think he was on a 1-year deal, in which case we should probably look to recruit a younger and more dynamic back-up for Tootle
> Pierce Bird - we need to bring in two first-team ready centre-halves, which Bird clearly isn't, so probably fair to let him find a club where he gets games
> Alan Smith - one of my favourite players in his Leeds heyday, but if he has a future at Notts, it's as a coach and positive dressing room influence, because he was spent as a player at least two years ago
> Elliott Hodge - not good enough for Lincoln at National League level so why did we think he'd make it in League Two? We must stop wasting time and money on these "ones for the future" who aren't.
> Callum Saunders - ditto Elliott Hodge
Shola Ameobi - still has the quality, but his body is obviously giving up and we can't be relying on a centre-forward who can only play one hour a week, especially with Stead staying
> Jon Forte - unsurprisingly hit on a bit of form towards the end of his contract year, but he's a career journeyman for a reason, I doubt his desire and I suspect if we gave him a new contract he'd switch off again
NEED:
Two more big, tall first team ready centre-halves of the Brisley/Strodder/Lee type, because that's what's required in League Two
Two quality wide men to replace Jorge Grant and impress on the able but inconsistent Hawkridge and Alessandra that they need to be "at it" to get regular first-team football
One quality centre-forward to replace Ameobi and be a first-team regular
Two pacey support strikers, perhaps one permanent and one Premier/Championship prospect on loan, to address the most obvious weakness this season, namely a lack of pace to scare defences, especially if we're playing direct football down the channels
Last edited by jackal2; 19-05-2018 at 12:20 PM.
This is who I'd keep if all the squads contracts ended this season:
Fitzsimmon
Tootle
Jones
Brisley
Duffy
O'Connor
Hewitt
Milsom
Husin
Allesandra
Forte
I'd let the rest go.
Good post Jackal, I never went into the names like Saunders ect because I never got to see them play, Hunt should go as he looks spent after so many nasty injuries, Curtis... a weird one indeed, I wonder how he got on at Wycombe, looks like he was a bit part player for them to be honest, some really good players available now so lets hope KN does his business quickly and not wait until the last minute like Jan, would love to see Akinde come to the lane, a proper center forward who would be a beast for us, also break the bank if possible for Erhun Oztumer.... that would be a real show of intent, the guy is a total genius