Personally, I think that any talk around drastic clear outs is sadly going to be wide of the mark due to on going financial constraints. It's true that those leaving when their contracts are up will reduce our wage bill by a not inconsiderable amount but we still have to replace them and doing so with both better and cheaper replacements is a big ask. We are also still saddled with some on high wages who have been underwhelming but these are going to be hard to get shot of. One thing is certain though and that is that we need to be far sharper in our recruitment than we've been in recent years!
As for the quality of this season's squad, it's clear that we lacked quality in areas across the pitch. The enforced selling of some of our better players like Heggem, Palmer and Fellows through the pressures of PSR didn't help of course and we struggled to adequately replace them. I like Campbell who has improved since moving to his more natural CB position and O'Leary may prove decent enough if we retain him but we miss having a wide man like Fellows and if Bostock is to replace him, he isn't there yet.
The question is whether the quality of the squad this season should have led to us ending up in a relegation battle. I'd argue not. We may have lost too many games through sitting back on early leads and conceding late goals but in several matches under Mason we were easily as good as, if not better, than teams that ended up much higher than ourselves. Mason seemed to at least have the players onside but his tactics and formation failed and Ramsay's experimentation lost the players entirely. It is to Morrison's credit that he and his staff belatedly got this group of players to begin to battle for each other and show more desire and attacking intent, as well as tightening up our defence and, later, the midfield.
You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear though and despite managing to actually win a couple of games and put the ball in the back of the net under his tenure, it was obvious to all that we weren't creative or incisive enough going forward and that we lacked the clinical finishing needed. Making a team difficult to beat may be the foundation block on which to build but we won't get success until we are able to score goals and win far more matches. Morrison, I'm sure, is fully aware of this and this is where we urgently need some recruitment and the club to back him.
The savings due to those out of contract should ease finances to help with the needed recruitment but aside from O'Leary the other 4 are all first team attacking forwards. To replace all 4 with better and cheaper will, I think, be a big ask. Certainly, we need to find a proven goal scorer but if we continue with a 4-4-2 formation (which I believe we should) we are going to need more than that and if Mikey's recovery carries him beyond the summer, then this makes our forward line up even more questionable. Sule and Bostock may have potential and I'm sure we will see more of them both next season, but they have much to learn still.
Given the above, I would not personally be adverse to offering Dike a short term contract if he was prepared to accept a lower wage with bonuses. The reason I would go for him rather than Maja is that I think he offers more physicality and could better rotate with Heggabo in terms of hold up play. (I'm sure I may have to reach for my tin hat now with that suggestion 😀
I think we all agree that the club need to pull out all the stops to try and secure Imray but if this can't be done then recruiting a RB has to be a priority alongside getting a proven goal scorer. A back up LB- as others have previously said-would also be a good shout but above that, I think we need a creative midfielder still and another wide man to compliment Mikey. Diakite has been much improved under Morrison and Bany has shown signs of promise but it's a position we have long been without. Bostock may yet become a new Fellows but he isn't there yet and having lost (I assume) Wallace and Grant, the squad will need options on the wing.
We will just have to see but whilst I certainly expect some form of rebuild for next season I honestly cannot see us having too much money to spend and some of our currently underwhelming players on higher salaries will doubtless still be here when it does kick off again.