The rebuild...

[SwalePie]

I'd always assumed there was a typo on the shirt, with the 's' moved to the end when it should have been after the 'd'

[Killerkline]

We should try to keep Enzio, unless he’s on ridiculous money and we have a suitable replacement. I think a L2 or even L1 club will take him.

O’Brien won’t be retained. Doyle, possibly, in a predominantly coaching role. This is what Doyle expected at the start of this season.

We don’t need a massive rebuild. CM is obviously the key area that needs strengthening. Probably about 5/6 players in total.

[jackal2]

We don’t need a massive rebuild. CM is obviously the key area that needs strengthening. Probably about 5/6 players in total.

The quality of the additions rather than the quantity will be key.

There are, without doubt, some good footballers in our squad who would be considered and in some cases signed by League Two clubs (or equivalent) if we released them. Unfortunately, to borrow a phrase from Ricardo Moniz, the "character structure" doesn't seem quite right and we are losing far too many silly games to teams that shouldn't be able to worry us in terms of ability. That has been a problem all season, long before IB arrived, and he hasn't yet had time to put it right, whether that requires more time on the training pitch or new personnel or both.

Our problems can probably be solved by a small number of astute signings and some good coaching, rather than requiring 'major surgery', but there's no point talking about promotion or title winning ambitions until that's done. Whilever we continue to lose games to the likes of Solihull and Aldershot, then even if we somehow fluked promotion from a lowly play-off position I would still be concerned that we are not ready to compete any more successfully in League Two than we did when we were relegated.

[magpie_mania]

The quality of the additions rather than the quantity will be key.

There are, without doubt, some good footballers in our squad who would be considered and in some cases signed by League Two clubs (or equivalent) if we released them. Unfortunately, to borrow a phrase from Ricardo Moniz, the "character structure" doesn't seem quite right and we are losing far too many silly games to teams that shouldn't be able to worry us in terms of ability. That has been a problem all season, long before IB arrived, and he hasn't yet had time to put it right, whether that requires more time on the training pitch or new personnel or both.

Our problems can probably be solved by a small number of astute signings and some good coaching, rather than requiring 'major surgery', but there's no point talking about promotion or title winning ambitions until that's done. Whilever we continue to lose games to the likes of Solihull and Aldershot, then even if we somehow fluked promotion from a lowly play-off position I would still be concerned that we are not ready to compete any more successfully in League Two than we did when we were relegated.

Agree with this, I don't think we need a major rebuild. However, should we get up through the play-offs (we shouldn't be writing ourselves off yet) then let's worry about whether we could compete. At least off the pitch we would be far better equipped.

[BCnotts18]

Personally, I believe virtually every position needs strengthening in the summer.
I’d say the goalkeepers are fine - Slocombe is reasonable and i wouldn't mind seeing Tiernan Brooks playing a bigger part next season.

At Left back id keep Chicksen, especially if he continues his current form. I could take or leave Barnett, I like what he offers going forward but defensively he leaves a lot to be desired. Let McCrory go, never really been a fan.

While I would not mind keeping both Brindley and Kelly-Evans, I also would not mind trying to find a right back who is more comfortable going forward than those two.

I’d definitely keep both Lacey and Rawlinson. I’d try to sign Ellis permanently. Id 100% let Turner go, just do not have any faith in him anymore.

The Midfield needs a major rehaul. O’Brien can go. Reeves should be kept but he needs midfielders around him who can complement his abilities. We desperately need a brute in midfield – somebody in the Neal Bishop mould. I’d keep Rodrigues but try to sign somebody who is proven in this league to provide some creativity from the midfield in order to counteract Rodrigues’ inconsistency.

We need much more depth on the wings. With Robert’s injury woes, we have been proven to be incredibly weak in the wide areas. Enzio should be kept and actually played in his correct position instead of at right back. Id also drop Sam back and utilise him as a winger. Despite being 6”5 he is poor in the air and shows a decent ability to use pace and beat a man so would probably be more suited to a role on the wing in the future.

In terms of forwards, id keep Wootton and Knight and try and sign Knowles permanently. We need to look for a player who can act as competition for Wootton. Wootton has looked exhausted recently and has been misfiring quite a lot over the last few games, yet we cant drop him as there are no alternatives. Being able to switch Wootton out for a player of equal ability next season would be very useful.
The other loanees such as Griffiths and Golden should go too.

So in summary id say we need between 6 and 10 new players for next season if we actually want to get out of this league. God knows where we’re going to get these players from but I really hope we don’t go window shopping in the European markets. While we desperately need new players in virtually every position, we need players who are proven in the National League, not players from the Belarusian First Division. Without these reinforcements, next season will be another mediocre slog.

[irishpete]

Personally, I believe virtually every position needs strengthening in the summer.
I’d say the goalkeepers are fine - Slocombe is reasonable and i wouldn't mind seeing Tiernan Brooks playing a bigger part next season.

At Left back id keep Chicksen, especially if he continues his current form. I could take or leave Barnett, I like what he offers going forward but defensively he leaves a lot to be desired. Let McCrory go, never really been a fan.

While I would not mind keeping both Brindley and Kelly-Evans, I also would not mind trying to find a right back who is more comfortable going forward than those two.

I’d definitely keep both Lacey and Rawlinson. I’d try to sign Ellis permanently. Id 100% let Turner go, just do not have any faith in him anymore.

The Midfield needs a major rehaul. O’Brien can go. Reeves should be kept but he needs midfielders around him who can complement his abilities. We desperately need a brute in midfield – somebody in the Neal Bishop mould. I’d keep Rodrigues but try to sign somebody who is proven in this league to provide some creativity from the midfield in order to counteract Rodrigues’ inconsistency.

We need much more depth on the wings. With Robert’s injury woes, we have been proven to be incredibly weak in the wide areas. Enzio should be kept and actually played in his correct position instead of at right back. Id also drop Sam back and utilise him as a winger. Despite being 6”5 he is poor in the air and shows a decent ability to use pace and beat a man so would probably be more suited to a role on the wing in the future.

In terms of forwards, id keep Wootton and Knight and try and sign Knowles permanently. We need to look for a player who can act as competition for Wootton. Wootton has looked exhausted recently and has been misfiring quite a lot over the last few games, yet we cant drop him as there are no alternatives. Being able to switch Wootton out for a player of equal ability next season would be very useful.
The other loanees such as Griffiths and Golden should go too.

So in summary id say we need between 6 and 10 new players for next season if we actually want to get out of this league. God knows where we’re going to get these players from but I really hope we don’t go window shopping in the European markets. While we desperately need new players in virtually every position, we need players who are proven in the National League, not players from the Belarusian First Division. Without these reinforcements, next season will be another mediocre slog.

Think Brexit has taken care of signing players from overseas

[Old_pie]

Think Brexit has taken care of signing players from overseas

Absolutely, we have the whole world to choose from instead of just Europe just like Spain and France with all their Brazilian players. Actually, that might not be a bad place to look.

[Killerkline]

Really like. People moaning about our current owners are pathetic. Do you want Hardy back? His knob? Or Aileen? Or Ray calling us morons? Or we could have owners who don't actually even exist? Or Scardino? Or we could be really pleased we've got level headed, youngish ownership who want to build for the long term future of our club which will benefit us all. They've repaired bridges burnt by prats and for once we don't have to worry about paying the milk bill. They will have wanted Ardley out sooner but at the same time were decent enough people to let him give it a go this season which he earned after last year.

Moan, moan, moan, moan. We've changed things but they will take time to take affect obviously.

Slightly off topic, but I can’t get Hardy, his knob, Aileen and Ray out of mind. Not pleasant, thanks CF!

[jacobncfc]

Personally, I believe virtually every position needs strengthening in the summer.
I’d say the goalkeepers are fine - Slocombe is reasonable and i wouldn't mind seeing Tiernan Brooks playing a bigger part next season.

At Left back id keep Chicksen, especially if he continues his current form. I could take or leave Barnett, I like what he offers going forward but defensively he leaves a lot to be desired. Let McCrory go, never really been a fan.

While I would not mind keeping both Brindley and Kelly-Evans, I also would not mind trying to find a right back who is more comfortable going forward than those two.

I’d definitely keep both Lacey and Rawlinson. I’d try to sign Ellis permanently. Id 100% let Turner go, just do not have any faith in him anymore.

The Midfield needs a major rehaul. O’Brien can go. Reeves should be kept but he needs midfielders around him who can complement his abilities. We desperately need a brute in midfield – somebody in the Neal Bishop mould. I’d keep Rodrigues but try to sign somebody who is proven in this league to provide some creativity from the midfield in order to counteract Rodrigues’ inconsistency.

We need much more depth on the wings. With Robert’s injury woes, we have been proven to be incredibly weak in the wide areas. Enzio should be kept and actually played in his correct position instead of at right back. Id also drop Sam back and utilise him as a winger. Despite being 6”5 he is poor in the air and shows a decent ability to use pace and beat a man so would probably be more suited to a role on the wing in the future.

In terms of forwards, id keep Wootton and Knight and try and sign Knowles permanently. We need to look for a player who can act as competition for Wootton. Wootton has looked exhausted recently and has been misfiring quite a lot over the last few games, yet we cant drop him as there are no alternatives. Being able to switch Wootton out for a player of equal ability next season would be very useful.
The other loanees such as Griffiths and Golden should go too.

So in summary id say we need between 6 and 10 new players for next season if we actually want to get out of this league. God knows where we’re going to get these players from but I really hope we don’t go window shopping in the European markets. While we desperately need new players in virtually every position, we need players who are proven in the National League, not players from the Belarusian First Division. Without these reinforcements, next season will be another mediocre slog.

Pretty much agree with all of this, to be honest. On the wide players, a bit of a sliding doors moment this season was probably with Tom Walker. Ardley seemed to give the impression he’d been trying to sign him for ages, but then didn’t use him that much while he was here despite Roberts being injured. Now at Stockport where he’s starting every game for a team in great form.

The new post-Brexit rules have ended the signing players from abroad thing. I would add to that - I would like to see us avoid signing many players from the EFL as well. It’s tempting to use our resources and pull to convince players like Reeves to drop down to this level, but I think a much better approach would be to use that to sign some of the better players from the rest of this division. Have we actually signed a single player directly from another NL club since we’ve been down here?

[PedroTheFisherman66]

It's apparent from this thread that not quite everyone knows how contracts work. Four years?!

It would be nice if you could tell us all how it works then.
What clauses has IB got built into his contract.?