Retained List

[Hants_red]

I'm intrigued that we ended the loan of Jimmy Oates with Hereford, but haven't seen anything of him since his return. He looked okay at Fulham, but he's not featured in the u23s either. So unless he's not fit then I'm not sure abut the point of him.

 

[Martin Lawrence]

Woodman has signed a new 1 year deal. I think there will be massive changes. I see the following being released:

Pym
Hamon
Croll
A. Martin
Oates
Boateng
Smallcombe
Holmes
Simpson
Loanees

 

[SEA Grecian]

I'm intrigued that we ended the loan of Jimmy Oates with Hereford, but haven't seen anything of him since his return. He looked okay at Fulham, but he's not featured in the u23s either. So unless he's not fit then I'm not sure abut the point of him.

Jimmy Oates was re-called as back-up when Pierce Sweeney had the chicken pox. I believe we tried to sign Kane Wilson last summer but when that fell through we offered Oates a contract instead. Understandably when Kane Wilson did finally sign in January he was pushed down the pecking-order. Jimmy seems like a nice guy when I've seen him interviewed but he hasn't come close to playing in the league and realistically at 28 isn't going to improve much.

 

[grecian-near-hell]

Matt's take on it from Devon Live.
"Not far off being done. I know who I want to keep at this club and who we are going to release at the end of the season, but it will all be about who has given the most value to the team throughout the season and a number of seasons. Plus I know where I want to strengthen as well"

 

[Red Devon]

We don't want to be chopping and changing too much if we can avoid it, especially in defence. We're already losing O'Shea and Kane Wilson, I wouldn't want to see us lose all of our three natural centre-halves (Aaron Martin, Troy Brown and Luke Croll) as well as both of our keepers on top of that..

I’d love for Kane Wilson to stay permanently but if you look across the back line there’s an argument that with O’Shea going back to WBA none of the others are really solid enough, whether it be for age, loss of form or injury prone, just look at some of the daft soft goals we’ve conceded recently against Mansfield, Crawley, Macclesfield not to mention the gift we gave Stevenage.

 

[iscalad]

Woodman has signed a new 1 year deal. I think there will be massive changes. I see the following being released:

Pym
Hamon
Croll
A. Martin
Oates
Boateng
Smallcombe
Holmes
Simpson
Loanees

I thought Simpson lead the line well on Tuesday night.
Holmes has lost a bit of speed, so goo servant that he has been, time to let go.
Can't see us releasing both Croll and A Martin.

 

[Moomin Grecian]

Woodman has signed a new 1 year deal. I think there will be massive changes. I see the following being released:

Pym
Hamon
Croll
A. Martin
Oates
Boateng
Smallcombe
Holmes
Simpson
Loanees

He won’t release Boateng as he’s under contract. And if he wasn’t I’m sure he’d offer him a new deal....

 

[Stelios]

Matt Jay did really well when given his opportunity and scored some fantastic goals. Would be odd to release him just after he finally showed what he is capable of.

MT clearly does not rate/trust Aaron Martin, Croll and Oates. But every squad needs cover/back up so if you get rid of them you'd still need to sign back up/reserve players. How much better would they be? A Martin would walk into a lot of League 2 sides but MT does everything in his power not to select him! He could command a small fee. Who wouldn't want a calm, tall centre back who wins loads of headers? I never really thought he'd done much wrong (the whole side was poor when he was dropped) but maybe his attitude was poor in training etc? Or he just wasn't doing what MT was asking? (I have no idea)

I've always liked Holmes but feel he's come to the end of his useful life as an ECFC player (sorry that sounds awfully harsh). Randell Williams can/will take his place all being well. I'd like have another midfielder with an 'engine' and a bit of quality like Lee Martin (but less injury prone...)

I guess Tilson will go to Cheltenham for a small fee or go on the transfer list. But we have no cover in this position. But that didn't stop MT farming him out to Cheltenham so he obviously doesn't want him.

 

[The Proper Chap]

I expect Pym to leave, Hamon should be released, he isn't good enough.

I'd get rid of Croll, I've never rated him. Aaron Martin isn't a bad centre back however he lacks pace and at times seems to lack an edge to his game. I haven't seen Oates play so I cannot comment on him. I really rate Troy Brown as a player however there is no getting away from the fact he is often unavailable, I doubt he's on peanuts, perhaps we need to move on from him, very tough call.

I'd be looking to offload Tillson.

Lee Holmes has been a good player for us however I think we need to go down a different route with more pace.

I'd keep Jay, not sure why anyone would release him, he's a good squad player who has proven he can perform in league two.

I'm not at all bothered about Boateng however I believe he is contracted for next season, he doesn't justify the hype he gets, three goals in the best part of two seasons, that is p1$$ poor.

I'm not sure if Forte is contracted for next season or not, clearly he started the season well and looked very impressive at times however his body seems to have given in, a real shame imho.

I think this summer will be very interesting regardless of what league we are in, I think Taylor will add more pace to the squad along with more players with the ability to do the ugly parts of the game, at times we are still too soft.

 

[Thames Valley Red]

Am I the only one that thinks it a bit bizarre with one game left we are talking about retained list in the media with Matt Taylor. Need to focus on the game in hand on Saturday and try and win it. We then need Newport to muck up. I think this is my post for over a year on this forum. Aiming to be positive.

After Saturday lets have a free for all on the subject, given some witnessed Macclesfield away. We have dropped some silly points at times this season. We are where we are and the massive positive is a sell out for the last game, and a few games over 5000 at the Park. Two new stands and hopefully some money in the window from Ollie Watkins, Jordan Storey, Stockley back on loan and a loan fee from Chelsea for Ethan to come.

Up the City.

Ps. Some players listed above still under contract - Martin/Forte and others.