Which Saints players are out of contract at the end of the season? Who do you think will stay and who do you think will leave?
David Connolly and Aaron Martin are out of contract I think. Really hope Martin stays and think Connolly could be useful.
Out of contract in the summer: Radhi Jahdi Dan Harding Danny Butterfield Oscar Gobern Aaron Martin David Connolly Those out of contract at the end of next season Rickie Lambert Kelvin Davis Lee Barnard Dean Hammond Morgan Scheiderlin Lee Holmes Joseph Mills Ryan Doble
Have to agree with Sussexsaint. Would be tempted to get Gobern and Martin signed up and send them out on loan for 6 months to get regular starts.
Would sign up Gobern and Martin as well as Jadhi as cover for centre half , Connolly too injury prone and getting on now as well would rather see a younger striker signed up. As for Harding and Butterfield imo both average players and I think we could get better in the Championship, both for me are very suspect in there defensive duties which is okay in League One but in the championship they are going to come up against a lot better strikers
I'd worry about changing the team/squad too much if Butterfield and Harding were let go and replaced. I think Richardson will become stand out 1st choice at right back next season so Butterfield will offer decent cover when needed and possibly the same for Dickson at left back with Harding offering cover. Decent 2nd choices for the Championship. We need to hit the ground running next season and the squad is obviously a pretty tight nit one.
Out of contract in the summer: Radhi Jaidi - KEEP Dan Harding - KEEP Danny Butterfield - KEEP BUT ONLY AS BACK-UP TO RICHARDSON IMO Oscar Gobern - KEEP, WILL BE GOOD BACK-UP Aaron Martin - KEEP AND ROTATE WITH JAIDI David Connolly - RELEASE, TOO MANY INJURIES
I have my doubts regarding how many games Jaidi will be able to play next season, he's struggled at time this season so will be a year older and a league higher. Think we need to definitely bring in another CB and perhaps offer him a player/coach role.
I don't think we are going to have so many hoof ball teams in the championship. More likely teams that mix and match and are fast on the break. I would suggest Jaidi in particular is going struggle. At the moment we more or less use Jose as a sweeper almost. In the championship you are going to have a lot of teams that have a striker who will stay on the shoulder of the last defender. Under those circumstances I realistically cannot see Jaidi getting a game. Which actually leads me nicely into my next observation. We at Saints do not have such a striker.....although Guly would be the ideal candidate for this role, but does he have the skill?
I do feel we need a new striker but not sure who I'd like to see. CMS has obviously been mentioned. I'm sure Adkins will have a few targets in mind and will obviously aim for the one at the top of his list. Wanting someone and getting them are two totally different things. I agree Jaidi will struggle against teams with pace but I remember my brother (Leicester fan) saying when they went down to Div 1 the thing he noticed was more sides tried to play football than they did in the Championship. From our time in the Championship I did not see many passing sides then either. He also says the quality in the Championship this season has been shocking. So I think we will still need a big centre half against certain sides.
I agree sussexsaint,i'd keep jaidi basically because of his excellence in the air,just to bring on if teams use the long ball tactic in the dying minutes,would be good to have a mountain like jaidi back there,i also like him as well as i do with most of the squad so whoever we let go i'd be slightly upset as i feel a real bond with the whole squad this season.Anyone else have these feelings?
Jaidi also has loads of experience, he is an important player to have around even if he does not play every week. It is difficult to argue why any of those should be released, Adkins will presumably have to decide whether Jaidi and Connolly are fit enough to deserve another contract.
We have some great players on the list. All 6 are worth keeping but agree as others have said put Martin & maybe Oscar straight out on loan as soon as the season starts. Then they can get the match experience they need to play at the next level if they are needed later in the season
Radhi Jaidi - KEEP AS BACK-UP Dan Harding - KEEP UNLESS WE HAVE FISH INSTEAD Danny Butterfield - KEEP BUT ONLY AS BACK-UP TO RICHARDSON Oscar Gobern - KEEP, WILL BE GOOD BACK-UP AND COULD STAKE A CLAIM FOR A REGULAR PLACE Aaron Martin - KEEP AND PLAY AS OFTEN AS POSSIBLE BEFORE SEABORNE David Connolly - KEEP AS BACK-UP BENCH WARMER FOR IMPACT
I'd keep all except Jaidi. He's good but he's not fit enough to play every game and centre half pairings are important and positions we don't want to rotate if we can avoid it. Conolly I'd give a pay as you play deal to. When he's not injured, he can be very influential. For a player of his age, his natural fitness and sharpness are impressive.
