Given how dire our performances have been this season, I feel if we are to progress as a club, a (relatively minor compared with two years ago) clear-out will be needed. Who should stay, and who should go? For what its worth, my thoughts: Hamer - despite his occasional hiccups, he has the best distribution I've seen from a keeper and has a lot of potential. KEEP Hughes - seems to be a big character in the dressing room and could have a future in coaching. Wouldn't want him playing but worth keeping to help out the youngsters KEEP Evina - seems incapable of blocking crosses, but he'll develop in time. Good enough as back-up KEEP Jackson - lacks any agility, goes missing in games and is very slow. However he can hit a static ball better than most, and seems to be a calming head. Good enough as a squad player, but not first choice KEEP Morrison - not as solid as he was in League One, but a decent young CB who is only going to get better. KEEP Taylor - in League One he got the job done without drawing too much attention to himself. The step up doesn't seem to have worked for him, and he gets caught out a great deal. He's getting no younger. LET GO Green - despite his flaws defensively, and his inability to tackle, he is a decent crosser, can go past a full-back and takes a decent set-piece. Also has an eye for goal. Wouldn't want him as first choice. KEEP Stephens - has a great deal of potential but far too error prone and his heart doesn't seem to be in the club. If anyone comes in with a decent offer, I'd take it. LET GO Haynes - his main asset is his pace, yet he doesn't seem to know how to use it. Can only run in straight lines, poor dribbling ability/ball control and spends most of his time in the treatment room. LET GO BWP - the only goal scorer we have at the club, a confidence-player whose confidence has been shattered by how he's been treated in recent months. He'll be released in the summer sadly, but I'd rather he wasn't. KEEP Wagstaff - very frustrating player, but he's full of passion, has an eye for a goal and seems to love playing for the club. Not a first choice, but decent back-up. KEEP Kerkar - one of the worst players I've ever seen. LET GO Sullivan - He's spent his whole career playing back-up to other keepers, he deserves a chance elsewhere, as he won't ever make the CAFC number 1 shirt his own. LET GO Pritchard - despite his average passing, and poor finishing, he never gives up and is a brilliant tackler. Loves playing for the club. KEEP Mambo - Seems to be doing well at Shrewsbury, give him another year and see how he continues to develop. KEEP Wiggins - one of the best LB's in the league on his day, sometimes dodgy defensively but more than good enough. KEEP Cook - too many wingers at the club already, and hasn't set the world alight. LET GO Kermorgant - biggest cult hero we've had in years. Fully capable of playing with the ball at his feet, so I wish other players would realise this. KEEP Fuller - has ten bad games for every one good game. I don't think the problem is a lack of commitment, I think he's just past it. His rare moments of brilliance are overshadowed by his all too frequent indecisiveness, greed and poor control. LET GO Solly - best defensive full-back outside the Premier League. KEEP Hollands - not Championship standard. Drifts in and out of games. LET GO Wilson - got a decent engine, but his head drops far too easily and very rarely puts his marker on a game. LET GO Button - has been poor in every game he's played in so far. By all accounts Pope is developing well, promote him to the bench next season and hopefully Button still has some sell-on value. LET GO Cort - been our most consistent player this season. He seems aware of his own faults, and so rarely gets into a situation where they count against him. KEEP Harriott - just about the only good thing to have come out of this season. He's confident, pacey, can cross, has an eye for goal and is still very young. KEEP Smith - seems to be developing well and has a 1in3 goal ratio. A big powerful (potential) goal scorer, something every club wants. KEEP Dervite - his habit of tracking the ball rather than the striker, and his odd foot-eye co-ordination, are all too risky at CB, and his poor passing makes him a problem in CM. LET GO.
Fuller remains an enigma for me- money depends on whether we keep him. Wilson was the only other surprising one. It would have to take a decent profit before I'd be happy about letting him go. Versatile- has the qualities or both a RB and RM. has been our best player in several games, I think he can make another step up and become a valuable asset next season.
There will be a number of factors dictating who will go and who will stay including their transfer value, the existence of any willing buyers, contractual status, which division we are in, if investors are found, if CP is still manager etc etc. I am thereore approaching this as a purely subjective exercise and saying who I would like here next year and who I would not. The only assumption I'd make is that we stay up. Hamer, Solly, Wiggins, Morrison, Stephens - I'd keep them all but its a reasonable bet that they will all be sold and will probably have some value. If not replaced we are up a certain creek withoput a particularly important implement! They are our best players and are capable, if properly managed and encouraged, of playing at his level and perhaps higher. Taylor, Cort, Evina, Kermorgant - I'd keep them all as squad players as they are faithful and loyal servants and competent at this level after a fashion. Some may think this is harsh on Kermit but I don't think he has looked anything like as good this year as we thought he would. Jury is out as to whether that is actually a criticism of the midfield. Green, Harriott - I have a blind spot for Green as I freely admit. However, both for different reasons would give us something different. Neither is the finished article and both need careful (better in Green's case!) management. Keep both (we won't) Jackson, Button, Pritchard - I'm right on the borderline with these three. I don't think any of them are up to this level for a number of different reasons but Pritch and Jacko just try so damn hard that I feel some loyalty to them. In an ideal world they would both be replaced with something better but this isn't one. I don't particularly rate Button from what I've seen, but he's as good an option as I can think of if Hamer goes and Pope is deemed not ready. I'll say keep them but it wouldn't much bother me if we didn't other than to shed a tear and wish them well. I'd clear out everyone else. Harsh? Maybe but as I see it Haynes is potentially exciting and lethal but I just wait for the "twang" every time runs and I don't think we can rely on that. He also did not cover himself in glory on Saturday attitude wise! Wilson I like, but he is too inconsistent and has shown a tendency to hide in recent games. I hate that. If it could be sorted he's an asset but I'm not quite sure what he is. He's not quite good enough to be either a top class winger or full back. To the rest I say thanks for the memories. I have not commented on any of the kids other than Harriott as I just don't know enough. I've probably forgotten someone obvious!!!!
Outs Hughes,Mambo,BWP,Green,Cook,Sullivan,Kerkar,Fuller.Would keep Hollands as I feel he could do a job for us.
It all depends who's coming in, and whether we can get anyone better than what we've got. So far this season we've brought in 3 strikers- Fuller, Hulse and Obika. I wouldn't want to see any of them next season in preference to BWP or Haynes.
To go: Sullivan we can't carry 4 Keepers if Pope continues to develop. Hughes maybe keep as a coach as he seems quite a character. Taylor not CCC quality in my opinion and with no potential to become so. Cook seen as promising but do not feel he has taken his opportumuities. Kerkar frustrating player,but the emergence of Harriott suggests to me he ahs become surplus to requirements. BWP Top L1 striker but not CCC quality Maybes Dervite Looked good at times but is that enough? Cort Maybe kept for cover next season but has seen better days. Mambo Lets see how he does at Shrewsbury. Green Exciting on his day which is not often enough for my liking. Fuller and Haynes on their day both are match winners,but are they fit?Maybe its the fitness concerns which makes them inconsistent. Of the others mentioned I'd like to see Wagstaff kept and I can't understand why he has not played more. Hollands was injured at the start of the season so did not have a good pre season so that may have affected his performances.I also like the fact he is left footed which gives the team better balance.
Shows how much I know LOL. Hughes needs to stay after the last 3 games.At 35 I think he could still contribute next season but he could not play all of the games. Dervite has also impressed me over the last week so I would like to move him into the keep box. I could even see a role for Kerkar in the squad as a left footed alternative to Harriott,we can't let Callum burn out.He looked quite tired towards the end yesterday. Like to see more of Gower and see if Rouamba is up to it before the end of the season.
It all hangs on finances which we know nothing about, and on fitness where we don't know the complete story. It's fun to post and offer opinions, but really we could all be talking out of our collective a*ses. I am particularly intrigued by the way players are ignored for the squad and we assume they have kicked their last ball for Charlton, then suddenly reappear in the team for no apparent reason. (It is not as if they have displayed blistering form while out on loan, for example). I sometimes wonder if this is to put them in the shop window for potential employers (though that would seem a dangerous game to play until we are mathematically safe). Also I suspect a lot of minor injuries and illnesses reported are diplomatic fig-leaves to mask disputes with the management or distracting personal problems. (Though if that were true I would have expected Hamer to have had "a bruised finger" for four matches as a face-saver). We never really know what is going on until 15 years later when the autobiographies appear, and not always then. When I was a 10-year-old, my brother took me to Fulham to watch an old schoolmate of his playing for Liverpool. He was rubbish. I could be sure of that even at my young age. Turned out the player had been kept up all night by his new baby. Players are human. They have relationship problems, addiction problems, family problems, financial problems, etc. Sometimes they get the wrong side of an established player in the team. Players coming from a different country (and especially from a different culture) can take time to adjust. Sometimes these problems get solved and a hitherto mediocre player becomes a star. (Look at Kermorgant, for example). CP and his staff will know a lot more about these issues than us and may make surprising (to us) choices as a result.
E17, would you like to start a "Kind to Kerkar" club with me? We could start today with two of us, and as the weeks go by the number might swell to 6 or 7. Seriously, I could see Kerkar being a half-million euro player in France, Holland or Denmark. He is playing in the wrong country.
Perhaps that is where he is aiming some of his crosses then. But as you say Eddie it is odd with players coming in out of the cold - when Kerkar re-appeared it was like one of those School matches where you're desperate for numbers so you invite a friend of friend. We haven't had the same XI for more than two (2) games this season, have we?
I would get rid of the following,Cook,Kerkar,Green,Mambo,BWP,Fuller.This would free up some wages to bring some new blood in.There will be quite a few decent free transfers like Judge.
Spot on, eddie. Fans sometimes expect their Saturday afternoon heroes to be Superheroes, whereas they're a lot like the people who support them, except for the special sporting talent that sets them apart. Look at what happened to Hollands after his multiple bundles of joy arrived...seriously, can you imagine him trying to get a good night's sleep?
Someone should tell him about "Powernapping". It might solve our midfield problems(with respect to Hughesy)
I have never understood the amount of stick Kerkar gets, he might not be playing well but his footballing talents have been there to see in flashes if you know what to look for. Not sure what it is that has held him back but for sure he has talent there, just a shame he clearly doesn't fit in here
I'd just like him to produce a fraction of the form he showed pre-season in the Sporting Lisbon game or when he came on as sub at Forest - he's gone backwards at a rate of knots.
