Squad come 1st July (15 replies)
Not everyone we sign is going to be aged 20-26 and either a bright prospect or about to hit their prime. We're going to have to sign a couple of shorter-term players. If you exclude youth team players who are yet to start a competitive game for us, assume all loanees return, contracts aren't renewed (I'd give Sunjic a new one) and we don't sign anybody in Jan (we will and I reckon Drameh will be one), it looks like this:
Goalkeeper:
None- Ruddy/Etheridge and I think Jeacock all out of contract
Centre backs:
Sanderson- long term deal
Left backs:
Longelo- not convinced he'll feature/be around in future
Buchanan- mustard
Right backs:
Laird- never fit
Williams- can't get a game for Cheltenham
Central midfielders- all types:
Bielek- fine
Bacuna- love the bastard
James- probably off
Chang- will he recover ok? Probably.
Attacking midfielders- wide and central:
Miyoshi- ace
Dembele- ace
Hall- never fit
Roberts- never fit
Donovan - promising but a kid
Strikers:
None
So you're left with:
Sanderson
Longelo
Buchanan
Laird
Williams
Bielek
Bacuna
James
Chang
Dembele
Roberts
Miyoshi
Donovan
13-14 'first team' players at a push, with no goalkeepers, one centre back, two kids who've been out injured most of the season, another kid who's likely off for big money, Laird and Roberts who are very injury prone and no strikers.
Absolutely massive job this summer. For me we have to sign a couple in January to just give ourselves a head start.
The starting point for me would be:
- Kevin Long another 12 months
- Drameh permanently
- See if Ruddy wants to stay as number 2
- Give Sunjic a new, cheaper contract
Given how hard we find it to sign one striker, I'm not sure how we're going to be able to sign 3 in the same summer.
There's probably some errors in that, contracts taken from Transfermarkt but still, looks a huge job to me.