Who would

[lancaster shrimp]

You keep if/when we go down?

[P/T Indie]

Sean Mcloughlin he would be great in league 2 where you need to scrap.

After that I'm struggling apart from Toums.

The defence has been a shambles all year so I am not sure about any of them, I think Greg will move on.

[Redalert1970]

Totally agree about Shane

Stockton unless he's sold

All the others very very unsure

[glagys]

Let’s be honest
I thought most of the players Robbo brought in were L2 standard at best
But to keep :-
Keep Greg but he’ll probs move when his contract is up and he’ll have no probs finding a club
Connolly looks a prospect on a contract I think
Toums solid
Shane battling midfielder
Cole if no one takes him
Cooney
And there are some who will be “released by mutual consent “ I think

[P/T Indie]

Tonight in Derek's interview last night again he was asked are the players you inherited good enough and he wouldn't answer speaks volumes.

[Keith]

Tonight in Derek's interview last night again he was asked are the players you inherited good enough and he wouldn't answer speaks volumes.

FFS!

He has to answer, firmly, unequivocally, "YES" and he has to ensure that they believe it too. He's just told us, and them, that he doesn't think they are good enough. No idea how he picks them up psychologically after that?

[BerlinWaller]

Seen 2 posts digging out Derek and shocked to the core by who posted them.

[P/T Indie]

I know surely you would just say something like they are group of honest lads and I believe they will give everything to the end of the season and just not mention the quality.

I think it might be time to open up the AOC debate again he has been the one constant in the defence yet we have never stopped shipping goals even when we got a better partner for him in, would anyone keep him next season?

[Gone_Shrimping]

Pretty clear a number of Stephen Robinson's signings were not League 1 standard.

He made mistakes with the 2 goalkeepers we played before January and they cost us a lot of points.

I would expect Leigh to move on in the Summer probably to St Mirren.

Carson will return to his parent club and then probably also move on to St Mirren.

Not sure which players have contracts that expire this Summer , maybe an anorak can post that information.

[Little Shrimp]

Not a fan of the term 'not good enough for x level' as it's too inflexible and misses lots of things. Look at what Tranmere fans said about Stockton, and what our fans said about Vadaine Oliver!

I think some of the Robinson signings that haven't worked out, there has been a decent logic to them. McDonald, for example, had a great season and then an average season in L2, and put up some decent dribbling numbers. Not worked out, but you've got to take some punts with our budget and I can get over signings like that.

The main issue I feel is that he hugely underestimated the impact of losing Lavelle. Given the timing of Lavelle's departure, it's hard to pinpoint exactly what he should have done different - I kind of feel he should have had a stronger back-up in place already given his departure was likely. Delaney/Wootton were reasonable options as back-up to AOC, but (taking out how good/bad they've been) just didn't have the right attributes (physical presence/aerial dominance) to replace Lavelle. Add that to keeper woes and the lack of a proper defensive midfielder in the squad and I think we have the root of our problem.

In fairness to Robinson he fixed this in Jan and we were playing miles better, but I think we were still suffering a bit psychologically/loss of momentum etc from Nov/Dec and also just a bit unlucky.

In terms of keeps and looking at players on one years/loans - Carson appeared to fancy a move back south of the border so we'd be in with a shot, which would be great. Smith seemed competent too. Leigh, but I'm not holding out too much hope there. Would like us to have a go at getting Phillips permanently. Bennett would be a good keep too as I think he's very much an Adams defender, and complements AOC well. Wildig and McLoughlin would be keeps for me as well (out of all those on one year).

[BerlinWaller]

A manager plays 3 at the back because he doesn't trust the Defenders he has. Adams is right not to trust them, the stats confirm that. Individually they are ok but as a unit we are so vunerable. We have had a soft centre all season. Robbo went top heavy with the attackers in his pursuit of Champagne football but left us with a poor defence and 2 GK's not up to it. This is what has cost us and the damage was done before he jumped ship and Derek came in. Derek had 10 games to get a poor squad in shape to stay up and playing gung ho football was never an option. We have to be harder to beat and scrape a 1 nil but clearly these lads don't have the fight.

Carson, Wildig, Toums for me. The hardest bit will be shifting the dead wood Robbo brought in.

[redrobo]

Not a fan of the term 'not good enough for x level' as it's too inflexible and misses lots of things. Look at what Tranmere fans said about Stockton, and what our fans said about Vadaine Oliver!

I think some of the Robinson signings that haven't worked out, there has been a decent logic to them. McDonald, for example, had a great season and then an average season in L2, and put up some decent dribbling numbers. Not worked out, but you've got to take some punts with our budget and I can get over signings like that.

The main issue I feel is that he hugely underestimated the impact of losing Lavelle. Given the timing of Lavelle's departure, it's hard to pinpoint exactly what he should have done different - I kind of feel he should have had a stronger back-up in place already given his departure was likely. Delaney/Wootton were reasonable options as back-up to AOC, but (taking out how good/bad they've been) just didn't have the right attributes (physical presence/aerial dominance) to replace Lavelle. Add that to keeper woes and the lack of a proper defensive midfielder in the squad and I think we have the root of our problem.

In fairness to Robinson he fixed this in Jan and we were playing miles better, but I think we were still suffering a bit psychologically/loss of momentum etc from Nov/Dec and also just a bit unlucky.

In terms of keeps and looking at players on one years/loans - Carson appeared to fancy a move back south of the border so we'd be in with a shot, which would be great. Smith seemed competent too. Leigh, but I'm not holding out too much hope there. Would like us to have a go at getting Phillips permanently. Bennett would be a good keep too as I think he's very much an Adams defender, and complements AOC well. Wildig and McLoughlin would be keeps for me as well (out of all those on one year).

Funny how we all see things differently.

For me the buck starts and finishes with his appointment. He talked a good game and probably convinced our BoD with enough Irish blarney to get the job BUT his some of his signings have failed to live up to EFL1 standard and the lack of midfield defensive cover has proved costly.

Mind you we have now got that on board but DA seems not to want to play him despite a good performance at Bolton for some unknown reason.

League 2 beckons but all is not lost BUT a clear out is needed whichever league we find ourselves in.

[vvm]

Agree with most of what has been said, the position we were in at the start of the season meant risks and punts needed to be taken. Some don't look so good in hindsight but I feel like the majority at the time seemed like good ideas.

Stolen this from the current squad thread to give people an idea of who's on the books and length of contracts etc...

Squad number / Player name / (Contract length) / Main position / Other positions / Age / Height / foot

12, A. Da Silva Mendes (1) / GK / 18 / 6'1" / right
30, T. Carson (loan) / GK / 33 / 6’1” / right
41, A. Smith / GK/ 29/ 6'4" / right

3, G. Leigh (1) / LB / LM,DM / 27 / 5’11” / left
22, L. Gibson (2) / LB / CB / 24 / 6'1" / left
26, C. Pye (pro deal) / LB / 17 / ?’?” / left

4, A. O'Connor (2) / CB / RB,DM / 29 / 6'0" / right
5, J. Bedeau (loan) / CB / 22 / 6’0” / left
15, R. Delaney (2) / CB / LB / 25 / 6'5" / left
16, J. Mensah (1) / CB / 21 / 6'0" / right

2, R. McLaughlin (1) / RB / LB, RW / 27 / 5’10” / right
21, R. Cooney (2) / RB / LB,RW / 21 / 5'10" / right

6, C. Jones (loan) / CM / DM / 20 / 5’11" / right
8, T. Diagouraga (1) / CM / DM / 34 / 6'2" / right
10, A. Wildig (1) / CM / AM,DM / 29 / 5'9" / right
18, A. Phillips (loan) / CM / DM,AM / 23 / 5’11” / right
19, S. McLoughlin (1) / CM / AM,DM,RM,RB / 24 / 5’8” / right
25, A. McCalmont (loan) / CM / DM,AM / 21 / 5’9” / right

7, W. McDonald (2) / LW / RW,AM / 24 / 5'9" / right
17, J. Ayunga (2) / RW/ LW,ST / 24 / 6’1” / right
23, F. Price (1) / AM / LW,RW,CF / 19 / 5'11" / left
24, A. Gnahoua (1) / LW / AM,RW,ST / 29 / 5’11” / left

9, C. Stockton (2) / ST / 27 / 6'1" / right
14, J. Obika (2) / ST / LW / 31 / 6’0” / right
28, C. Duffus (2) / ST / LW,RW / 26 / 6’2” / right

[redrobo]

Agree with most of what has been said, the position we were in at the start of the season meant risks and punts needed to be taken. Some don't look so good in hindsight but I feel like the majority at the time seemed like good ideas.

Stolen this from the current squad thread to give people an idea of who's on the books and length of contracts etc...

Squad number / Player name / (Contract length) / Main position / Other positions / Age / Height / foot

12, A. Da Silva Mendes (1) / GK / 18 / 6'1" / right
30, T. Carson (loan) / GK / 33 / 6’1” / right
41, A. Smith / GK/ 29/ 6'4" / right

3, G. Leigh (1) / LB / LM,DM / 27 / 5’11” / left
22, L. Gibson (2) / LB / CB / 24 / 6'1" / left
26, C. Pye (pro deal) / LB / 17 / ?’?” / left

4, A. O'Connor (2) / CB / RB,DM / 29 / 6'0" / right
5, J. Bedeau (loan) / CB / 22 / 6’0” / left
15, R. Delaney (2) / CB / LB / 25 / 6'5" / left
16, J. Mensah (1) / CB / 21 / 6'0" / right

2, R. McLaughlin (1) / RB / LB, RW / 27 / 5’10” / right
21, R. Cooney (2) / RB / LB,RW / 21 / 5'10" / right

6, C. Jones (loan) / CM / DM / 20 / 5’11" / right
8, T. Diagouraga (1) / CM / DM / 34 / 6'2" / right
10, A. Wildig (1) / CM / AM,DM / 29 / 5'9" / right
18, A. Phillips (loan) / CM / DM,AM / 23 / 5’11” / right
19, S. McLoughlin (1) / CM / AM,DM,RM,RB / 24 / 5’8” / right
25, A. McCalmont (loan) / CM / DM,AM / 21 / 5’9” / right

7, W. McDonald (2) / LW / RW,AM / 24 / 5'9" / right
17, J. Ayunga (2) / RW/ LW,ST / 24 / 6’1” / right
23, F. Price (1) / AM / LW,RW,CF / 19 / 5'11" / left
24, A. Gnahoua (1) / LW / AM,RW,ST / 29 / 5’11” / left

9, C. Stockton (2) / ST / 27 / 6'1" / right
14, J. Obika (2) / ST / LW / 31 / 6’0” / right
28, C. Duffus (2) / ST / LW,RW / 26 / 6’2” / right

Of those on a 2 year deal the only one I would consider keeping would be Obika, Stockton and possibly Cooney and O'Connor. All the others on 2 year deals can go.

McDonald and Duffus are not up to it and Ayunga has to have a question mark against his fiture with us despite my liking of him.

[Keith]

All the others on 2 year deals can go.

Go where? Someone else has to want them, otherwise, we have to pay their contracts up.

[SEASIDECLARET]

From looking down this thread and checking the players out of contract at the end of June, it would appear that the majority of posters would have, if they had their choice, only about 3/4 players left - which would be a similar position to last June!

[redrobo]

All the others on 2 year deals can go.

Go where? Someone else has to want them, otherwise, we have to pay their contracts up.

Let's hope that escape clauses have been written into their contracts....so that we are not saddle with the likes of McDonald for another season....

As for building another team almost like the bones of last year, I'd have more faith in DA being able to put together a squad capable of holding their all in EFL1 and certainly in EFL2.

[P/T Indie]

Would people give derek a large budget and throw everything at getting back to league 1?

[Phoenix Shrimp 2017]

Would people give derek a large budget and throw everything at getting back to league 1?

Do we even have the capability to give Derek a 'large budget'? Yes we must have had a very solid season financially, income from player sales and managers moving on, increased revenue from EFL 1 and far larger crowds and all that brings. The other thing I thought of which we as fans don't know the answer to, but non match day income such as allowing the NHS the use of the main stand for Covid operations. Surely that has helped the budget.

The other thing we as fans don't know is how much the owners contribute or alternatively take out of the business?

Only the inner sanctum will know this and thankfully in the main they are like us, Shrimps through and through.

How much Derek will get as a budget next season is anyone's guess but hopefully it will be competitive to give us the best chance of bouncing back.

UTS.

[BerlinWaller]

Would people give derek a large budget and throw everything at getting back to league 1?

We can't go back to just being happy to scrape by and we have to back Derek in the summer regardless of what league we are in.

[Keith]

Would people give derek a large budget and throw everything at getting back to league 1?

We can't go back to just being happy to scrape by and we have to back Derek in the summer regardless of what league we are in.

'Backing Derek' & 'throwing everything at getting back to League One' are two different things.

[Andy D]

He made mistakes with the 2 goalkeepers we played before January and they cost us a lot of points.

been going on about this, and people say you cant just blame the goalkeepers, well a lot of the shots were going straight at them and sometimes in-between their legs and at Sheffield Wednesday Fat Boy could hardly jump because he was carrying that much weight.

Carson will return to his parent club and then probably also move on to St Mirren..

Robbo might be sacked by then

[Andy D]

Lets not forget what DA did with Jim Bentley's signings who people said weren't good enough for L2?
no reason why DA cant improved a lot of Robbo's signings .

[BerlinWaller]

Would people give derek a large budget and throw everything at getting back to league 1?

We can't go back to just being happy to scrape by and we have to back Derek in the summer regardless of what league we are in.

'Backing Derek' & 'throwing everything at getting back to League One' are two different things.

Who mentioned throwing everything at Derek to get back to League 1? He needs a top end budget to compete at the top end of L2, not saying we need to sell the family jewels

[KenH]

Lets not forget what DA did with Jim Bentley's signings who people said weren't good enough for L2?
no reason why DA cant improved a lot of Robbo's signings .

This is my hope too. When DA took over the first time, he pretty quickly cut out the dead wood, and improved a few of the players he inherited, then brought in new players over time to fill the gaps such as Toums, Songoo, etc. Stockton and Carlos in particular improved immeasurable over DA's 18 months' or so.

This Summer, I really hope DA doesn't make Robbo's mistake in clearing out too many. We need to keep some continuity. Robbo's team just hasn't "gel-ed" which is no surprise because too many changes were made in one transfer window. We all expected Robbo to bring in some quality but it just didn't happen and our current squad is about the same standard as our L2 squad of 1/2 years ago, which just isn't good enough for L1. Robbo would probably have got similar results by keeping all players he could from last season and just filled in the gaps from the few who'd already decided to leave, but keep the continuity, keep the spine, etc.