Retained list

[macleanie]

Yep, little surprise. I echo the above, that Joel not cut out for League 1 anymore and pleased Conor has been offered a contract. Thanks to all those departing.

I do hope all those accept their offered contracts but I personally feel Jephcott is the most important to tie down. I think he's only going to improve. Assuming that Mayors option means he's signed already of course.

For those leaving it's sad that they didn't get a proper goodbye, from the fans, to the fans and also their colleagues. I hope they all find contracts elsewhere to protect their families and I hope its not long before we can watch any of the players play at Home Park.

 

[Rush Goalie]

Agreed on Taylor. Have no doubt it's the correct decision but when he signed up for a further two years, it felt like a major coup.

Always thought he worked hard and enjoyed being at Argyle. Good luck to him.

 

[Martin Brock]

Best of luck to all those moving on. I'm a little surprised about Joel Grant but clearly in a minority based on the thread.

We'll definitely need to bolster the squad but there should be no shortage of players available.

M

 

[Nobby]

Think the above comment is harsh on Joel Grant. Decent League Two player, with bags of experience but unfortunately doesn’t fit the system.

No real surprises in the rest. I get the feeling the retained list looks a bit different to how it may have done three months ago. Signing new players will be tough in this window and most of our squad have played well enough to be offered a new deal. Lowe probably can’t be as ruthless as he may have wanted to be.

He was mostly awful last season, consistently lacking effort and first touch. I don't think he can hide behind the 'not fitting the system' excuse like Ryan Taylor can, he's gone because he isn't anywhere near good enough.

Ryan Taylor is a striker, of which we play two. Joel Grant is a winger shoe-horned up front.

As for the lazy criticism, it is lazy criticism in itself. Languid running style, didn’t try any less than anyone else.

 

[Longwellgreen]

Looking at the list, if they do all sign we effectively have a starting 11 re positions etc if we aren’t able to bring anyone else in. That’s clearly been decisive in that retained list too.

 

[oldage]

Shocked to see some of these being offered new deals.
Sawyer and Wooton struggled for pace in league 2 ,Conor Grant is a squad player only.However I suppose in the circumstances beggars can't be choosers.We will certainly need some half decent loan players.

 

[xmastree]

Conor Grant is a frustrating one. Yes he played very well in midfield in the last two home games, contributing well to two easy victories. He also played very well at LB for 3 games the previous season - some people raved about his performances there for months afterwards! There's obviously talent there - I don't think he would have remained on Everton's books until the age of 23 if there hadn't been. For me, however, too often he is peripheral, inclined to produce the odd nice touch but to then go missing. He's been here two years, but hasn't established himself as an automatic choice. It's time to show he can produce over a significant period, and to prove he can battle it out during difficult spells rather than disappear. His next contract, whether with us or someone else, will define his career.

 

[WoodsyGreen]

Think the above comment is harsh on Joel Grant. Decent League Two player, with bags of experience but unfortunately doesn’t fit the system.

No real surprises in the rest. I get the feeling the retained list looks a bit different to how it may have done three months ago. Signing new players will be tough in this window and most of our squad have played well enough to be offered a new deal. Lowe probably can’t be as ruthless as he may have wanted to be.

He was mostly awful last season, consistently lacking effort and first touch. I don't think he can hide behind the 'not fitting the system' excuse like Ryan Taylor can, he's gone because he isn't anywhere near good enough.

Ryan Taylor is a striker, of which we play two. Joel Grant is a winger shoe-horned up front.

As for the lazy criticism, it is lazy criticism in itself. Languid running style, didn’t try any less than anyone else.

We'll have to agree to disagree on that one, Nobby.

The first time I noticed him not bothering to chase a long ball I made a point of watching him closely and it was clear even to a layman like myself that he isn't the type of player to chase lost causes. The difference when Hardie and Jephcott came in was like night and day.

In a Ryan Lowe team you have to press and harry and chase down everything. J Grant isn't that type of player - whether you describe that as lazy or not is just semantics.

 

[rsp4]

Agree with most of this.

Sawyer has to have another year just for his experience. Whether he is a starter is another thing.
I agree with Grant C not sure about Woots.

Thanks to all the released players for doing your bit in a Green shirt and good luck :nworthy:

 

[Gary S]

With regard to the "controversial" ones:

J. Grant: had him down as a candidate for player of the season playing
wide in our last spell in League 1 until he got injured, but never looked the
part up front. Can't be helped I guess.

C. Grant: very lucky to be offered another contract I feel. The occasional decent
performance, but too often anonymous.

Taylor: immense in our last promotion year, but maybe injuries have taken their toil. Shame,
but another "can't be helped I guess".

And as others have said, we're going to need reinforcements at the back.

 

[Mark Pedlar]

Shocked to see some of these being offered new deals.
Sawyer and Wooton struggled for pace in league 2 ,Conor Grant is a squad player only.However I suppose in the circumstances beggars can't be choosers.We will certainly need some half decent loan players.

As division 1 or 2 go neither Sawyer or Wootton are slow as centre backs, despite the received knowledge of PASOTI, and both make up for it by being reasonable footballers - a prime consideration in a Lowe team. Sawyer, despite his age, is one of the fitter members of the squad.

Whether anyone will be a squad player or a first choice in early June is irrelevant. Whether they will be in early September or October is much more relevant and we wont be able to make any judgement on that until we see who else joins the ranks.

"Beggars and not choosers" - first negative comment of the 2020/21 season? If we are THAT badly off I think we may end up back in the bottom division of a league made up of 2 not 4 divisions. Let's leave the knee jerking for a few months shall we?

 

[PL2 3DQ]

We don't know the standard until football settles down in the new era.
A good footballer in League Two might be a very good footballer in League One.
We just don't know.

 

[monkeywrench]

I wonder whether covid has impacted on the retained list. If this had not happened, I'd suspect we'd have a much bigger budget and we might have seen more players released?

 

[Herts Green]

With that retained list signing 2 Centre backs with pace will be the most important bit of business in the transfer window.

 

[davie nine]

I expect Mike Cooper to get his chance; we need a tall, dominating centre back with a bit of pace.
My main concern is replacing Ryan Hardie. We would not have reached ‘automatic’ position if we had not signed him.
Hopefully, Jephcott will re-sign.