Retained list

[cheshiregreen]

No guarantee contract offers will be accepted. Maybe the offers are deliberately not too attractive- just another season perhaps? Or just on existing terms?

Who knows?

Agree we need a CB with some pace.

 

[Dan Ellard]

If a league 2 club signs Taylor next season, gets him fit and plays him in a system that suits him, he'll be absolutely outstanding. As he was for us in 16/17 and 17/18. Obviously, the "get him fit" bit will be the difficulty, seems to have very bad luck with injuries.

Can't argue with the decisions really - at first I was a little surprised at Joel going by upon finding out that he's nearly 33, it's a fair call.

Hope I'm wrong but I think that the jump up a division may make things very difficult for Lolos to force his way into the side - he showed flashes last season but not enough to move above Jephcott, Moore or Telford in the pecking order. You'd imagine that we'd be looking sign a couple of strikers in the summer given that Taylor, Joel and Hardie are departing. Moore being used as a RWB often means that with only Jephcott, Telford and Lolos as the other options, we'd need at least one more.

 

[Mark Pedlar]

Time is on Lolos' side

 

[greybeard kernow]

im very happy they have stuck by lolos ,having watched him play a lot in reserve games, he is defo one for the future, as for the squad what is it around 16 players, if they all sign which i expect most will, i can not see more signings, maybe 2 ,and 2 loans giving a squad of 20, until football sorts itself out after virus,and it would not surprise me if the contracts are for so much money for 6 months, and improve when we are aloud back in to watch, we shall see, league 1 will not be as tough as people think, yes there are some big teams , but a lot of smaller teams who have a lot less resources than argyle,i feel we will do ok

 

[Dan Ellard]

I've never quite understood the obsession with pace at centre-half. Give me someone who is strong, good in the air, positionally adept and can play the ball out over quickness every day of the week.

Our CB pairings/trios of past promotion haven't replied on pace. Wotton and Coughlan weren't quick. Neither was Aljofree particularly. None of Bradley, Bulvitis, Songo'o or Sokolik had any kind of pace. The 14/15 team obviously didn't go up, but the defence was impregnable at times, and whilst Nelson was pretty quick, McHugh and Hartley certainly weren't.

A counter-argument could be that our 3 at the back and possession-based game means our defensive line is often higher and more prone to being hit on the counter, meaning we would need more pace back there, but I think on the whole the most important factors we need to look for in our centre backs in Lowe's system are heading and tackling (middle centre back) and playing the ball out and positional sense (right and left centre backs).

 

[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.

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?

I was indicating that with the assumed lack of incoming revenue we will have to make do whereas under "normal" circumstances we would presumably be looking for better players. Hopefully when things improve we will be able to strengthen the squad.

 

[Always Faithful]

Even if all sign, I think we need 2 centre backs at least. Palmer's contribution shouldn't be underestimated. Without him we would go from one of the better defensive records to one of the poorest.

Anyone who watched Mansfield at home will remember that he must've saved about 3 or 4 one on ones in the first half alone.

Think we've got a good base for League 1 and will be more financially stable than most.

 

[pafcdje]

Difficult to argue with any of those let go . Of those offered deals, maybe one or two might have been borderline but difficult to say that they don't merit being offered a deal . If every player offered a deal were to sign that would give us 20 players of which 8 are " home grown" . That I think reflects likely EFL rules to come in re salary caps , minimum numbers of home grown players , and also RL reducing expenditure ( see other thread) . Of the 8 homegrown players we already know that RL thinks highly of 3 and Sawyer is club captain . We have to hope that a couple of the others are good enough to be at least be on the bench . The likelihood is that not all offered deals will re-sign so there should be the chance to stengthen .

Ignoring the youngsters if you look at the "Out list" ( loans and released) positionaly its as follows:

Goalkeeper (1)
Wing back (2)
Central Defender (1)
Midfielder (1)
Forward ( 4)

Overall whether on loan or permanent , we'll need a keeper , and 4/5 others perhaps depending on who actually does re-sign. ,

 

[Metal Green Mickey]

I think Taylor was magnificent for us. The problem was his injuries. They eventually hampered his performances. Yet you think of times under Adams he played that lone forward role with little support in league one and not only played well but made the team play well because of his hold up play.

I don’t think the play style suited Taylor or a Grant. I remember the beautiful equaliser Grant scored against Swindon away. Coming in from the left side of the pitch. To me he was never a forward. He was a winger who could score a goal. His best games were in the wide left position. Unfortunately, he looked lost at times being played as a forward.

Conor Grant is a interesting decision. Just before Covid-19 hit us he started to get in the team. He played at times l felt in a deeper role. Like a quarter back position, who had the players in front of him. He kept the ball well and used it wisely. He looks decent with options ahead of him. The same as when l saw him at left back the year before. The issue seems to be if he is asked to play in a more advanced position higher up the pitch. He seems to then become less assured. I wasn’t convinced, and am still not now, but would like to see more of him in a deeper role because he does keep possession well.

 

[philevs]

Great news about promotion!
Like the look of our retained list, in fact I like pretty much everything Ryan Lowe does, because he simply knows what he’s doing. He really gives our youngsters a chance, which I love to see and is great for the club and the whole area on many levels.
A bit of a surprise for me that Gary Sawyer has been offered a new contract, but very pleased that he has.
Really looking forward to seeing RL’s new signings.

 

[philevs]

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.

Don’t rule out Hardie signing for us next season.

 

[xmastree]

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.

Don’t rule out Hardie signing for us next season.

I hope you're right, but where's the money coming from?

 

[r4h4al]

I really think we need to strengthen defensively. What evidence is there that these players are good enough for League 1?

 

[Ted]

Be nice to have Zak Vyner back

 

[mervyn]

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.

Don’t rule out Hardie signing for us next season.

I hope you're right, but where's the money coming from?

I think it’s important to remember that all clubs in the current financial crisis will be making hard decisions about their own loaned out players. If the lending club has to operate with a smaller squad, then players previously on the margin like Hardie or Cooper may well be reluctantly released.