The Poolie Bunker

Now that the season is truly over, who would you keep? Here’s the current squad although it might not be 100% accurate as it’s lifted from the official site.


Goalkeeper

Adam Smith
Harvey Cartwright


Defender


Tom Parkes
Louis Stephenson
Campbell Darcy
Reiss McNally
Jay Benn
Maxim Kouogun
Cameron John
Besart Topallaj x


Midfielder

Jack Hunter
Nathan Sheron
Jamie Miley
Brad Walker
Matty Daly
Joe Aungiers


Forward
Adam Campbell
Luke Charman
Sam Folarin
Danny Johnson
Jermaine Francis x
Kian Foreman
Alex Reid
Josh Donaldson

Francis and Topallaj both now play for Sutton. Cartwright is back at Hull. Sheron is under contract for next season and I expect the same for Hayes.

I would love to have an injury free Harvey Cartwright but I think we’d have to pay Hull a fee.

Assuming the rest are out of contract I would keep the following:
McNally
Kougan
Parkes (I think he might make a good player-coach)
John
Miley
Reid

I’m undecided about Benn and Sinclair. Sinclair on his form against Carlisle would be a definite.
I don’t know enough about the youngsters to have a view.

Definitely keep:
McNally, Kougan, Miley, Reid

Consider offering another year (though for this group it’s a case of I think we’d struggle to sign another 15 players and we need depth rather than me rating them):
Parkes, Sheron, Daly, Charman

Try to make loans permanent:
John, Sinclair

Get rid:
Smith, Benn, Stephenson, Hunter, Walker, Folarin, Johnson. Probably try and upgrade Hayes as well, hasn’t impressed me all that much.

Fire into the Sun:
Campbell

The youth players haven’t played enough for me to say either way. I imagine their wages are inconsequential to our business anyway to be honest.

Unfortunately given this is Pools we’re talking about we’ll probably see most of them starting for us next season…

the 3 players i never want to see in a pools shirt again are campbell, daly and johnson. walker does not count as he does not play anymore and has not done this season. how daly avoids the stick on here is beyond me as he does hardly anything in games when he starts and is hard to spot sat in the stand never mind for the players on the pitch. at least campbell is there to cock it up. his mid field partner is invisable.

I don’t get keeping Reid, he’s not combative and invisible apart from the odd goal.

i would only keep him id we signed a top target man for him to play off and go into next season with him and another up front. wonder who feels sorry the most. him for signing or fans watching him in his present role.

Goalkeeper

Adam Smith
Nick Hayes - no choice but to keep really but sign another decent keeper to be the number 1


Defender


Tom Parkes - release
Louis Stephenson - release
Campbell Darcy - release
Reiss McNally - keep
Jay Benn - keep
Maxim Kouogun - keep
Cameron John - sign



Midfielder

Jack Hunter - release
Nathan Sheron - release
Jamie Miley - keep
Brad Walker - release
Matty Daly - release
Joe Aungiers - send out on season long loan


Forward
Adam Campbell - release (tomorrow if possible)
Luke Charman - release
Sam Folarin - keep
Danny Johnson - release (put him in the same taxi as Campbell)
Kian Foreman - another season long loan somewhere
Alex Reid - keep
Josh Donaldson - keep

Tyrese Sinclair - sign

I'd bin the lot.
No point in keeping overated players who ain't capable of going on a winning streak which is required for a promotion objective.

Big question who's Gunna be the new gaffer to end this dogshit.
And they have to be reasonably backed otherwise the takeover was pointless.

I'm still optimistic we Gunna be ok though.
UTP.

You can't go on a winning run if you set your stall out not to concede every game. We've got some good players who rarely let us down, Miley, McNally, Kougun, for example so why bun the lot?
One of the pundits after the England rugby defeat when asked if the head coach was under threat summed things up very well, "England have got a lot of extremely talented players in the squad, if the coach isn't able to help them realise their potential as a team then he's got to go" or words to that effect. I'm not saying we have a great squad, but what we have is massively under-achieving imo and the coach has to take responsibility.
Get someone in now on a 2 year deal to assess who is worth keeping and identify the kind of players we need to recruit ready to move as soon as this season is finished.

not too different to what mine would be. it should still give us scope to bring 10 or 11 new lads in good or better than them with a good bench every game. big question still for me is where we will be doing our shopping at the end of the season. since the takeover there has nothing to indicate that changes regarding this is written in stone.

Makes me laugh when i hear a manager saying “This Bunch of Players” are not capable.

Yet we find ourselves playing (no disrespect) lesser teams and their managers seem to be able to get them playing decent football.
On the front foot and are also able to motivate them. Has Featherstone not realised this.

Agree with all of this- though would keep Hunter OR Sheron - probably Hunter on recent form.

90% agree, but still don’t see Reid as any use under present circumstances and ‘style’ of play.
Maybe with the much need target man, he may come good …but looking good under our present excuse for tactics is far from easy.

its a case of getting the best out of the players you have and motivate them. i,d guess now that all the teams in every league facing a relegation battle are not the worst group of players in that league.

One of the few managers who could get the best out of players was Clough turning ‘mediocre’ players into league and Champions League winners, people like him are few and far between. Usually payers who had a short career tend to good managers, how many great footballers have succeeded in football but failed in management ?
No different in your working life, some managers you would run through a brick wall for others nope.

plus its something you cannot learn either because more or less people like that are just being themselves. try to copy any of them and most likely you,ll fall flat on your face. even clubs after all these years still do not realise being a top footballer does not mean you can be a top manager, coach or pundit for that matter. having a household name is more or less that only.

The only conclusion you can draw really, given that I think we mostly agree that the players CVs would indicate that most of them are good enough for this level, is that the system is flawed and the manager is actually demotivating at least some of them?

Bottom line.

NF said these players CANNOT play 2 up top OR expansive football.
So his best alternative is what we are seeing.

Yet we have witnessed lesser (no disrespect) teams/players come to the Vic and at least try to play football.
And in most cases succeeded, Won/Drawn.

its his preferred way to play the game and he is going to die by the sword insisting on it. we have all got our way we like to see the game being played and would make excuses for the failure of this system if that happened. id featherball was a success with results would we still be unhappy with it.

It wouldn’t be so bad if he tinkered with his system but he is a dogmatic guy and his strategy never changes . His system is not to lose with a loan striker . You can ask any striker if they are happy at just holding the ball up and 99% would say no . All strikers like at least one partner . Featherstones style of football is dill like his personality . Never has a plan B

If we had a player capable of holding the ball then that would bring others into the play.
But its plain to see we DO NOT, So therefore the ball is lost to the opposition enabling them to build.

So logically you would bring in a forward capable of holding the ball, Instead of defenders and midfielders Logically.
Or you could be that dogmatic and trying to prove a point that you miss the picture, That is to do what is best for the club and not yourself.

If professional footballers can't do that then there's something seriously wrong with our recruitment n managers tactics.

The teams above us don't seem to struggle.

End of the day the Recruitment has to go up anutha level.
It's that basic.
UTP.

If it ain't Gunna happen from May then this will be our forever division.

a lot of the recruitment will depend on where we will be shopping or the length of time we are prepared to stay in this league. its back to the recruitment last summer where half the job was done to make us quite good at the back but weak up the top end where the signings that did not come off where. when everyone is fit i still trust the defence but need to splash any cash we have on goalscorers and attack minded midfielders with pace.

Agree.
The goalkeeper is bang average but can do a job.
The defence is capable it seems but are they overachieving because of the sensible midfield bias?
Miley should be the core we build the midfield around.
Reid can do a job but needs a strike partner to play off and Sinclair has shown what impact a tricky winger makes at this level.
To win games you need to score goals, to score goals you need to create chances. The table doesn't lie, we've got one of the best defensive records but among the worst goalscoring records.

New manager needs to do his own rebuild.
But what a massive favour he can do for himself by binning the full lot of out of contract pretendty footballers.

After that display …just order a skip.

I've actually ordered one and waiting for it to appear, I'll make room.

I too am getting a skip soon, you will not have enough room derwent, send the rest up to me!

I’ve contacted ’JUMBO. SKIPS’ no load too big to dump!

Just tell them to leave it outside the Vic!
A good publicity stunt by the fans to show our appreciation of last night's performance!

Wholesale changes required. Maybe if we get a good manager in straight away one or two can redeem themselves. I don’t hold out much hope.

got to remember many of them were in the side that won at rochdale. a good manager is whats needed and many players careers have been rescued by the right man.

That win v Rochdale was on a neutral ground.
And decent players show consistency which proves ours ain't decent.

That right man was DC on the management front.
Turned water into wine. And he's still doing an excellent job in Management.

A mass clearance and a decent manager is needed.
But I just can't see it happening.
First sign of no ambition is that this crank Fevs is still in a job.

Benn, Kuougan, Miley, Sheron & possibly Reid …

Overated

I take it you are referring to Reid, Mr Gloves? I take your point but it all boils down to how ambitious we are going to be next season. If our new recruitment team and possibly new manager are really going to go for it then Reid might get the elbow as well, we will just have to wait and see…

I look forward to the change we need throughout the club.
If we are getting a retained list sorted now, then it would surely be a sign of no change….and a glaring lack of ambition.
We’ve wasted far too much time as it is if we’re serious about promtion.
Featherstone is like the garage mechanic who fixes one part of your car but buggers up another part in the process.