New Contracts/Players Let go

[Sparky]

Offered new deals:

Curran - makes sense / decent squad player
Welsh - does a good job
Zoom - agree with
Fraughan - not much first team action but hasnt impressed me when seen
Broomes - agree with

Not offered deals:

Bas - very surprising. Am not his biggest fan but a regular at season end
Shukes - not a surprise, on a good wage and arguably past his best
Edds - very surprising. Versatile and IMO decent at this level
Barnett - not surprising. I like him but attitude problems mean he has to go
Macualey/Bain - not good enough at this level

Presumably Les will have had input into these decisions, even though we dont know if he is staying. I would have kept Bas albeit trying to bing another target man in, plus Edds.

 

[TheBunnyBellEnd]

Its always rubbish to see players go. I wonder whether Les knows something we dont about Bas and you have to wonder whether he will ever fully recover his fitness. Bain and Macaulay probably not good enough Shuker and Barnett did nowt this year as they didnt fit into the system, Edds unfortunately doesnt seem to know his best position and seems to play everywhere averagely but nowhere brilliantly.

Not sure about Broomes still but dont know if his early performances still cloud my judgement. The rest I am not surprised at. Would love to see these replaced by some of loaness we had at the end of the season. Labadie, Robbo and Logan would do nicely!:wink:

 

[UptonRover]

I can't believe they've let Bas go, to me his injury was the reason we didn't get to the play-offs last season and getting his fitness back at the end of this season is also why we stayed up. Ok he might not get many goals but his hold up play and control running with the ball is fantastic, which then allows a midfielder to get forward (ie Labadie).

 

[bring back the cowshed!]

No real surprises for me. I agree Edds is an honest, versatile player but Les obviously thinks he can get someone better for the same money. Bas is popular, but what we need are goalscorers. Getting rid of him and Bain should fund two new strikers (if we can find them!).

It's a shame we still have Mahon and McLaren on the payroll, but maybe we can offer them on loan next season.

I don't think we'll be able to keep Logan and Daniels on loan for another season, but I hope Gulacsi will stay. I don't know if we could afford Labadie or Robbo, who both might be available after their clubs were promoted. I am keeping my fingers crossed that Welsh and Zoum re-sign. I think Broomes and Curran are unlikely to want to move on.

I just hope Les's position (and his budget) is sorted quickly, so he can plan for next season unlike the shambles during the last close season.

 

[TheBunnyBellEnd]

No real surprises for me. I agree Edds is an honest, versatile player but Les obviously thinks he can get someone better for the same money. Bas is popular, but what we need are goalscorers. Getting rid of him and Bain should fund two new strikers (if we can find them!).

It's a shame we still have Mahon and McLaren on the payroll, but maybe we can offer them on loan next season.

I don't think we'll be able to keep Logan and Daniels on loan for another season, but I hope Gulacsi will stay. I don't know if we could afford Labadie or Robbo, who both might be available after their clubs were promoted. I am keeping my fingers crossed that Welsh and Zoum re-sign. I think Broomes and Curran are unlikely to want to move on.

I just hope Les's position (and his budget) is sorted quickly, so he can plan for next season unlike the shambles during the last close season.

I have been told he is surplus to requirements at WBA and has been released, we have already offered him a contract.

 

[SonkORLY?]

Very disappointed to see Bas leave. He was a key player in RM's side that got to 7th. Unfair to get rid of him without giving a pre-season to reach full-fitness.

 

[Ian]

Bas comes as a surprise to me, simply because I always regard him as part of the fabric, daft really. Being brutal though, his injuries are a problem as is his goalscoring.

Initially, I'd have said no to Broomes, but to be fair, he has put in a few good performances as of late. I'd say most of the players' poor performance was due to the lack of direction when Barnes was in charge, so it's only fair to take into account their performances when Les was in charge which should give us a true indication of their ability.

Welsh & Zoom - First names on the team sheet. They've done well.
Edds - Take him or leave him. Doesn't do anything spectacular.
Shukes & Barnett - Good riddance.
Bain - Think he was put into an unfortunate position, but clearly not good enough.

I don't want to see Paul McLaren next season. We need to move forward, not backwards. And where does this leave Alan Mahon. Well, on a 3-year deal, I guess we can't afford to let him go :roll:

Best news if it's true is that we are closing in on a deal for Labadie which I think would be excellent business. Even if it's a case of putting himself in the shop window for a year or two aka Andy Taylor, that's fine with me.

 

[Ian]

I hope getting rid of these attacking players such as Savage, Bain, Barnett, Shuker etc means we are looking for much better quality in these areas.

After the joke of this season and the negative impact it had on supporters, this is Rovers' best chance to show the people of Wirral that they mean business. It's a good start with getting rid of some dead wood, now let's see what happens in terms of bringing new players to the squad. Show some ambition and the season ticket sales might just increase.

 

[Tartantranmere64]

Disappointed to see Bas go, but could be Les trying to get a few more goals for fewer £££s. Maybe he's after someone like this....?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adebayo_Akinfenwa

Just a rumour, mind!

 

[SonkORLY?]

Shukes & Barnett - Good riddance.

I promise you we won't sign better

Have to laugh at the prospect of us signing Akinfenwa. Frannie Jeffers, more realistic perhaps, having been released by Sheff Weds yesterday. If Labadie rumours hold true, he'd be an amazing signing.

 

[bigmart]

Not really many surprises for me i thought maybe edds worth another year but the rest wont really be missed much, savage not the same player following his injury.

Fingers crossed that Labadie does sign and we can get some decent players in as well as the others to sign

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

I am surprised and disappointed to see Savage go, likewise Edds. As has been commented, the thinking may be that by moving on Bas and some of the other higher wage earners (ie.Shuker) we may finally have a chance of signing a genuine goalscorer.

I personally would not have offered Broomes a deal, despite his improvement in the final few games of the season. He had too many dodgy performances for me, even under Les's management (Leeds at home, Brighton away).

The other decisions seem to make sense, and I would be delighted if there is substance to the Labadie rumours.

 

[Boz]

Of the players who are being offered new deals, no surprises except Broomes. He's done better lately, but more of his howlers led to us letting in goals than any other player in the last season. The other factor is how long will it take those offered to make up their minds about acceptance. Certainly Zoum and Welsh may be looking for deals elsewhere, don't know about the rest.

Another feature is only one of the youth squad, Jack Mackreth has been offered a pro deal. I'd heard good things about Ross Rule, but he's been released.

Of those released, most are understandable. Bas seemed to be coming back into form and fitness, but was never a prolific striker. Edds was steady and versatile, my preference would have been for him to get another deal. One day we might find out why Barnett was so out of favour, while I'm sure there'll be dancing on the streets of Bootle as Shuker goes.

Akinfenwa is a L2 striker, why should we be unable to attract him, if that's what's wanted? Having seen him in action at Swansea, I think we could do better.

 

[SonkORLY?]

Look at our signings last close season. Welsh is originally local, Allott was based locally, Mahon was based locally and has history with the club, Mclaren had history with the club, Broomes was based locally. Northampton (I think) is the wrong side of Birmingham from here. If he's out of contract he won't be short of offers since he's achieved just short of a 1 in 2 strikerate for Northampton. I don't think we would be a particulaly attractive proposition for him.

 

[Boz]

He's been at Torquay and Swansea, so a trend to move northwards! I take your point about him looking a good prospect on his strike-rate, but having seen him play a couple of times for Swansea, he didn't stand out for me.

 

[TRFC_Ian]

And where does this leave Alan Mahon. Well, on a 3-year deal, I guess we can't afford to let him go :roll:

The sad fact is if hes not going to be a regular then we can't really afford to keep him either!

Wonder if we will be able to come to some sort of settlement. Better to be paying half his wages and him playing somewhere else rather than paying all his wages and him playing in our reserves/clogging up the treatment room.

With players like Mahon and McLaren hanging around into next season and beyond the legacy of the Barnes/McAteer debacle will continue to be felt for a long time yet.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Could we get Mahon to do some coaching, maybe with the kids ? Let's face it, if Les stays he is not going to get anywhere near the first team, and at least his exorbitant slary would be put to some use.

Of course, he is under absolutely no obligation to do anything other than warm the bench and probably would not accept any responsibilities outside of his contract.:cry:

 

[roverstillidie]

I promise you we won't sign better.

Erm well we have another 17 players or so for a start who are better...

Shuker has being useless since he did his leg in against Carlise whilst Barnett is the most overrated player in the history of football, plus his attitude stinks.

If you think we can't sign better I'm glad your not our scout!

Disappointed Edds has left although I think that's to allow Labadie to come in. However I would tell McLaren to sling his hook instead and have given Edds a 1 year deal.

 

[SonkORLY?]

The last time we had a winger as good as either of them was Paul Hall, not including Steve Davies' brief stint on the left hand side. Half decent wide players are incredibly difficult to come by.

LOL @ Charlie Barnett being the 18th best player in our squad. Edds by all accounts contributed nothing and is very easily replaceable.

 

[Ian]

I promise you we won't sign better

Yup, I believe they were pretty good at keeping the bench warm :-k