Ins and outs - the retained list, contracts etc.

With a last hurdle and failed promotion bid and an exodus of a third of our best players the influx of new players and departures could quite easily have turned out ot be a major disaster but for the hard work and motivational skills of the manager and his team .
A lesser manager and we would undoubtedly have been fighting it out in the bottom half.
Initially the rushed pre season signings seemed to be well below our expectations but generally speaking many have been successful and improved over the season once they understood where the manager was coming from.
Lapslie, Johnson, Martin and Omar whos recent form is promising have been good sound signings for a club in our position. Halstead, Holman, Rogers and Lolos not so IMHO. O'Connell is somewhere in the middle but I feel there's a player in there that could develop into something decent A 50% success rate not fantastic but not a disaster we all thought after the first few games of the season.

The ingredients for success at this or any level are simple enough.
1. A good manager with a proven track record and sound tactics who can motivate.
2. A core of players of a high enough quality to play at the next level with a good mix of experience and youth. This is the tough bit - to be able to get enough quality in the squad to really compete not at all easy for us and when you lose you lose your best players the rebuilding work has to start all over again.

For me this is always has been and always will be a major problem for a club of our stature.
Success of any kind attracts attention from the bigger fish and suddenly your left trying to build again. Disheartening for everyone but lets wait and see who stays and who wants out.
I predict CLE will be on his way and that he likely struck deal for this season with the manager to have one last shot at promotion at TUFC.
Armani took a lot of stick from supporters early on this season and may feel he wants away and a fresh start. Lwis is the only other young player I can see who would attract attention but would hope hes on a long contract.
Our three experienced old heads are approaching the ends of their careers and I do wonder if Danny, Asa and Mox have another high intensity season left in their old muscles and bones.
I would like to think the ground work has been done for new signings of the correct quality as their could be some big boots fill. However I do know that even with a squad not quite good enough in quality will always be competitive under Garry Johnson.

Just to recap on the squad:

Keepers - Macdonald. Halstead, Brzozowski.

Defenders - Wynter, Lewis, Moxey, Martin, Slough, Omar,

Midfielders- Hall, Little, CLE, Rogers, Felix, O’Connell, Johnson, Lapslie, Piper, Moyse

Strikers - Koszela, Wright, Holman, Lolos.

Technically Andrews is part of the squad still but he will be off.

Seems striker Tony Lee, 26, currently at Poole Town is on the radar.
He's scored 46 goals in 48 appearances including 13 penalties; previously at Wimborne Town and on loan at Havant & Waterlooville.

Always good to see we're monitor prospective talent - shows we're on the ball but Southern League is a different kettle of fish compared to what is now regarded as FL league 3 by many. Clearly remember Jared Lewington here for a while who incidentally has just gone a up a level with Taunton Town, failing to impress after scoring for fun at a similar level.
To much to ask but we need a Padraig Amond type here (just released by Newport) if we have any ambition to escape this division.
Stockport were quick slick and experienced and clearly showed us the standard we need to achieve to move forward and compete at the top. We have all of the other ingredients to do very well but quality and experience will, as usual, be hard to come by.

Saw him in pre season - had a couple of chances I think but didn’t score - Poole match report

Very difficult to score if you are not on the pitch. Replacing Wright should be a top priority.