General Next Season's Squad (26/27)

[RgYellows]

Quite possibly. But then why has he not been playing?

We seem to have a plethora of signings (Makosso, McDonnell, Jin Woo, Emakhu, Prelec) who everyone seems very confident will be top players in League One - but who couldn't get any game time, let alone contribute, in The Championship.

The gap is substantial, but not to the degree where top League One players (Brannagan, Cumming, Brown, Currie, Donley) look out of their depth.

Schroedinger's footballers, apparently. Up there with the best in their respective positions in League One - yet not even good enough to oust Will Vaulks, Michael Helik or Miles Peart Harris from a side that limped it's way to relegation.

I mean, McDonnell has shown he can be a top player in L1. And Emakhu made 37 appearances in the Championship this season.

 

[battman]

I doubt there's too much animosity somehow.

And in terms of the way we're going to want to play next season, I'd say Makosso would be a better fit than Helik.

Also, contractually, Helik has to be getting paid a lot more, he's probably only on the books until next summer (when he'll be turning 32), and you'd imagine he'll be one of the ones with a release clause built in. Is anyone going to be surprised if we lose him (for a minimal fee) to a team in Poland?

A lot could depend on how Luton do today.

It's easy to forget (because he's a beast), but if he did sign, Makosso would be the youngest player in our squad going into the summer.

I think he's got the potential to be a real superstar.

The thing is though we're not going to be paying £2-3m for any player this summer, let alone a CB who couldn't oust two players we have under contract for next season

 

[HillBilly]

Quite possibly. But then why has he not been playing?

Reportedly it's come down to Makosso's timekeeping (rather than his ability).

But I'd say Helik's place in the team could maybe be justified anyway in the last few games based on his attacking threat from set pieces.

When it comes to the way Makosso plays with the ball at his feet, his pace, and also the accuracy and power he gets on his defensive headers, he looks like a major improvement to me, but he hasn't scored many senior goals yet, and Helik's been an important threat for us.

If we had better players up the pitch, I'd be picking Makosso every time.

The thing is though we're not going to be paying £2-3m for any player this summer, let alone a CB who couldn't oust two players we have under contract for next season

They were laughing that sort of figure off on The Dub, saying it's considerably less, but there might be add-on clauses.

If it's doable, we should do it.

As with Emakhu, it's the sort of deal we could only have in place because we hadn't yet been relegated.

 

[Thomas/Brock/Jones]

I can see us going with a squad of 14/15 seasoned pros , 2/3 loans and then our youth to step up.
All depends on getting rid of the considerable bloated squad that we have , quality over quantity with our youth getting a chance

 

[The Mighty Aldo]

I have to think that so much of what is to come will be dictated by who is actually running the club and, in which direction. How much leeway will Bloomfield really have? How much of Ed Waldron's recruitment will actually be led by his team and not more Romeny or Marsellino style aquisitions? We have all heard the Williams and Ferguson statements regarding the timeline of promotion and the dismissal of relegation as unimportant. Will we now see a program of consolidation targeting League 1 mid-table, waiting on the new stadium progress?

What I would say @Manorlounger is that Williams and Ferguson have had a huge amount of luck on their side so far
Dismissed Robinson too late but brought in Manning who steadied the ship and kept us up
Manning gets us to the promotion positions before leaving Des is brought in and thanks to Murphy in the last 10 games we get promoted
When the wheels fell off for Des Rowett comes in and we scramble to stay up
Then it starts to go wrong for the Management team they kept Rowett but didn’t back him up in the summer. They then get Bloomfield which was a poor choice and the writings on the wall
Has their luck run out ? we shall see, the next season is huge but if I were in Erik Thohir’s shoes I would be expecting big things this coming season and quite frankly I don’t think Williams is up to it and Ferguson needs to spend more time here

 

[Jumpers4Goalposts]

The thing is though we're not going to be paying £2-3m for any player this summer, let alone a CB who couldn't oust two players we have under contract for next season

Has a nail ever been struck on the head harder?

 

[Foley]

No.	Player	Position	Status	Contract / Loan End
27	Will Lankshear	Centre-Forward	Loan In	31 May 2026
5	Yunus Konak	Defensive Midfield	Loan In	31 May 2026
7	Przemysław Płacheta	Winger	Permanent	30 Jun 2026
9	Mark Harris	Centre-Forward	Permanent	30 Jun 2026
13	Simon Eastwood	Goalkeeper	Permanent	30 Jun 2026
15	Brodie Spencer	Right-Back	Permanent	30 Jun 2026
29	Ben Davies	Centre-Back	Loan In	30 Jun 2026
33	Jamie Donley	Attacking Midfield	Loan In	30 Jun 2026
37	Christ Makosso	Centre-Back	Loan In	30 Jun 2026
39	Gatlin O’Donkor	Centre-Forward	Permanent	30 Jun 2026
44	Myles Peart‑Harris	Attacking Midfield	Loan In	30 Jun 2026
3	Ciaron Brown	Centre-Back	Permanent	30 Jun 2027
6	Michał Helik	Centre-Back	Permanent	30 Jun 2027
19	Tyler Goodrham	Winger	Permanent	30 Jun 2027
11	Ole Romeny	Centre-Forward	Permanent	30 Jun 2028
1	Jamie Cumming	Goalkeeper	Permanent	2027+
2	Sam Long	Right-Back	Permanent	2027+
4	Will Vaulks	Defensive Midfield	Permanent	2027+
8	Cameron Brannagan	Midfield	Permanent	2027+
10	Aidomo Emakhu	Winger	Permanent	2027+
14	Brian De Keersmaecker	Midfield	Permanent	2027+
17	Stanley Mills	Winger	Permanent	2027+
21	Matt Ingram	Goalkeeper	Permanent	2027+
22	Greg Leigh	Left-Back	Permanent	2027+
24	Hidde ter Avest	Right-Back	Permanent	2027+
26	Jack Currie	Left-Back	Permanent	2027+
31	Jacob Knightbridge	Goalkeeper	Permanent	2027+
32	Jin‑woo Jeon	Winger	Permanent	2027+
36	Joshua Johnson	Midfield	Permanent	2027+
38	Jamie McDonnell	Midfield	Permanent	2028+

Kioso and Dembele?
Assume that we have an option on Spencer

 

[HillBilly]

To be clear, you're saying Spencer has a relegation release clause?

That would be a body blow. Gutted.

 

[Northstandboy]

To be clear, you're saying Spencer has a relegation release clause?

That would be a body blow. Gutted.

The story when we signed him said long term but places mention July 2026 as the expiry.

 

[yellowbow]

Isn’t Kioso still with us next season?

 

[Osleroad]

The story when we signed him said long term but places mention July 2026 as the expiry.

Unless someone has had sight of the contract or heard of it first hand then we'll have to wait and see obvs.

 

[Wallop]

= Expires Summer 2026

Player	Position	Status	Contract / Loan End
Will Lankshear	Centre-Forward	Loan In	31 May 2026
Yunus Konak	Defensive Midfield	Loan In	31 May 2026
Przemysław Płacheta	Winger	Permanent	30 Jun 2026
Mark Harris	Centre-Forward	Permanent	30 Jun 2026
Simon Eastwood	Goalkeeper	Permanent	30 Jun 2026
Brodie Spencer	Right-Back	Permanent	30 Jun 2026
Ben Davies	Centre-Back	Loan In	30 Jun 2026
Jamie Donley	Attacking Midfield	Loan In	30 Jun 2026
Christ Makosso	Centre-Back	Loan In	30 Jun 2026
Gatlin O’Donkor	Centre-Forward	Permanent	30 Jun 2026
Myles Peart‑Harris	Attacking Midfield	Loan In	30 Jun 2026
Ciaron Brown	Centre-Back	Permanent	30 Jun 2027
Michał Helik	Centre-Back	Permanent	30 Jun 2027
Tyler Goodrham	Winger	Permanent	30 Jun 2027
Ole Romeny	Centre-Forward	Permanent	30 Jun 2028
Jamie Cumming	Goalkeeper	Permanent	2027+
Sam Long	Right-Back	Permanent	2027+
Will Vaulks	Defensive Midfield	Permanent	2027+
Cameron Brannagan	Midfield	Permanent	2027+
Aidomo Emakhu	Winger	Permanent	2027+
Brian De Keersmaecker	Midfield	Permanent	2027+
Stanley Mills	Winger	Permanent	2027+
Matt Ingram	Goalkeeper	Permanent	2027+
Greg Leigh	Left-Back	Permanent	2027+
Hidde ter Avest	Right-Back	Permanent	2027+
Jack Currie	Left-Back	Permanent	2027+
Jacob Knightbridge	Goalkeeper	Permanent	2027+
Jin‑woo Jeon	Winger	Permanent	2027+
Joshua Johnson	Midfield	Permanent	2027+
Jamie McDonnell	Midfield	Permanent	2028+

This isn’t right - Harris has a contract until Summer 2027. I don’t know about ant others but if that one is wrong………

 

[SwissYellow]

Posh announced Kioso is "returning to his parent club"

 

[Yellowmania]

Posh announced Kioso is "returning to his parent club"

Saw some less than complimentary comments from Posh supporters, a big contrast to his first time there.

 

[McXal]

I’d take the Posh fans comments with a pinch of salt. They are NOT happy as a fanbase with the last couple of seasons (their playoff defeat to us was a real sliding doors moment). Kioso has been far from the cause of many of their issues and he’s had plenty of fans there too.

Of all our players out on loan, PK is perhaps the one I’d have the least issue if he was part of our squad next season (albeit not in the current configuration where we already have Spencer, HTA & Long who all play RB too!)

 

[ljs]

From last seasons players we can immediately get rid of (or have lost) 14 of them without doing a thing (9 OOC & 5 loans).
Out of contract (don't renew any) : Leigh, Findlay, Negru, Placheta, Dale, Ferdinan, O'Donkor, Bradshaw, Peart-Harris (9)
Loans (gone) : Davies, Makosso, Konak, Donley, Lankshear (5)

In L1 there is a squad limit of 22 senior players (gk & u21 exempt) and this would leave us with 22.
There are 5 contracted players that I'd like to see us offload: Kioso, Romeny, Dembele, Sibley, Goodwin.
Replace these with 4 or 5 who are first team ready: CB, RW, CF, AM (plus any that we can't keep hold of).

So, 19 out replaced by 4 or 5. Must be a big money saving and not all that much work to do, relatively.

Cumming
(Ingram)

Spencer - Helik - Brown - Currie
(Ter Avest) - (Long) - (?) - (Rooksen)

De Keersmaecker - Brannagan
(Vaulks) - (McDonnell)

Goodrham
( ? )

Mills - ( ? ) - Emakhu
(? ) - (Harris/Prelec) - (Jin-Woo Jeon)

 

[Yellows1]

Think he’s had a few off field things hasn’t he? A few shared on here. Probably no worse than a lot of players but got caught.

Liked him as a player so it’s a shame. I think we need a rejuvenation of the back line anyway, it’s feels to me that it’s a bit stale and I don’t think we have a true leader/organiser. Feel like we lost our desire to defend our box this season, too many shoulder shrugs and wafting of arms when it was too late.

100% this

 

[smiler106]

There are 5 contracted players that I'd like to see us offload: Kioso, Romeny, Dembele, Sibley, Goodwin.

Who is going to take on these players at the wages we are paying them? Or are they going to take a big pay cut in order to get regular first team football?

 

[Jumpers4Goalposts]

Who is going to take on these players at the wages we are paying them? Or are they going to take a big pay cut in order to get regular first team football?

Well I suppose if some of these want to continue in the game it may be a case of taking a 2 or 3 year contract somewhere on reduced wages rather than 1 year left with us and not playing. For the clubs it is about negotiating a nominal sale value or releasing on a free transfer to get the player off the wage bill.

I know a local non league player who has a year to go on his current contract but can get £1k a week plus bonuses at another non league club almost doubling his pay. It is a question of if his current club will give him a free transfer or not. It’s not the same for us but it’s closer to that sort of thing for us than it is for Championship clubs. That is what relegation brings and players through wage changes have to cut their cloth accordingly too.

 

[CaptainOx]

From last seasons players we can immediately get rid of (or have lost) 14 of them without doing a thing (9 OOC & 5 loans).
Out of contract (don't renew any) : Leigh, Findlay, Negru, Placheta, Dale, Ferdinan, O'Donkor, Bradshaw, Peart-Harris (9)
Loans (gone) : Davies, Makosso, Konak, Donley, Lankshear (5)

In L1 there is a squad limit of 22 senior players (gk & u21 exempt) and this would leave us with 22.
There are 5 contracted players that I'd like to see us offload: Kioso, Romeny, Dembele, Sibley, Goodwin.
Replace these with 4 or 5 who are first team ready: CB, RW, CF, AM (plus any that we can't keep hold of).

So, 19 out replaced by 4 or 5. Must be a big money saving and not all that much work to do, relatively.

Cumming
(Ingram)

Spencer - Helik - Brown - Currie
(Ter Avest) - (Long) - (?) - (Rooksen)

De Keersmaecker - Brannagan
(Vaulks) - (McDonnell)

Goodrham
( ? )

Mills - ( ? ) - Emakhu
(? ) - (Harris/Prelec) - (Jin-Woo Jeon)

Leigh is under contract according to The Dub but he'll go any way you would think

 

[CarParkUltra]

Cumming

Spencer
Helik
Brown
Currie

McDonnel
Cam

Mills
Tyler
Emakhu

Harris

This 11 would compete right at the top of the league next year. If we can keep this lot together then add 4-5 players to really push into the first time I think we'd be in with a shout of the automatics.

I struggle to see BDK staying with us but think all of the above could be convinced if we ask them to give us 12 months and if we don't go up, they're free to move on.

 

[n1]

Cumming

Spencer
Helik
Brown
Currie

McDonnel
Cam

Mills
Tyler
Emakhu

Harris

This 11 would compete right at the top of the league next year. If we can keep this lot together then add 4-5 players to really push into the first time I think we'd be in with a shout of the automatics.

I struggle to see BDK staying with us but think all of the above could be convinced if we ask them to give us 12 months and if we don't go up, they're free to move on.

I've got to disagree with this. Yes, it's a really good foundation and a pretty good starting point for a team just relegated.

But it lacks quality and creativity. It needs alternatives (not necessarily replacements) to Cam, Tyler, Emakhu, and Harris.

Id like more pace and power up too and in the middle.

 

[The Mighty Aldo]

Cumming

Spencer
Helik
Brown
Currie

McDonnel
Cam

Mills
Tyler
Emakhu

Harris

This 11 would compete right at the top of the league next year. If we can keep this lot together then add 4-5 players to really push into the first time I think we'd be in with a shout of the automatics.

I struggle to see BDK staying with us but think all of the above could be convinced if we ask them to give us 12 months and if we don't go up, they're free to move on.

But we won’t keep Mills Spencer and Currie they are our most sellable assets and as young players will want Championship football
We will then get 3 replacements who won’t be as good
Harris ? Most teams in the current top 6 of League 1 have a better striker than him
I would say minus those who will leave wee have a decent squad but need to buy/loan very wisely
Look at players who have been exceptional in League1/2 this year
Wareham from Exeter Ballard from Orient are two strikers we need to look at

 

[Jaboysmith]

But we won’t keep Mills Spencer and Currie they are our most sellable assets and as young players will want Championship football
We will then get 3 replacements who won’t be as good
Harris ? Most teams in the current top 6 of League 1 have a better striker than him
I would say minus those who will leave wee have a decent squad but need to buy/loan very wisely
Look at players who have been exceptional in League1/2 this year
Wareham from Exeter Ballard from Orient are two strikers we need to look at

Ballard is about as likely as Lankshear at this point. He has been linked to Wrexham already this summer

 

[Swaby39]

Cumming

Spencer
Helik
Brown
Currie

McDonnel
Cam

Mills
Tyler
Emakhu

Harris

This 11 would compete right at the top of the league next year. If we can keep this lot together then add 4-5 players to really push into the first time I think we'd be in with a shout of the automatics.

I struggle to see BDK staying with us but think all of the above could be convinced if we ask them to give us 12 months and if we don't go up, they're free to move on.

I’m not convinced it would at all, depending on who your 4-5 additions are. That XI will struggle for top 10 imo.

Slow at the back. small, slow and erratic in midfield, nowhere near enough effective passers of a ball, nobody with that extra IQ in attack, nobody who can link play in tight spaces and above all, who’s scoring the goals? If we’re a club that’s targeting the automatics, as we should be, we need an answer to everything and there are way too many gaps there.

I think people forget there is quality in L1 and some very good managers that know how to hang around at the top of the league.

We’ve got possible answers in the ranks. Prelec for one, who I think could be brilliant at this level, but I think Matt will continue to leave him out for his nice guys.

Jin-Woo is a possible answer to the “out of nothing” weaponry but after 4 months of having him, we’ve no idea.

If BDK stays then you’ve got your distributor, but if not we’ve got nobody proficient in pulling the strings.

I think there is a better XI available to us than the one you selected, but we are missing quite of a few key components of a top 2 side.

 

[The Mighty Aldo]

Ballard is about as likely as Lankshear at this point. He has been linked to Wrexham already this summer

There we are then don’t know that so there are some great forwards in League 1perhaps we can take one of Wrexhams they have 4 strikers for two spots
So we’re going to have to be really savvy with the signings
Harris is going to be nowhere near good enough
I don’t think Bloomfield is the man to take us forward as well

 

[Symp59]

I don't think that core is strong enough, we have no flair what so ever ,how many games in 2 years would you say Wow probably Sheff weds who won 4 games all year. I think theres alot to do with the squad to not end up with a mid table finish sadly. But here's hoping what do we know ,back to the gardening and a cup of tea ,missing the build up already .

 

[battman]

I’m not convinced it would at all, depending on who your 4-5 additions are. That XI will struggle for top 10 imo.

Slow at the back. small, slow and erratic in midfield, nowhere near enough effective passers of a ball, nobody with that extra IQ in attack, nobody who can link play in tight spaces and above all, who’s scoring the goals? If we’re a club that’s targeting the automatics, as we should be, we need an answer to everything and there are way too many gaps there.

I think people forget there is quality in L1 and some very good managers that know how to hang around at the top of the league.

We’ve got possible answers in the ranks. Prelec for one, who I think could be brilliant at this level, but I think Matt will continue to leave him out for his nice guys.

Jin-Woo is a possible answer to the “out of nothing” weaponry but after 4 months of having him, we’ve no idea.

If BDK stays then you’ve got your distributor, but if not we’ve got nobody proficient in pulling the strings.

I think there is a better XI available to us than the one you selected, but we are missing quite of a few key components of a top 2 side.

Struggle for top 10? Behave.

Cumming's a lower Championship/top League One keeper, 2/4 of that back four will attract interest from Championship sides (Spencer, Currie) and the other two have the physicality to win consistently duels against any strikers in League One next season (Helik, Brown). McDonnell was dominant in midfield by all Mansfield accounts last season, and when you pair him with quality like Cam, who will be one of the best players in the league on paper next season, then it makes for a solid duo.

Mills is also Championship level and Emakhu has shown bursts for Millwall and us last season in the division above, hopefully the move down should get more consistency and goal contributions. Tyler was attracting interest from Southampton pre-injury and should be reborn in the centre now he's free from Rowett's shackles, and Harris scored 15 goals the last (and only) time he dropped down to this level.

Add in the fact that we'll have players in the squad like Long, Vaulks, Jin-Woo, Prelec and even more additions to come, I really struggle to see a scenario in which 9 teams finish above us.

 

[Some U's fan]

I’m fairly sure the L1 rules are as ridiculous as every other division’s. I assume transfer fees are included in the turnover figure so we just need to find a £1m player and offer the club £100m for him with Demblele going the other way for £99.9m and that gives us around £75m extra wage cap allowance based on the turnover… hardest part is going to be finding someone to take Dembele for £100k!

 

[Some U's fan]

I’m fairly sure the L1 rules are as ridiculous as every other division’s. I assume transfer fees are included in the turnover figure so we just need to find a £1m player and offer the club £100m for him with Demblele going the other way for £99.9m and that gives us around £75m extra wage cap allowance based on the turnover… hardest part is going to be finding someone to take Dembele for £100k!

And yes I’m aware that this would lead to a rule change for the following season!