I think I’m with the majority in being fairly happy with the retained/released list. With Xemi, we’ve now released six of Pep’s signings. If that isn’t a ringing endorsement that he was a poor choice for a coach to Borntobeyellow, I don’t know what is.
Most don’t need further discussion but I’d make an exception for Thomas, Long and Roberts. Wes Thomas is far from a bad player but just isn’t robust enough for my liking. He’ll pop up somewhere else and has maybe a couple more seasons in him before I can see him dropping out of the league altogether. If we want to be competitive, we need our main striker to be netting 15+ whereas 15 is the upper limit for a player like him.
Sam Long should consider himself very lucky. Since he signed pro terms in 2012, he has played 26 times for us and had a couple of loan spells. Yes, the injuries mitigate some of that but since he was never challenging for a place when we were a League 2 side, what does he offer a League 1 side whose ambition has increased? Switch off any local attachment or sentiment off with him – would we be as patient with a 23 year old who has yet to make more than 10 appearances in a season if he wasn’t one of our own? I think he’s being kept on as cheap insurance in case we can’t sign Kane.
It’s the right decision to let James Roberts go but he departs with a pang of regret. He was the one thing that made the first half of the 2014-15 season worth watching. Those goals against Grimsby and his firebolt against Plymouth were a joy and I really thought we were on to something. For some reason he disappeared from view that season and then has been barely seen since. Personal troubles and tragedies obviously were part of it, but it’s a disappointment that things haven’t progressed since then.