Manning’s preferred formation will dictate everything so hard to predict. But on paper and based on what he’s done so far you would have to say there’s an argument for the below being necessary or likely:
GK: New first choice, keep one of the current three, get rid of the other two.
RB: New first choice, Long as backup.
CB: New first choice, keep Moore and Negru, move Findlay on (don’t think he wants to be here at all and is desperate to go home) and move Brown to centre back contention. Gives us four seniors. Loan Golding and Mfuni out to the Conference if either has got a chance of making it.
LB: Two new ones. Seddon can go.
CM: Replace Gorrin FFS. Tough tackling ball winner who can do the dirty stuff. McGuane is fine. Smyth we still don’t know enough about, so whether we need a second new recruit will depend on where he’s at. I think something is wrong with Brannagan, he’s been visibly angry and not right at all this season, so one to watch on that front. Loan the boy Johnson out to the Conference for a season - he’s got something about him and needs proper game time.
Wingers: Minimum of two, both pacy, and that is assuming that we keep Browne fit and Murphy wants to be a footballer for one more year having improved recently. Release Jones, pay off Yanic to help move him on a free to some unsuspecting L2 outfit who thinks he can do a job at that level. Goodrham is the closest of the kids to being ready to play for a side with aspirations beyond surviving in L1. He might need a loan to a L2 side who will play him with a January recall if he proves himself, but he might be ready. Pre-season will determine that.
CAM types: Can’t see us being able to get rid of Henry or Bodin even if we wanted to, but we’ll probably need one more in this area as Henry looks increasingly broken and you don’t want to have to rely on Bodin not picking up knocks and strains across a season. Bodin misses way more games and plays far less minutes than people think he does when you dig into the data. He’s played around 3,800 minutes across his two seasons here, which means he’s barely played more than Henry in those two seasons yet it feels like he’s been injured forever. Findlay got bombed out for two months under Robinson and has played nearly as many minutes for Oxford this season as Bodin has in twice the time. He has also just been injured for over two months and has a history of injuries restricting him, and that isn’t going to improve as he moves towards the age of 32; his being frequently available and playing lots of football for us is provably false. I would move Henry into a Mousinho role if he’s here for the final year of his deal. Registered player in case you need him every once in a while, but mostly a dressing room leader who is moving towards coaching.
Strikers: At least two. Retire Baldock, Taylor is probably done although I wouldn’t be opposed to him being a third striker for a final year if he’s up for it, which I think he could be. He’s in double figures this season despite playing for two clubs floating around the bottom of L1, plus he’s not picking up injuries, so he’s nowhere near the Mackie / Winnall bracket in terms of either his output or his availability. Perhaps he would be another like Henry who could do a job as more of a Mousinho style senior pro for a year. If so, loan GO’D out to a Conference side as it gives us a flexible recall path. If we need him he can come back, if not leave him there until January and if he’s doing well (and if we aren’t in need of him ourselves), either let it roll or consider bumping him to L2 for the second half of the season, depending.
Eleven players required minimum in this scenario, and I wouldn’t exactly describe any of it as ruthless or unlikely. I don’t see how anybody could think that five or six changes would ever be enough.
