retained list out

whose staying whose going

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Now the debate starts

Hahahahahahaha!

Madness.

Suprised by a few names on the released list. Most noticable are Bolder, Brown and Samuels. We don't however know the reasons for this. I know Brown and Samuels have to travel a fair way to Harrogate and may have been their decision not to sign on for another season.

Retaining Blooms?

What about Franks?

...and Hall. I asked on the Facebook release and apparantley both the club and player are waiting to see how he recovers from the injury. Franks may be the same too.

Shock horror - the best man at Simon's wedding makes the retained list. If I was woods I would be telling weaver where to go - invited back to pre season training - he's having a laugh. I imagine some players couldn't wait to move on. Sadly the club has become an embarrassment. I think I'd rather nigel farage running things I have such little confidence in Simon.

Retained / released list is a smokescreen - some of these players will have been desperate to move on irrespective of how Simon views them. Sad to see Bolder move on although inevitable I guess

Speechless with that list tbh...

My two favorite town players gone and easily our most talented player "invited back for pre season training" if I was woods I would tell Simon where to stuff it like

Well our it looks like Simon will be shopping for  new central midfielders with the release of Anton Brown and Adam Bolder. Thought Brown had a solid season with a couple high and lows. Bolder's release shows lack of Ambition from Weaver and not wanting to put his hand in his wallet to try and keep him with a new contract. The release of Mezza is a sad one, thought he once again had another fairly good season, also thought Steve Mallory was a versatile player who was great back up and was great when he joined us.

Perhaps it is Woods' decision not to sign and is waiting to see if other clubs are interested.....same with Heath.

to be fair I said right at the start after pre-season I didn't rate Brown and I still dont... However him going and some of the others staying I still a shock, suppose it is to allow money to be spent but still...

I will put it out there that I believe at least one of the released players/Players "invited" back will be playing regularly above town come the end of next season

Right first of all, I don't think we should make drastic decisions on the teams quality for next season before Simon has brought in the players he will sign, however the first stages to setting up next years squad have not got off to a good start. First of all the release of Adam Bolder is a killer for us. He along with Woods is our best player. Bolder's presence and influence in the way we play simply can't be replaced.

Anton Brown is a brilliant midfielder and although he lives a long way away, he would have been near the top of my retain list. He's a leader and a royals Royce in midfield. Hardworking players are what we need. We've just lost one in Brown.

Merris is a club hero, however I think he was running out of legs. He did a job for us this year at left back, but all he really did was pick the ball up from our two centre halfs and ping it down the line. His first thoughts when he got the ball were, 'Where can I play the ball in behind the back four.' That's ok for this level, however there are better left backs than him in the league.

What confuses me and frustrates me more than anything is the fact that Bloomer and Nowakowski have been kept, but Bolder, Brown and potentially Woods haven't. Why's that? Bloomer is very very average and although I admire Nowakowski's improvements and effort, he will never be the footballer Bolder is. Now not just a 30 goal striker is needed, we also need 2 ball players in midfield. Two players that have a good footballing brain and can dictate play and pass the ball. We ain't gonna win the league with Nelthorpe and Nowakowski in midfield! We've lost our midfield, now we have the tough job of replacing it.

We have to wait until Weaver has signed the players he wants to sign before we can make judgements, but I tell you, it's going to be one hell of a task to put together a squad capable of matching the standard of the clubs competing for promotion.

I've had a few hours to mull over the list and i don't think its half bad. I agree the lost of Brown Samuels and Bolder is a tough pill to swallow but for me its only half the picture. Who are we going to sign is the big question, will there be a more settled 11 next season, I've heard talk of a few winners been signed, players who have been in this league and got out of it. This season following a few other teams it for me showed that a settled side is better then one with one of two superstars

Open question on a slight side note

Gain promotion playing rubbish football
or
Play nice football and finish out of play offs?

Easy - gain promotion playing rubbish football.

some of you go on about how good Brown was, well he was very poor most of the season took him a long time to get used to our league, i think we needed a clearout of the under performers

I agree that Brown isn't as a high calibre as Adam Bolder, but when hes put along side Bolder i think he does a fairly good job: Breaking up play, winning headers; whilst Bolder spreads it around the park. Admittedly he has looked pretty poor when being in a midfield with Nowakowski (the majority of the time, due to Bolder's injuries and suspensions.) Maybe its time for a clear out at the CNG, Weaver certainly thinks so!

Brown did grow into the side but like you said up until Christmas he wasn't anything to write home about.

Manager Simon Weaver has announced his retain/release list for the forthcoming campaign.

Signing on for next season are:

Adam Nowakowski
Craig Nelthorpe
Shane Killock
Matt Bloomer
Alex Metcalfe
Dan Clayton (Already signed anyway)
Ashley Worsfold
Dominic Rowe
Peter Crook
Leigh Franks (Already signed anyway)

The list of released players is as follows:

Steve Mallory
Dwayne Samuels
Dave Merris
Anton Brown
Cleveland Taylor
Liam Hardy
Adam Bolder

Players invited back to pre-season training:

Matt Heath
Michael Woods
Conor Sellars

Others:

Craig MacGillivray - He will get a better offer, and leave.
Chris Hall - Let him recover and play elsewhere, not a massive loss.

Hmm. Pretty sound in all honesty. The only one I'm unhappy is to see the back of is Bolder, but I get the impression he will have rejected an offer, and why he has retained Bloomer is a mystery. I'm assuming it is because Bloomer is his best mate.

I do wonder how he is going to deploy Dominic Rowe next season. A bit of a conundrum there for Simon. I think he is best utilised as a right winger. And Nelthorpe, i'm assuming he will be deployed as a left back next season, replacing Merris.

With regards to the future signings, they need to be of some serious quality if we are going to be serious contenders next season.

As Ed White said, Simon has had 4 years now, there are no more excuses.

BTW does Weaver still bang on about the great football we play? I gave up listening to his interviews because he was insistent about how good our football was but we have always palyed hoof ball under him (with patch's of games being otherwise tbf...)

I don't care as long as we are winning personally though, I just want us in the playoffs!!

Interesting list......

- Sorry to see Dwayne leave. He has been one of my favorite players over the last few seasons. Good luck to him where ever he goes.
- I had Anton B. as my player of the year. When all else failed he would plough through defensively, and push the ball forward.
- Dave M. has been a good and consistant player for for forever. But, his legs looked tired the last six weeks of the season. If he would be
  willing to come back as a squad player - grab him. Not sure he would.
- Same could be said for Adam Bolder. Did not seem to have the legs or drive for 90 minutes.
- Woodsy. Either is not physically able, or motivated to stay fit. He was a luxuary that was unable to play a full match.
  I do not think you can lay this on Simon. Woods has played with big clubs, and knows what it takes to be a full time player.
  He is not a full time, or even a part time player that we can afford to carry.
- Blooms. Another touchy topic. He is a squad player. Put him in any position, at anytime, and he will work his socks off. Not always
 pretty, but comes to play.

Now Simon and John.....after you rebuild the mid-field, find away to get a team to play to the last game of the season. When the
team is playing good, the football is great. But, when the injuries hit, and the motivation drops a bit.....you've got to find away to
push them through the tough times. Seems to be a pattern of the last few seasons. We peak during the season, but unable to
maintain the momentum till the very last game.

Four weeks till the World Cup.....any chance that England or USA get out of the group stages? We will just have to wait and see.
Have a good summer, and see you in July.

For me Bolder is a great player but there have been far too many games where he's disappeared during a match. They must be paying fair whack for him I think it's the right call- if replacement found. Some will argue that Weaver hasn't motivated him, I'm of the opinion that if you're that good you can motivate yourself.

Surprised by Samuels , all the others seem fair enough although I'd have kept Heath for the leadership qulaities- but then again you don't know how much he is. I'd also have kept Mezza and framed him, for being a legend.

Brown , must have been costing a lot, got better late season but didn't have the impact I was expecting. I'm not sure if i would have kept or not. Adam had more impact and a better season than Brown, get a quality attacking cm next to him it might have more impact. Who knows.

I'm praying that he signs some real quality.

At the moment we have starting xi-

Crook/CMAC
LB Killock CB/Franks RB
Clayton Koski CM RW/Rowe
Ash CF

I’m assuming Koski is the new Polish international it’s been rumoured we’re about to sign? Clayton is good but not good enough. Rowe is an impact player, nothing more.

I’d retain Heath – he’s solid and apart from a couple of below par performances, he formed a decent partnership with Killock last season. It would be a shame to break that defensive partnership up.

I’d start easing Crook in to the starting line up, e.g. cup games, etc, as I imagine it won’t be long before Craig Mac moves elsewhere.

Not surprised Mallory has gone – I rated him, a real bit of quality that Simon didn’t make the most of, but towards the end of the season, he didn’t look in the least bit interested. After games he was one of the first to get his bag and head off home. Not sure Simon’s post match analysis went down too well with him.

Brown is another one who didn’t always appear that interested. Another core player that should have been retained, but if he wasn’t interested in staying then I guess there’s no point in the lad hanging around.

Overall, I didn’t think there was a great deal that needed changing to the team. Some tinkering around the edges but not much else. I thought Simon had already accepted that making wholsesale changes wasn’t the answer, but once again he’s reverted to type and looked to start from scratch again.

Not a big fan of Franks – over reliant on his physical presence and long throws and not a lot else. I imagine McGurk will figure somewhere in defence if we manage to sign him. Maybe Simon will switch Franks to right back where he played for Alfreton on various occasions.

Nowakowski is worth retaining but as a squad player. He lacks the vision, creativity and incisiveness to compete with the best midfielders in the league.

Bolder was slowing down but if Simon had deployed him properly and not pissed him off so much by making him a scapegoat for poor performances earlier in the season then it wouldn’t have mattered. You don’t hear people saying Pirlo is too slow for Italy – his creativity, technical ability, asurance on the ball and ability to read the game more than makes up for that. Bolder was our Pirlo, but Simon was too much of a mug to realise.

Not bothered to see Samuels go – a liability in defence, we need someone more solid in that position. Dom Roma is a good option as far as I’m concerned. Whether he’d want to re-sign is another matter.

Blooper will continue to serve as Waever’s spy in the dressing room, reporting back to Simon when any signs of unrest have been identified. A laughing stock but one that probably lifts Simon’s spirits when he reflects on how badly out of his depth he is.

I wouldn’t wait to see how bad Hall’s injury is. We’ve been there before with Hardy. We can do better upfront so we should get on with the job of finding a replacement. I'm sure there’s an acting part in Hollyoaks or Holby City for the lad if he wants one.

And Town Ultra – everyone needs motivating. The suggestion that if you’re good enough then you don’t need motivating is rubbish. It just depends what kind of motivation the player requires. Some need to be constantly told how good they are and how important they are to the team. Others may just require a few words, a simple instruction before the game. There's a few that need a few stern words to ensure they don’t get complacent. A good manager will soon know what makes players tick.

I think we’re at the stage that regardless of the signings the club makes, we know there’s a good chance Simon won’t make the most of them. Hard to get too excited about next season.

Liam Hardy didn't take long to find somewhere else:

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Good move for him.

Still taking time to digest this. Initially very disappointed, but others have made very good points about Bolder and Brown: committment, wages, travel time etc. At the moment we would seem to have about 4 'automatic choices' to start: Killock, Worsfold, Franks and Nelthorpe. Possibly Adam as well. The rest are squad fillers. There is going to need to be a lot of signings to lift my spirits for next season. We have surely seen the last of Woods. Very sorry to see Samuels go, really liked him. Sad to see Merris go to, but I guess even 'legends' have their sell by date.
Pleased that Hardy has (finally!) gone, but pleased to that he has found a club: the NPL is the level for him.
Lets hope that the release of (presumably) high earners doesn't mean that Irving is going to keep his wallet a bit more closed next season. Lets just hope its releasing funds for some 'big' signings, but then we have had years of 'big sgnings and the end result is always the same. Funny that.

Would love to seen Armstrong back...lucky Darlington!