Os staying and going

[RicketyCricket]

Agree with the above, I probably wouldn't have renewed and would like to think we could find better but he does have some good qualities, on and off the pitch.

How many signings are we expecting now? Obviously depends on who signs new deals but I'd expect around 5 at least?

[gshaw]

Agree with the above, I probably wouldn't have renewed and would like to think we could find better but he does have some good qualities, on and off the pitch.

How many signings are we expecting now? Obviously depends on who signs new deals but I'd expect around 5 at least?

11 released, 7 offered new deals, 3 loans gone back and I expect most of those to go as well so a good 15+ to have a proper squad

1. I know he's under contract but why is Kemp not on the under contract list.

2. Very surprised at all the negativity towards Clay. Looks like everyone jumped off the Ling bandwagon now he's going and jumped straight on Clay's one. If we are going to get out of this league then we need more tempo and higher up the park. Clay tends to be the spark for dragging us up the field. He's not the whole answer, but can be part of the solution - hence the offer.

Also why is Johnson in neither list?

As regards Clay it's simply a case of if we want to be a top L2 side, consolidating in L1 he's not going to be up to the standard. He's had a shot against the better sides in the league and gets left standing by the likes of Ebou Adams.

Would be OK as backup cover but from what I recall it was rumoured he was one of our top earners, that's funds that could be better used elsewhere imo

[LittleRon]

Under contract:

Ouss Cisse
Dan Kemp
Hector Kyprianou
Shad Ogie
Sam Sargeant
Ruel Sotiriou
Adam Thompson

Released:

Lee Angol
Josh Coulson
James Dayton
Louis Dennis
Myles Judd
Sam Ling
Jordan Maguire-Drew
Jobi McAnuff (retired)
Brendon Shabani
Jamie Turley
Joe Widdowson

Offered new contract:

James Brophy
Craig Clay
Dan Happe
Danny Johnson
Jayden Sweeney
Lawrence Vigouroux
Conor Wilkinson

I think people need to look at the lists again .

[gshaw]

Blimey it really has been a long day now I see it

[Adz]

Seems fair enough on all counts. No one I'm thinking will come back to haunt us, and no one that I will hate to see in an Orient shirt.

Clay must have been touch and go, and is only good enough as cover, I hope this has been conveyed to him in the contract offer.

Turley is definitely good enough for this level, but you can't waste wages on a player who is only fit for 10 games a season.

JMD is probably good enough at this level but is too inconsistent to waste money on.

Dennis was never fit, maybe good enough, but not sure.

The others are national league level or bench fodder, but I suspect they were on first team wages so had to be released.

[Eat The Rich]

It all seems very sensible to me. The only decisions I would question is releasing Widdowson and trying to resign Clay. Do the board seriously think we won't be able to pick up two or three better midfielders than Clay? The guy does literally nothing.

[RedDwarf 1881]

It all seems very sensible to me. The only decisions I would question is releasing Widdowson and trying to resign Clay. Do the board seriously think we won't be able to pick up two or three better midfielders than Clay? The guy does literally nothing.

That's similar to what I was thinking . I think Joe Widdowson can count himself unlucky because actually he's been OK. . I don't think he'll have any trouble finding another club.

[Adz]

Yeah, I just wonder how much he was on from the promotion winning side, and whether we're getting value for money

[essexfootball]

Going under the radar but a lot of experience, leadership and "captains" being lost there coulson, Jobi, even turley to a degree

[Stamford O]

Going under the radar but a lot of experience, leadership and "captains" being lost there coulson, Jobi, even turley to a degree

I would have kept Coulson as he seemed to steady the defence even be was a bit slow.AlwAys played with a smile on his face

[EastDerehamO]

There’s some good servants been let go, but feel that such decisions were needed for the club to move forward. Turley would surely have been offered a contract were his record of fitness better.

Recruitment has to be good this summer now, and given we need a new manager’s input to that, we can’t take too long in getting the (right) new manager in place.

[Smendrick Feaselberg]

Going under the radar but a lot of experience, leadership and "captains" being lost there coulson, Jobi, even turley to a degree

I would have kept Coulson as he seemed to steady the defence even be was a bit slow.AlwAys played with a smile on his face

Thompson and Happe - too slow
Thompson and Coulson - too slow
Coulson and Happe - too slow

The recruitment drive should be focused on acquiring players with skill sets that complement what we have, and in the case of central defenders we definitely need someone faster and more mobile than Coulson. Doing this will help us to work better as a team, and be greater than the sum of the individual part.

[Rich Tea Wellin]

Going under the radar but a lot of experience, leadership and "captains" being lost there coulson, Jobi, even turley to a degree

I would have kept Coulson as he seemed to steady the defence even be was a bit slow.AlwAys played with a smile on his face

Thompson and Happe - too slow
Thompson and Coulson - too slow
Coulson and Happe - too slow

The recruitment drive should be focused on acquiring players with skill sets that complement what we have, and in the case of central defenders we definitely need someone faster and more mobile than Coulson. Doing this will help us to work better as a team, and be greater than the sum of the individual part.

100% agree.

Feel like in the past our approach has been to sign players independently of thinking about where they fit into the team/squad/system/etc...

If we get Happe to sign and use him as a starter, whatever CBs we get in should be to compliment that. Same with Thompson. I think it's most important up front as that's where we've really been using square pegs in round holes.

[B.whitehouse+10more]

Craig Clay ....the new board “bitch”.

[Ronnie Hotdogs]

Going under the radar but a lot of experience, leadership and "captains" being lost there coulson, Jobi, even turley to a degree

Disagree. We really haven't got a lot of 'leadership' on the pitch, that's one of our biggest issues. Jobi is the only leader from that group. None of Coulson, Turley or Widdowson give us that. They're just older, that's all.

We needed more leaders before the released list was announced. Only Jobi and Thompson are anything like captain material.

[Chelmsford Swimmer]

Clay would be OK as backup cover but from what I recall it was rumoured he was one of our top earners, that's funds that could be better used elsewhere imo

There is no guarantee that any of the players offered contracts have been offered better or even equivalent contracts. If the wage cap was in place some almost certainly may have been offered worse terms. Without the wage cap it comes down to the directors pockets. Regardless of the cap, there will almost certainly be more players looking than contracts available. I agree with the theory that a manager and not a DOF should have the major say in which players are retained. That said the best manager with an eye for a good player and a good motivator, may not be the best financial negotiator and accountant when it comes to maintaining a budget, hence a DOF seems sensible for the different role. I have no doubt our better players who have been offered the new contracts will be seeing what offers they can achieve elsewhere, it may be a long time before we see signatures on the dotted line.

[Beradogs]

Craig Clay ....the new board “bitch”.

True dat but to be fair. Exactly the sort of player you need in non league as runs around like an energiser bunny and gives 100% every week. Stepping up to league made to look stupid against the better players in the division. I lost count the amount of times he passed it to the opposition in the last 10 games and despite being captain Jobi quite rightly dropped him. He would have been one of the first on my get rid list however I am not the DOF so I guess they know what they are doing.

[Sid Bishop]

Under contract
Sam Sargeant - didn't know he was under contract
Ruel Sotiriou - got lucky wangling a contract pre-season. candidate for being released based on this seasons form

Released
Lee Angol - right decision
Louis Dennis - right decision
Myles Judd - no surprise
Sam Ling - surprised and hope he gets a gig at National League level
Jamie Turley - right decision
Joe Widdowson - if our aim is to go into next season with players capable of playing at L1 level, this is the right decision. wish him well

Offered new contract
Craig Clay - surprised, expect him to bite their hand off
Dan Happe - hope he signs. Thompson will make him a better player
Danny Johnson - will he, won't he
Jayden Sweeney - another who will sign. has so much potential but needs a manager who will give him a chance
Lawrence Vigouroux - might get snapped up by a L1 side
Conor Wilkinson - would like to play in L1 but his tapes don't look as good as he probably thinks they do

What about JMD? I thought he should have been given another chance. He did well at Crawley and they seem keen on getting him.

Also Turley was a bit of a surprise, i thought he was one of the rare success stories regarding our shambles of a defence.

Now if Happe doesn’t resign we could have a spot of bother regarding a decent centre back pairing. Should have offered Turley one more year.

The rest are all fine with me, shame it never worked out for Angol, thought he was going to do well here.

Good comment.

[Sid Bishop]

One thing you can be fairly sure of is that when the new Manager and players do arrive, some of the new players will do ok and some may be well below the sky high expectations of the fans. Same may well hold for any new manager who is appointed, most football managers have a very short shelf life.

[Smendrick Feaselberg]

Under contract
Sam Sargeant - didn't know he was under contract
Ruel Sotiriou - got lucky wangling a contract pre-season. candidate for being released based on this seasons form

Released
Lee Angol - right decision
Louis Dennis - right decision
Myles Judd - no surprise
Sam Ling - surprised and hope he gets a gig at National League level
Jamie Turley - right decision
Joe Widdowson - if our aim is to go into next season with players capable of playing at L1 level, this is the right decision. wish him well

Offered new contract
Craig Clay - surprised, expect him to bite their hand off
Dan Happe - hope he signs. Thompson will make him a better player
Danny Johnson - will he, won't he
Jayden Sweeney - another who will sign. has so much potential but needs a manager who will give him a chance
Lawrence Vigouroux - might get snapped up by a L1 side
Conor Wilkinson - would like to play in L1 but his tapes don't look as good as he probably thinks they do

What about JMD? I thought he should have been given another chance. He did well at Crawley and they seem keen on getting him.

Also Turley was a bit of a surprise, i thought he was one of the rare success stories regarding our shambles of a defence.

Now if Happe doesn’t resign we could have a spot of bother regarding a decent centre back pairing. Should have offered Turley one more year.

The rest are all fine with me, shame it never worked out for Angol, thought he was going to do well here.

JMD didn't really do well at Crawley. After a half decent start he was benched and then when he returned to the team started to be subbed off each game in the 55-70 minute range before again being benched at the end of the season. Think people are overrating him from some early tweets from Crawley's Twitter account and personal bias.

Turley isn't someone to count on over a full season. We now need players who can put pressure on the starting XI and provide genuine competition for places, something we've not really had these past two seasons.

If Happe doesn't re-sign that will be disappointed but think of the opportunity - i.e. we get some compensation and can go out and bring in and play a faster more mobile central defender who doesn't get bullied so much. It will be a shame if he goes, but it's also a chance to upgrade on what the team needs.

[Ornchurch]

Clay has been offered a new contract. It may be on lower terms than previous. He may not sign it.

[jamespevans]

What about JMD? I thought he should have been given another chance. He did well at Crawley and they seem keen on getting him.

Also Turley was a bit of a surprise, i thought he was one of the rare success stories regarding our shambles of a defence.

Now if Happe doesn’t resign we could have a spot of bother regarding a decent centre back pairing. Should have offered Turley one more year.

The rest are all fine with me, shame it never worked out for Angol, thought he was going to do well here.

JMD spent his 2.5 years with us flattering to deceive. If he didn't have to beat a man, tackle opposition players and got to take all the set pieces, everything would be dandy.

Turley is an injury prone bog standard 31yo L2 player. We need better.

Angol was the most frustrating player in the squad (and he had competition). Whenever he got the ball I could go for a cup of tea and he still wouldn't have decided what to do with it.

[jamespevans]

Watching Sutton this evening Harry beautyman could be worth a punt

Other than him being on that long list of ex-O's, why would we sign a 29yo who only made circa 50 league performances and has played the last three seasons in the NL. Need to be a little more ambitious than that.

[RedDwarf 1881]

Going under the radar but a lot of experience, leadership and "captains" being lost there coulson, Jobi, even turley to a degree

That’s a fair point but with a lot of things it depends on what players we’re about to bring in. New leaders and potential captains could be about to come into the building

[Smendrick Feaselberg]

Going under the radar but a lot of experience, leadership and "captains" being lost there coulson, Jobi, even turley to a degree

Don't necessarily agree with this. McAnuff for sure was a leader, Coulson also pretty influential and Turley much less so. But Coulson wasn't good enough for the first team so you wouldn't want him in there for leadership, and Turley didn't provide a huge amount.

We can still sign experienced players, but in particular leadership is a characteristic that we should be looking at in several of our new signings this summer. And in various positions throughout the team as we didn't have anywhere near enough of it on the pitch last season. Experience/age doesn't necessary equal leadership.