TOPIC: Next Seasons Squad

20 Players who are actually ours (Gilliead, Gillhespey, Hope, Comley & Smith don't count!), only 8 actually signed for next season.

Be interesting to see who gets offered a new deal from the 12 out of contract in June (Did Ibehre ever extend? Can remember talk of it but can't remember anything official?). Whatever happens, likely to be plenty of players in/out!

2018:
Mark Ellis
Charlie Wyke

2017:
David Atkinson
Patrick Brough
Mark Gillespie
Danny Grainger
Luke Joyce
Jason Kennedy

2016:
Troy Archibald-Henville
Derek Asmoah
Angelo Balanta
Dan Hanford
Bastien Hery*
Jabo Ibehre*
Alex McQueen*
Tom Miller
Michael Raynes
Steven Rigg
Anthony Sweeney
Joe Thompson

* = 1yr Extension Option

Get rid of:
Troy Archibald-Henville
Angelo Balanta
Bastien Hery
Steven Rigg
Anthony Sweeney
Joe Thompson

Miller would be my only definite keep. The rest depends on what else is available. Hanford is actually a good reserve keeper at this level as well.

Keep Miller, McQueen, Ibehre and Asamoah. I'd potentially keep Raynes but only as backup, i think we need better for the starting 11 if we're going to mount a promotion challenge.

I reckon there's better keepers out there than Hanford to compete with Gillespie.

And this Dutch winger has the opportunity to earn a deal for next season. Let's home that he impresses and does.

What I expect Curle to do:

Troy Archibald-Henville - released
Derek Asamoah - released
Angelo Balanta - released
Dan Hanford - contract
Bastien Hery - released
Jabo Ibehre* - automatic extension
Alex McQueen - contract
Tom Miller - contract
Michael Raynes - contract
Steven Rigg - released
Anthony Sweeney - released
Joe Thompson - released

I'd like to see Rigg get another year to prove himself, he was really good last season.

I would keep
Miller
Mcqueen
Raynes
Sweeney who I like and think we have missed this last month although I know most don't rate

I like to see Sweeney in the side, very good experienced players at this level. Hope he makes the team/squad for Yeovil.

Miller is a very handy lad to have in your squad, sometimes gets caught out too far up the pitch when we've lost the ball, needs to sort that out sharpish.

The rest are no world beaters.

I'm getting old now and seen enough seasons to realise that the players that get released are not likely to be replaced by much better, so I'd be happy if we kept the likes of Asamoah, Sweeney, McQueen, Rigg, Raynes, Miller.
Those that have barely featured Balanta, Troy, Thompson, Hery will surely be on their bike.
Will be hoping for 3 or 4 really ambitious signings as opposed to 7 or 8 ones that are no better than 'what we've got'.
Good luck with that eh?

I'd keep

Hanford
McQueen
Miller
Raynes
Ibhere
Sweeney
Rigg
Asamoah

Release:
Troy
Thompson
Balanta
Hery

I wouldn't be surprised if Jabo Ibehre turns down the extension.
We're a long way from London, and his daughters recent illness is probably tipping the scales on him wanting to be closer to her home.

Mush wrote:
If he had came from another league club would you be giving the same credit?

i feel he gets away with a lot because we know how the standard he was playing before us, i still feel he is nowhere near good enough for this squad.

He was good last season when he had a run in the team. Scored a few goals, grafted and gave his all. Injuries and Jabo scoring loads etc has affected him this season. I think he deserves another shot.

Personally, I get bored and lose interest when hundreds of loanees come and go, so would rather someone like Rigg was given a chance, even if he is a bit of a back up player, than do this.
To me the structure of a squad, is that you need players like that, you're are not going to pay big bucks for an established striker then have him warming the bench, but then you do need cover for injuries and that.

TheLazyLewisGuy wrote: I'm sure people were saying the same thing about Glen Murray back in the day.

Would imagine that wingers and strikers would be the priority recruitment areas. Another centre back maybe too?

I'm probably on my own here but I think we need a goalkeeper a.s.a.p. - and keep Gillespie as back up. If you're not sure about this, check out our Goals Against tally for the past couple of seasons - they're not all down to dodgy defending...

cousinscotty wrote:
I agree. At first he was great but injured all the time, now he has no command of his area at all. He gives away needless penalties and is weak on one on ones. His shot stopping is good but still i think we can do better at our level

cousinscotty wrote:
I conpletely disagree! He's what 21/22 and will only get better. Some performances over the last couple of years have been nothing short of phenomenal playing behind defences my nan would breach! he's going to be at fault sometimes but the standard he's achieved already shows me he'll become a good Championship keeper one day at least.

cousinscotty wrote:
If think we are going to get a better keeper at this level your disillusioned, i am yet to see a better keeper from this league and i have not seen many better in the league above, we are a league 2 club with a top league 1 keeper, if he hadn't gotten injured last season he would be gone.

Happyblue wrote:
How many League 1/2 keepers have you seen regularly enough this season to compare with Gillespie.

In my opinion he's nowhere near a 'top league 1 keeper'. I think for a mid-table League 2 side, he's decent enough for us. If we want to seriously push on for promotion next season, I think we need a better keeper.

Rigg has to go league football is a step to far for him,Thompson ,balanta,Troy ,Hery,and brough should also go the lot of them are simply not good enough

cufcdeano wrote:
Quite often actually, i think your idea of what a league 1/2 keeper is way too high, ask the scouts at the matches which carlisle player could play higher and the most common name they say is Gillespie, talk to people at other clubs the player they most want would be Gillespie . Gillespie is an excellent keeper at this level, they are areas that could improve but he is not a mid level league 2 keeper at all and i personally think you need to drop your expectations of what you get at this level.

Are you friendly with a lot of the scouts, happy? Or do they just tell any Tom, Dick & Harry who they are watching and who their targets are?

crunchblue wrote: I'm friendly with a lot of people,

The vast majority of this squad are more than capable of being part of a promotion winning squad,what we are missing is the two players that turn us into that team

we seem to be looking at the right type of players Liddle ect...get a couple of that standard in and we would look a very handy outfit.

personally think we need two winger, a striker, a left back (back up or challenger to grainger) and a centre back.

I have a feeling we will only be left with Wyke and possibly Hope as strikers at end of this season so we will possibly be looking to get a couple of strikers through door we may already have one winger if that Dutch lad signs and is any good

Curle said a couple of months ago that we had Jabo until the end of next season, so seemingly we've already exercised the 1 year option.

Doubt Jabo will be here next season. Even if he is, I reckon we need to be signing Hope along with another striker to compete with Jabo, Rigg and Wyke; 3 wingers; 2 central midfielders and another centre half to challenge Atkinson and Ellis if Raynes goes. I'd also like to see tough competition for Gillespie, which Hanford doesn't provide.

At least this summer we'll see the end of the ridiculous contracts that Kavanagh handed out. Half the reason most if them were put on the transfer list.

DeckchairBlue wrote:
That's what I thought, but there was never any official story?

CCU wrote:
Nothing official was released AFAIK, just what KC said on the radio, then didn't elaborate on it when asked after.

So another end of season when we'll worry if one of our best players is leaving or not.

I don't think Jabo will be here next season, I'd be more worried if we lost Charlie Wyke who is our top striker at the moment., and potentially can still get better.

melbourneblues wrote:

Too true. I'd be very concerned if Wyke were to go.

Troy Archibald-Henville - release/put out of misery
Derek Asmoah - keep (good to have off the bench)
Angelo Balanta - release (really thought he was a decent player but just hasn't been given game time)
Dan Hanford - release (we have a decent young keeper in the ranks)
Bastien Hery - release (hasn't worked out)
Jabo Ibehre* - release (will find a club down south and free up wages)
Alex McQueen - keep (sure he'll come good with a bit of experience)
Tom Miller - keep (get confidence back and he's in our starting 11)
Michael Raynes - keep (no brainer for me)
Steven Rigg - release (better in a team scrapping, can't quite change a game yet)
Anthony Sweeney - unsure
Joe Thompson - keep (similar to McQueen)

High Street wrote:
Good job he's signed up til the end of 2018

The clause is the club's option, on ibehres contract so his contract will just automatically extend and he won't have and option in it .

wetheriggscufc wrote:
So relaease our top scorer and give a Thompson a contract who for one is not that young and two is useless

Happyblue wrote:
Or it could be that the Club can ask for the option, but it depends on wether the player wants to sign it. Could be several different ways it works!

Out of the ones who are out of contract I'd keep

Asamoah
Jabo
McQueen'
Miller

We need another CB possibly two,a backup LB,Two CMs,RW,LW and two Strikers so not that much then!

CCU wrote: What would be the point in that compared to any regular contract extension?

Gillespie
Miller Raynes Ellis Grainger
Joyce Kennedy
Jabo Wyke

I've seen us go into seasons with way worse starting positions. the 2 before this we had Symington as our only right back and the year before Brad Potts was our first choice there. The year we went down we had Mike Edwards and Danny Livesey who were both miles past there best which led to a few wallopongs early on. To think that team we took to Bradford 2nd league game of the season, was nothing short of embarrassing.

Even last season when we brought in a few decent named players (Paynter, Kearns, Troy, Dicker so on...) we still went into the league cup game with Derby playing a youth player up front in Dempsey, Turns out he was quite good in the end but i hope you see where i am coming from.

With the players we have missed out on in Liddle, Eagles & Campbell-Ryce**, i'm pleased Curle is being ambitious about who he wants to bring to the club even if they do seem out of our price range. **it may have been Campbell-Ryce

daviejones wrote:
My point was that there's that many different things in contracts these days that nothing would surprise me!

I think these options are usually in the players favour. When they get to X number of appearances they can automatically extend the existing contract whether the club like it or not, due to the clause in the contract.

I think we had a situation with Lee Miller a couple of years ago where Kavanagh was going to have to stop playing him otherwise Miller could auto renew for another year. It turned out that Miller agreed to wave this option so that he could continue playing for the rest of the season.

I'd imagine this was the situation with Gillespie, he reached his appearances so exercised his right to renew for a year. Likewise Jabo, but we don't really know if he's taken the option as of yet.

Last May when we released players and transfer listed some, the only players we had left in contract excluding those transfer listed were...

Hanford
Grainger
Brough
Hammell
Dempsey
Wyke
Rigg


I think it's safe to say we'll be in a much stronger position this summer and there'll be less of a rebuild job.

crunchblue wrote:
So 7 last year compared with 8 (Poss 9 with Jabo)?

Not much difference!

CCU wrote:
Quite a big difference in standard I'd say. Dempsey being the obvious exception.

What about Dicker?

CCU wrote:
Until we get offered a few balls and a job lot of short dated Lucozade.