Airdrie United’s 20-year-old striker Ryan Donnelly looks like a good signing—he’s of comparable ability to Barnes-Homer, with his best years still ahead of him (Barnes-Homer, on the other hand, is at his peak). I worry that his decision-making isn’t good enough, although it hasn’t done much harm to my current crop of strikers. I’ll take another look at him shortly.
Gary Smith is further along in his development, despite being the same age. The worry with Smith, however, is that he lacks speed and doesn’t make up for it in strength or aerial ability. I’m not sure that he’d fit my playing style. I think I’ll pass.
Declan McManus—yet another young Scottish striker—looks to be a very well-rounded talent, although he’ll need to add to his pace before he can really thrive. At just 17 years old, he may already be good enough for a fringe role at Lincoln. The trouble is that he’s still under contract, and at a club as big as Aberdeen I have little chance of a bargain-basement price. I’ll have to monitor the lad’s progress instead.
I’m not interested in midfielder Craig Murray, despite a glowing report on him from Peter Johnson. Likewise with Joe Wilson. Both strike me as possessing critical weaknesses that would be exploited in the kinds of football I expect to be playing. Joe Slattery, meanwhile, misses out on further attention because I just don’t think he’ll ever make the grade.
Moving over to my own players, I went through each of their prospects for first-team football next season and beyond.
Winger Benjamin Laurant only arrived in January—a mere two months ago—but he may not be around much longer. He hasn’t made as big of an impact as I’d hoped, so if a better wide man comes along he’ll be on the way out. Fellow wingers Francis Laurent and Simon Russell will be released at the end of their contracts in a little over two months.
I think I’ll sell Josh Gowling, once I settle on a replacement. Gowling had a great season, especially considering the shaky start to our working relationship (he spat the dummy when I changed his squad status), but I see him as a weak link in our armour going into League 2. I expect Kanouté to bump him out of the starting lineup sooner rather than later, regardless.
I’m satisfied with goalkeeper Mark Halstead, but I’m open to signing a new number one. I definitely need a second keeper who’s up to standard.
I think Marques and Birchall will again play key roles next season, and I see no reason why Woods can’t also. With Olembé and Shuker it all comes down to how well they can cope with the increased strain and their aging legs. I hope young Robert Taylor plays a bigger role—the boy’s got enormous potential that I hope comes to fruition.
Midfielders Alan Power and Jean-François Christophe, along with defenders Peter Bore, Nicky Nicolau, John Nutter, and Paul Robson, are all on their way out. I’ll leave it until the transfer window reopens before I transfer list Nutter; the rest of them have contracts expiring, so they’ll leave on a free. Strikers Sam Smith and Nialle Rodney, too.
I’m all set to make an offer for young left back Alex Billington, who was excellent on loan for us in the closing stages of the season, as soon as I’m allowed. Fellow youngster Karlton Watson may be farmed out on loan, back into the Blue Square Bet Premier, for the match experience he sorely needs.
Without factoring in new signings—since I can’t be sure of any dealings in the market at this point—we’re looking at just 16 first-team players sticking around, from a squad of 28. And one of those is John Nutter, who I plan to sell. Youth team graduate Samuel Hancock and loan returnees Danny Hone, Kyle Perry, and Bradley Barraclough will bolster those numbers, but I don’t know anything about those three guys who’ve been away at other clubs.
The take away here is that I need to rebuild. I figure with the League 2 season being 46 games long, plus cup matches (meaning there are at least 50 competitive games to worry about), I should aim for a senior squad of 24-28 players. So I need to sign somewhere between five and 12 players on permanent or long-term loan deals. It could be a busy summer.
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