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I'm sure Pete Johnson can identify plenty of quality players, but not at the price we can afford to pay ! We have to unearth a gem or take a punt , some come off , some don't.

I think we have to remember that Gary and Pete Johnson have shared a successful career together, therefore Pete Johnson has successfully supplied his brother wIth suitable players in the past.
Desperado's comment is probably pretty close to the mark.

firmly of the belief that Johnson & Johnson will have been scouting players since Christmas, when it was apparent that we were probably not going to make the play-offs. That seems to be borne out by his suggestion on saturday that we'll have "marquee" signings. (unless he's simply bought a new tent, which would be disappointing)

The fact that (until the last couple of weeks) we've shown form similar to those of those who will eventually go up is galling as it demonstrates that we have been able to build a pretty decent team.

But, as mentioned plenty of times before, our late start to pre-season and our forced scatter-gun approach to recruitment scuppered our season before the clocks even went back. You can argue whether Pete Johnson has been good or bad for us, but ultimately it doesn't matter; we don't have the resources to pay for a full-time scout so bitching about the guy we do have is pretty pointless.

Of the dozen or so players brought in pre- or early season, only a few have been good (Martin, Lapslie, McDonald, possibly Chiori Johnson). Some have been very poor or unused (Halstead, Holman, Lolos, Brzozowski, Rodgers) and jury still maybe out on somebody like Ali Omar and O'Connell*. But that's what you get when you have 4 or 5 weeks to find & sign players.

The key going into next season will be: can we keep our 'spine'? Wright, Moxey, Wynter, Hall, MacDonald, Lewis, Little, CLE? I think those first 4 will probably stay. We'll doubtless offer contracts to those last 4, but who knows what their plans are. I'd expect to lose at least one of them. So then you're into the "who replaces them" game. I'm happy to trust Gary on this, although my fear would be that he's not given a sufficient budget for the job, so he walks (and then we'd be in all kinds of brown stuff, since it'd mean CO is not going to continue supporting the club in the same way).

*look,O'Connell hasn't been great but I can't help but feel he's been unfortunate. He could have had a late season renaissance after scoring the winner at Wealdstone, but it was (unfairly) ruled out after CLE was deemed to taken the ball out of play. Upon such fine margins are careers defined.

Holman was known to Gary Johnson so can't really be laid at Pete Johnson's door, Lolos was a pretty well known prospect in the South West and there was quite some surprise he was released by Plymouth and I think most here were delighted to sign him and I'd say Halstead was a fairly known quantity having made a decent number of league appearances and supposed to be the prime for a keeper.

Halstead will see out his 2 year deal, so will be with us next season. I know he committed to the cause when he signed, and bought a house in the town, leaving his young family behind, unless of course he is paid off. His sister told me that he wants to see it out despite him being disliked.

We obviously need more firepower up front.
The goal return from Wright, Evans, Lolos and Holman is around 21. We need our main striker to be getting close to 20 alone. Connor is an excellent player and done well but I wouldn't call him an instinctive finisher and perhaps should have had more with the chances he's had. In general I'd like to see us having more shots at goal instead of trying the extra pass, like when Wynter cracked in one v Maidenhead, keeper can spill/parry and blocked shots can break for you.

There is absolutely no point in retaining Halstead. He is worse than useless and, however much it costs, the club should get rid of him and recruit a competent back up should MacDonald decide to stay.

If the latter departs then a class first choice is required together with an able deputy.

Desperado nailed it!

I just hope Gary referenced some ‘marquee’ players coming in during his latest match report, is true. If not I will feel let down by his comments and will be spending the summer looking.

Turning to goal keepers, do we need a second keeper of any standard. Having a young keeper on the bench, like we did with George Burton would save us money to spend say on a striker. It would only ever cost us three points at worst, if the number one keeper got injured in a game, as the emergency loan signing system could cover. Surely spending on a striker makes sense.

Halstead has another year on his contract surely?

Pay his contract up. All he's done in his time at Torquay is keep a seat on the bench or in the stand warm.

Pay his contract up?
Where does the money to do that come from? We owe millions as it is. Hes here and may as well see his contract out as our second keeper. If Macd goes, he must still only be our back up.

Yeah, paying his contract up is a no go. The money spent would come out of next season's budget and we'd still have to find another keeper.

Assuming he's not loaned out or something, worst case scenario next season with Halstead is we have an experienced backup keeper, best case scenario is he's determined to perform better if/when he does get a chance.

Is Dean Moxey’s time up? Hasn’t been in the squad for a couple of weeks but is lined up for the Yeovil/South West Legends match next week.

Would be a shame to see him go as he’s been a rock for us at the back this year.

Seems to be a rumour amongst Walsall fans that CLE has agreed to sign for them.