Retained list

[GlenSTFC]

Well Horlock leaving is the biggest surprise, not sure why but just expected him to stay, always appeared very happy here. Never mind… he has his reasons no doubt and as Scott said loyalty really is very rare now so I guess shouldn’t be that surprised. Really hoping at least one of Slavi or Oggy stays but again if they get offered silly money and a much higher chance of progress elsewhere then you can’t really blame them. Great to see the 2 EDS lads offered contracts and you’d hope they’d sign after being given an opportunity here. Looks like it could be another big rebuild maybe as many as 10 new players required?

[Windsor Rebel]

Remember the Bakes and Unders era, we had a settled team for many seasons, with one of two tweaks here and there. That seems

miles way from where we are now, I guess the higher up the leagues you go, players are better and therefore get noticed more

and tempted to move away. Shame really as i prefer the good old days when the best local players were at their local club.

[Kaiser Gibbs Batman (KGB)]

It's hardly a retained list as such-more a list of players definitely leaving and those the club hopes might be persuaded to stay. And there's always another goalkeeper.

[GlenSTFC]

2 minutes ago, Kaiser Gibbs Batman (KGB) said:

It's hardly a retained list as such-more a list of players definitely leaving and those the club hopes might be persuaded to stay. And there's always another goalkeeper.

I wonder if we’ll look to save money and give North a run out initially to see how he fares (after all we’ll never know how good he might be if we don’t give him a chance?).

[GlenSTFC]

3 minutes ago, Kaiser Gibbs Batman (KGB) said:

It's hardly a retained list as such-more a list of players definitely leaving and those the club hopes might be persuaded to stay. And there's always another goalkeeper.

Yeah was hoping the retained list would be a little more substantial! Out of the 7 definitely staying, one is the manager who’d like to play less plus 3 untried youngsters. Keeping Pruti and Ochieng are massive but it’s a big rebuilding job again and mostly like will be most seasons.

[Reading Rebel]

3 hours ago, GlenSTFC said:

Well Horlock leaving is the biggest surprise, not sure why but just expected him to stay, always appeared very happy here. Never mind… he has his reasons no doubt and as Scott said loyalty really is very rare now so I guess shouldn’t be that surprised. Really hoping at least one of Slavi or Oggy stays but again if they get offered silly money and a much higher chance of progress elsewhere then you can’t really blame them. Great to see the 2 EDS lads offered contracts and you’d hope they’d sign after being given an opportunity here. Looks like it could be another big rebuild maybe as many as 10 new players required?

Seems it wasn't Charlie's choice to leave.

[Russ_Rebel]

According to Charlie Horlock's statement on X(twitter) the management team have decided to go in a different direction in terms of the goalkeeper position,  I honestly thought Charlie has had a really good season and been one of the better goalkeeper we've been through the last few years. I was shocked to see him released for next season as I thought he would have been the one dead cert for staying 

[Reading Rebel]

The only real surprise for me is the clubs decision to let Charlie go.

Since Scott took over as manager, apart from Will Dennis on loan, we've really struggled to find a decent keeper.

I think the vast majority of supporters think that Charlie was the answer to our keeper problems and will be dismayed and disappointed that he's been let go.

 

[Reading Rebel]

I really can't believe that behind this decision by the club to go in a different direction is to put a young 19 year old rookie keeper between the sticks as our 1st choice keeper.

[Scott Davies]

Charlie is a fantastic person, a very good keeper but the role of a modern day keeper is changing.

We spoke with Charlie, and yes he wanted to stay, but there were things that we asked of him where he said he wouldn’t be able to change in being the type of keeper that he is.

Keepers have the ball at their feet a lot more often these days, they almost play as a quarterback within the team, and most other teams have them and we would like the same! Charlie openly admitted that playing in that manner doesn’t suit him.

Charlie without doubt was the most difficult conversation because a) he had a solid season and b) we haven’t found a replacement as of yet!

Its never easy and that was a big decision, but as a team, not just Charlie, we conceded the fifth most goals in the league I believe, so it’s something we needed to address.

Anyway, back to the phone I go! 

[Curtis]

I’m hoping we can keep at least 4 of the 5 that have been offered contracts & at least half of those that Scott is in discussion with….. I think that would give us a solid base for the new season.

Also, I would like to congratulate Ollie Spicer & Owen Rennie on securing places at US universities I’m sure it will be an amazing experience for them….. it would be fantastic if we see them back playing for us again in 4 years time.

[Reading Rebel]

6 minutes ago, Curtis said:

I’m hoping we can keep at least 4 of the 5 that have been offered contracts & at least half of those that Scott is in discussion with….. I think that would give us a solid base for the new season.

Also, I would like to congratulate Ollie Spicer & Owen Rennie on securing places at US universities I’m sure it will be an amazing experience for them….. it would be fantastic if we see them back playing for us again in 4 years time.

If the rumours are to be believed one of the 5 to be offered a contract, John Gilbert, will be going somewhere else.

[Russ_Rebel]

1 hour ago, Scott Davies said:

Charlie is a fantastic person, a very good keeper but the role of a modern day keeper is changing.

We spoke with Charlie, and yes he wanted to stay, but there were things that we asked of him where he said he wouldn’t be able to change in being the type of keeper that he is.

Keepers have the ball at their feet a lot more often these days, they almost play as a quarterback within the team, and most other teams have them and we would like the same! Charlie openly admitted that playing in that manner doesn’t suit him.

Charlie without doubt was the most difficult conversation because a) he had a solid season and b) we haven’t found a replacement as of yet!

Its never easy and that was a big decision, but as a team, not just Charlie, we conceded the fifth most goals in the league I believe, so it’s something we needed to address.

Anyway, back to the phone I go! 

Thank you for the clarification on that Scott, I'm sure you can appreciate we were all taken back by the decision as Charlie has been brilliant , so it's good to get some feedback from yourself as to what direction the clubs wants to go down 👍

[Curtis]

4 minutes ago, Reading Rebel said:

If the rumours are to be believed one of the 5 to be offered a contract, John Gilbert, will be going somewhere else.

I would expect Gilbert, Ogbonna & Spasov to be approached by other clubs at our level, but I think they all need another season of experience regularly starting at this level before they have a good chance of stepping up a level….. and they’ve established themselves as starters with us, whereas if they move that might not be guaranteed for them.

I hope for the good of their football careers that, like Leon did, they trust Scott & sign for another season.

[Reading Rebel]

So we're looking for a keeper that's good with his feet who can play the ball out from the back.

Although I don't like it I'm not totally anti playing out from the back providing you have the quality of player to make it work when you inevitably get closed down.

Unfortunately at this level of football we've seen it all fall apart far too often when players are put under pressure.

Looking forward to seeing the quality signings we make who can play this brand of football.

Edited 8 hours ago by Reading Rebel

[Russ_Rebel]

I feel with Gilbert he still has unfinished business with us, we gave him an opportunity to play up a league and he's had a great season with us. So I would like to think he would give us another season at least to show what we can offer him going forward, the grass isn't always greener as a number of ex players have found out. David and Slavi I can understand wanting that bigger move after they're performances since they have been with us. Gutted about Bayliss also, be interesting to see where he ends up

[Holyport Rebel]

Feeling very gutted after hearing the news about the manner in which Charlie is leaving.

I've mentioned before that I'm not a fan of the trend nowadays to try to get goalkeepers to play like a sweeper.

Yes, we may have let more goals in this season compared to other teams in our league, but I would find it hard to recall  many that were down solely to Charlie.

Didn't Man Utd spend over £43 million on Andre Onana because he was supposed to be a goalkeeper good with his feet, but how many goals has he let in that are totally down to his mistakes ?

Plenty.

Not making mistakes which leads to goals is a massive role of a keeper in my eyes.

Charlie succeeded in this last season I thought.

It must as Scott says been a horrible conversation to tell Charlie that he was no longer required ,but I know Scott has the interests of the team uppermost in his thoughts, and what he does is totally focused on making Slough Town a better and stronger team.

Despite knowing this, I still feel gutted for Charlie, and hope he ends up at a decent club for next season.

He deserves to.

Thanks for all your efforts last season Charlie.

 

Edited 6 hours ago by Holyport Rebel