Andy Munro assesses the Blues squad at the end of a traumatic season.
With the CEO now thankfully departed it’s perhaps worth taking a look at the Blues squad and who should be kept, let go or allowed out on loan next season. Here’s my take.
Neil Etheridge: Apart from the occasional blooper a very decent keeper. Keep.
Andres Prieto: Made Lee Camp look a safe pair of hands so if we can agree a compromise pay-off on his ridiculous three year contract. Let go.
Connal Trueman: Not quite made the grade. Let go.
Zak Jeacock: Worth grooming as a number two. Keep.
Maxime Colin/Kristian Pedersen/Marc Roberts/Harlee Dean: Generally our first choice back four. Keep.
Steve Seddon: Certainly more than decent when we play wing-backs. Keep
Jake Clarke-Salter. Never quite made an impression. Let go.
Yan Valery: Showed nothing special. Let go.
Josh Dacres-Cogley: Never fulfilled his early potential. Let go.
George Friend: Good influence and classy despite his age. Keep.
Nico Gordon: Showed enough to be worth a punt in the matchday squad. Keep.
Mikel San Jose: Never did enough consistently. Let go.
Adam Clayton: Promising start but petered out to mediocre. Let go.
Ivan Sunjic: Never worth the money we paid but a decent scrapper. Keep.
Gary Gardner: Probably the midfield pick. Keep.
Rekeem Harper: Too many average performances. Let go.
Ryan Stirk: Showed his mettle in a difficult last two games and worth including in the matchday squad. Keep.
Jeremy Bela: Very skilful but too often a poor final product. Let go.
Amari Miller: An undoubted talent but showed he’s not quite ready during the end of season run-in. Loan.
Ivan Sanchez: Top quality. Keep.
Jon Toral: Never recaptured his previous form and injury prone. Let go.
Alen Halilovic: Absolute quality if a little inconsistent. Keep.
Riley McGree: Versatile, with plenty of energy and worth a punt unless he’s recalled by his parent club. Keep.
Jonathan Leko: In view of lee Bowyer’s influence let’s hope for a marked improvement but he’s now skating on thin ice. Keep.
Sam Cosgrove: Currently looks a bit of a poor man’s Peter Crouch but we’re never going to get our £2 million back so let’s see if he progresses. Keep.
Scott Hogan/Lukas Jutkiewicz: Still the natural first choices up front. Keep.
One to watch: Young centre forward Josh Andrews, a real talent. Keep.
That’s about nineteen worth keeping and eleven out of the door, which should help the wage bill!
