The swift rise up the leagues has had one drawback and that is that some of our loyal players from League One and the Championship have been stranded in limbo.
Players contracts usually include bonus's for success and this would also encompass guaranteed basic salary increases etc as promotion is achieved, the down side of this is that for some they are never going to make the leap between say League One and the Premier, but on the other hand they will be on wages that they can never hope to match should they move away from the club.
So the dilemma for the likes of Jonathan Forte or Lee Barnard has been do they move on for the good of their career or do they sit out 3 years of a contract in which they will probably earn 3-4 times what they can achieve elsewhere and make themselves finacially secure.
Now I dont blame them for sitting tight, Lee Barnard for instance when he damaged his ankle in the closing stages of our promotion season from League One would have realised then what a precarious career a lower league footballer is, the injury kept him out and he never got a real chance to prove himself in the Championship.
So no one should berate these players for staying put taking the money and hoping that they can get out on loan, they should be thanked for their contributions a few years back, without them we would perhaps not be in the position we are today.
from our time in League One three players are out of contract in the summer, Guly is perhaps the highest profile of the trio with Lee Barnard and Jonathan Forte being the other two, Guly being 32 is perhaps not likely to be offered an extension to his deal, at times he has been the scapegoat of the crowd and perhaps he isnt quite up to Premier League standard now, but he has been a good servant, got some vital goals in League One and the Championship and this is perhaps the right time for a parting of the ways and he should go with the best wishes of every supporter.
Lee Barnard and Jonathan Forte are no brainers, although Barnard played a few Championship games after his return from injury by then Saints had other options and this weekend will see the 2nd anniversary of his last appearance in a Saints shirt.
For Jonathan Forte its even longer he hasnt played at all this season and like Baranrd although he played the odd Championship game he hasnt featured since the defeat to Brighton on 2nd January 2012.
Cody Cropper the American goalkeeper is also coming to the end of his deal in the summer, at 21 he is at the crossroads, he has not played a League game for any club and Saints have to decide whether he has more potential than Paulo Gazzaniga, I would think that sadly for Cropper the answer is no, perhaps he is one that should have been on loan at some point this season.
One man who is not out of contract but who will also possibly depart is Billy Sharp whose deal runs out in 2015, Saints will probably look to cash in on him and with a year left Sharp can perhaps now afford to take a drop in wages for the security of a long term deal elsewhere.
Similarly there are several other squad members who will come into the last year of their deal in the summer, Jos Hooiveld and Yoshida are two of them and it wouldn't surprise me to see both of them move on to clear the decks for new arrivals, likewise Jack Cork, Jose Fonte & Artur Boruc and I would think the club would be looking to sign them to new deals asap.
Two youngsters with a year to run are Sam Gallagher and Harrison Reed, in the case of Gallagher I think Saints will be looking to sign him up, but with his recent bereavement the time hasn't been right, Reed is another matter, although a promising youngster he will be 20 during next season and he hasnt really pushed himself near to the premier League squad as perhaps he should have done, this being the case Saints might well not offer him a deal in the summer but look to how next season progresses, it is a risk but sometimes you have to let good players go.
Last but not least is Osvaldo, there are many reasons why this hasn't worked out, indeed why it never had a chance too and they are not all Osvaldo's fault, but I think there will be a parting of the way's
All in all Saints now have a chance to free up a few places in the squad for new arrivals, the squad has a solid foundation, however we are still short in some areas, if we can keep it together and bring in 2 or 3 truly quality arrivals, one of which could be funded by the sale of Osvaldo.