There are likely to be a few lockers cleared out at Staplewood this summer as Saints look likely to let a few players leave the club.

With a first team squad that is around about the 40 mark in number and only 18 of those players making more than a dozen appearances in the Premier League, it emphasises that the Saints squad had plenty of quantity but not so much quality, of course some of these players like Ben Reeves are still young and aspiring whilst others such as Dean Hammond have been of great service in either League 1 or the Championship, but the Premier is a step too far, whatever the reason though the appearance stats reveal that last seasons Premiership return relied too heavily on a core of players.

Six of the squad are out of contract this summer and of that number I would expect five of them to be released, Danny Butterfield, Dan Seaborne, Tommy Forecast, Ryan Dickson & Frazer Richardson, the first four having barely played in the past two seasons, whilst Richardson made a few appearances, but found that when Clyne was injured either Cork or Yoshida were preferred as makeshift right backs. The sixth is Ben Reeves and there will be a dilemma here, in the first half of the season he did well when called upon, including a goal in the Carling Cup, he spent the latter half of the season at Southend where he immpressed, the big question is whether Saints will give him another year or decide that the squad has enough youngsters alreday.

 Out of contract players are easy to move on, however Saints have plenty more who are under contract but unlikely to get even a game next season, the problem here is that most are on good deals due to promotion bonus's and increased salaries, this means that they are on a higher wage than they are likely to get anywhere else, given that many are not super rich from football having played most of their careers in the lower league, that leaves them with a big dilemma, do they take a hit in pay and move elsewhere or do they sit on the best money they have ever earned, see their contracts out and hope that Saints will send them out on loan subsidising their wages from another club.

Although some would condemn players for doing this and not putting football first, Im not one of them, as I said, many have not earned fortunes and whilst I might condemn the likes of a Premier player on high salaries, Im not going to do that to a man who has probably spent most of his career on £3k a week maximum and suddenly finds himself on five times that.

The reality is though that some will be on wages approaching £20k a week, the recent driving ban for Tadanari Lee revealed that the player was now on £18k a week with the club and I would imagine that the likes of Billy Sharp, Richard Chaplow, Dean Hammond & Steve De Ridder would be on somwhere around £15 k and in the case of Sharp alledgedly more than Lee, but in those five players you have a weekly wage bill approaching £100k when adding NI & pension payments and for that we got a grand total of around six substitute appearances last term, this isnt the club's fault its the way the game is these days and in many respects we have bucked the normal trend in that we still have a core of a squad that not only got us promotion but was with us in League One.

So far we have only covered 11 players, but there is at almost that again in those that are still in contract and unlikely to play for us next season, some are the likes of Aaron Martin, Jonathan Forte, Lee Barnard, players who will enjoy a career in the lower leagues but probably not the Premier and a raft of youth team players like Jack Stephens who Saints have to decide whether they can make the step up from promising youngster to Premiership quality.

To finish we come to perhaps the most controversial group who Saints need to consider offloading who are not only still under contract, but in the cases of some have played more than those dozen games, here Im talking about Jos Hooiveld, Guly, Danny Fox, Jose Fonte, even Jason Pucheon, if Saints want to improve then there has to be a natural progression and as you bring in more quality players you have to let some go, some like Puncheon will be fan favourites, whilst others like Fox & Guly will be fan scapegoats, but you have evaluate their worth and see what the position is and whether cashing in whilst they are under contract is viable.

Add to that perhaps the most controversial of this list,Vegard Forren and Mayuka, neither got much of a look in, indeed Forren didnt play one single minute of the 16 games he was at the club, we can only speculate as to why not, but to be blunt here is an experienced International player, if he wasnt ready to play a few weeks after his arrival I would speculate that the reason for that would be that he is no better than what we already had and where selected before him, given our central defence's problems thats a worrying thought.

Likewise Mayuka, Sharp and Tadanari Lee were both shipped out to accomodate Mayuka who like Forren came for a not insignificant fee, Mayuka managed 1 start plus 10 games off the bench, his total time on the pitch was not even equal to 2 1/2 games in terms of minutes and that tells you something as well, the difficulty here is that to move them on so quickly would be a big admission that someone somewhere has got it badly wrong, with Sharp and Lee its easier you can argue that they did a job in the Championship and couldnt make the step up, but with Mayuka and Foren thats definately not the case, I would expect Forren to stay and be given a season, but I wouldnt be surprised to see Mayuka moved on quietly, I would pose this question, off those appearances who would you rather have seen come on to try and save or win the game in the final minutes, Mayuka ? or Billy Sharp/Tadanari Lee ?

So a big summer for Saints and one where they really do need to clear the decks and compile a squad where there is a clear path to the first team unhindered by players who through no fault of their own have done the job they were bought to do a little too quickly and in the process effectively ended their career here, for that we should thank them and wish them well at a new club. 

Photo: Action Images

BaselSaint added 11:33 - May 24 I just wonder if Billy Sharp could be developed more at Saints. He is young enough and has a good eye for goal.
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StEdmund added 11:44 - May 24 A fair assessment of the current situation, and I am particularly interested that you mention Ben Reeves and Jack Stephens, as I recall great emphasis being placed by the new management of bring a percentage of first team players through the youth ranks. How do you think this will effect the summer transfers (apart from hanging on to Luke Shaw and Clyne)?
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Scummer added 11:55 - May 24 I'd like to see Billy Sharp play more. He gives us something different, and when we are camped in the opposition's third (as we have been at times this year) then he is the kind of player who will nick something. I still think Guly has something to offer in the Premiership, although I know that there are others who don't. I think Mayuka and Fox will go. Mayuka is too hit and miss to make the most of his sub appearances, and Saints just don't get as many points per game when Fox is playing. I have a soft spot for both Fonte and Hooiveld; Fonte for dropping to L1 and being on the journey, and Hooiveld as he has had some immense performances and always comes over to the fans at the end of the game. But my head tells me they should be (at best) back up for some more quality CBs. Forren is the real mystery. I would love to know what the deal is there rather than just speculating.

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SaintNick added 12:06 - May 24 Personally I think we would have been better with Sharp than Mayuka, he is more likely to nick something given he has that knack of being in the right place at the right time. Guly has played a better role than some would think, likewise Fox, problem is Fox is a very good championship player but isn't a great defender, he was better going forward which we did a lot in that division, however the big question is, if he went who would cover Shaw who seems to be a little injury prone ? The answer is that we could probably get no better than Fox to do that, we wouldn't get in a genuine premier quality player who would be happy to play second fiddle to fox and as I say no better in the Championship, at tleast not who again would be willing to accept second fiddle

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ExiledSupporter added 13:20 - May 24 I am an unashamed admirer of Billy Sharpe and would strongly prefer him on the bench to Mayuka or DeRidder, and just ahead of Lee (any news about how he has been performing whilst out on loan?). Accepting that he lacks pace, he has an eye for goal and a happy knack of scoring important goals, so I would retain him. Let's recall that he had a pretty successful pre-season for us and, at that time, looked in better form than Lambert. Puzzlingly at the time he got no opportunity to play in the Prem and I was amazed that he was sent out. With hindsight I think Sharpe's skills were adjudged to be unsuitable for the style of play that was evolving and I suspect (admittedly with no firm evidence) that Adkins was pressurised to let him go as a quid pro quo for signing Rodrigues who we should remember struggled to adapt to a role on the left wing for most of the first half of the season. As a general statement our legitimate concern to increase the pace of our forward line (which is also necessary at the heart of our defence) has led to the recruitment of the two probably fastest players in the squad in Mayuka and DeRidder, neither of whom have the requisite footballing standards/intelligence to take advantage of their speed. Good runners, inept with the ball at their feet. I would also keep Guly (for bench purposes) and plan to play him on the right, where he was most effective for us in the Championship, to use when Puncheon is struggling or not in the right frame of mind. Guly is most effective with the ball at his feet attacking the opposition penalty area, not with the ball hoisted up to him with his back to goal. I think sometime over the summer it would be interesting, Nick, to hear your views about what we have been trying to do with the forwards since MP arrived and the extent or otherwise that it has been successful? My own view is that the consequence of the tactics has meant insufficient consistent presence on the shoulder of the last defender in open play, leading to a notable decline in goals scored over the last half dozen or so games.

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SaintNick added 14:10 - May 24 I agree with most of what you have said exiled, and I do worry that Lambert will be able to adapt to the system next season, Lambert is not a channel runner, so we rarely play through balls for him to run onto, he doesn't have the pace for that, Rodriguez though does and I would not be surprised to see him as the preferred lone striker next season, as he can offer an outlet for passing forward that we don't have through Lambert, J Rods pace can outstrip defenders, Rickies cant

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eastlondonsaint added 14:15 - May 24 I agree with BaselSaint. I wonder what MP could do with Sharp. Just a thought.
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CovSaint added 16:14 - May 24 Another vote to bring Sharp back into the fold. He's a poacher, and would give us an added option up front. I think he could unlock defences in a way that we hadn't been able to do in the last few games of the season, despite controlling possession and territory.
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REEDYREEDOREEDZ added 16:59 - May 24 Billy Sharp will be sold. It was harsh that Adkins didn't give him a chance in the Premiership but Rodriguez and Mayuka were brought in to replace him, and with the club's huge ambitions he's not going to be given the chance now. You've got to think that if Mayuka was any good then he'd have played more games this season. They may as well get shot of him if he's not going to play. J-Rod is number 2 behind Lambert in the striker ranks and I expect Poche will want to buy a top class goalscoring striker anyway. With Cortese's and Poche's ambitions for the club I expect we'll spend big this summer. It wouldn't surprise me if they tried to sign the likes of Soldado (Valencia) or Negredo (Sevilla), both proven goalscorers at the highest level, both playing for clubs that are in financial ruin. Either would cost £15m - £20m though. Sebastian Fernandez might be signed from struggling Malaga. He can play on the wing or up front and prob be much more effective Lallana. Maybe Saints will finally wrap up the £10m Davide Astori deal from Cagliari as well. Whatever happens you can expect some big name players to arrive.

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ExiledSupporter added 17:18 - May 24 Reedy etc, I'd prefer Lukaku (young and with Prem experience) to players from Spain or Italy, untried in the conditions which apply in England in mid winter. Lukaku has a contrasting but complementary style to Rodriguez In the case of central defenders I have to admit (reluctantly) that we probably will have to go abroad. I agree that NC has probably written off Sharpe, but unless we get a decent price for him, I feel that having him in the squad would be far from a disaster.

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REEDYREEDOREEDZ added 17:46 - May 24 Lukaku would be an amazing signing but if Chelsea are silly enough to sell him then he'll either go to a big club (like Spurs or Arsenal) or West Brom where he's enjoyed a great season. It would be a major coup if Saints got him and I can't see them pulling it off. On a different note I think Ramirez will come good next season. After a year settling in and adjusting to English football he might be better prepared to produce his best football next season. He's definitely got a lot to prove, only showed flashes of his quality so far. If he can do it consistently and add some goals from outside the box to his game, then he could be like a new signing and make a real difference for us.

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ExiledSupporter added 23:08 - May 24 Reedy, I agree with you about Ramirez, in fact I think he is arguably the most talented individual we have by some way; but he has underperformed in terms of contribution, seems unable to sustain a performance for more than about 65 mins or so and seems to lack the taste for physical challenge which, perhaps wrongly, I associate with Uruguayans and Argentinians. But he plays with his head up, much more than many of our lads (rather like Lambert in this respect). I hope we see a more committed level of performance next season where he takes a bit more charge of the direction of the game than to date. If so I shall be as pleased as any supporter.

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