Ins and outs and maybe's, part 1

The club announced its released list yesterday. No real surprises on there except maybe one - Aaron Brown hasn't been offered a contract and has gone, along with Jordan Street and Rob Fitzgerald. Andre McCollin evidently has another year left on his contract but has been transfer listed with offers invited - doubtless he'll be let go for the proverbial mars bar and packet of crisps if he can find another club.

Pretty much as expected then with the exception of Brown. I thought he was useful enough to keep on as a decent (and presumably cheap) back-up, but who am I to disagree with Skivo? Good luck to Aaron anyway, I wouldn't have thought he'd have much problem in finding an L2/Conference club somewhere who needs a tall defender with an eye for a goal - though his ground play wasn't really L1 in standard.

Off the pitch physio Wayne Jones has also been relieved of his duties with the club saying they have decided to "follow a different direction on the medical front" whatever that means. Perhaps all injuries in future will be treated with a couple of paracetemol and an appointment at the doctor's? It'll be interesting to see what this different direction entails exactly, but the club have now gone through 3 physios in the last 3 years so some stability in that department would be desirable sooner rather than later.

No news on most of the out of contract players the club presumably wants to keep, except one - keeper Josh Wagenaar has been offered another year's deal. As I said the other day, that's fair enough if he's being kept on as a back-up, but I'd be worried if he's to be our number one. He's a good shot stopper but doesn't command his penalty area well enough for my liking, seems prone to lapses in concentration and his kicking is generally poor. Apart from that, he's fine! With any luck he'll turn us down. That leaves the likes of Andy Welsh, Terrell Forbes and Paul Warne with their future's unclear. As they haven't been immediately released one assumes that they've been offered contracts but are yet to make decisions. There seems no doubt that in an ideal world Terrell Forbes would like to find a club in or around London and with Brighton releasing 12 players the other day it would not be a surprise to see him joining Russell Slade on the south coast before the new season starts. A little bird tells me unofficially that Warne has been offered another year but that the player is waiting to see if he gets a better offer from anywhere else - again, it wouldn't be a huge shock to see him playing at the Withdean next season. No idea what the situation is with Welsh, time will tell.

As players leave, so do the rumours about those who may be playing in the green-and-white next season begin to spread. Former loan player Jon Worthington has been released by Huddersfield as expected and is being mentioned in despatches, as is former Glover Anthony Barry, now playing for Chester. The Washington Post, of all sources, is claiming that the Glovers are in talks with Dan Stratford, a 23-year-old former Fulham trainee, who's just been released by American MLS outfit DC United.