Dorking Wandering
The Dorking Wanderers FC Fans Forum
Bit of discussion about the 26/27 squad in the other thread so thought I'd move it to it's own one. I am sure we will see a retained list in the next week or so but for now, the confirmed contracted players for next season are:
Brennan Camp
Josh Taylor (injured for the first few months)
Harry Pinchard
James McShane
Seb Tauta-Caballero
Dennon Lewis
Alfie Rutherford
Jake Lawrence
Confirmed players leaving so far:
Tony Craig (retired)
Luke Moore (retired)
Niall McManus
Who would everyone keep/release for next season?
Harrison Foulkes has signed for Worthing. This feels disappointing
Any player who can play in a higher division is going to want to do that, Morris is hugely experienced and should be very decent for this season.
"Why would I leave to join a League Two club? We're going there anyway!" - Marc White
That’s a shame
He deserves a chance to play at a higher level, just a shame its Worthing of all clubs
While researching a Crawley player I found this article on the best prospects at each Premier League club in 2017.Includes the likes of Anthony Gordon, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Curtis Jones, but also Danny Cashman (Crawley) and Brennan Camp. I feel we are lucky Brennan is still with us as he definitely could play a higher level.
Marc mentioned a new signing possibly coming in this weekend. Any clues anyone ?
So, once again we will be starting the season with a number of key players unfit. Jimmy, Dan G, Josh, Pinchy, maybe Alfie. Probably others. We are not scoring goals pre-season, we don't have an out an out no 9. Surely we must get a couple of quality loan players in quickly so that they can bed in with the players we do have.
Pre season is all about building the fitness back up, getting minutes in the bank and new players gelling/getting used to the style of football we play. I wouldnt look too much into lack of goals / results in the games weve played so far. Dan and JT (long term) were already injured from last season so no real shocks there.
I still feel we need another striker, with Alfie tending to pick up injuries from time to time. I felt Nikaj needed more support up front on Tuesday. Unless the likes of Barrett, Lewis, Muitt, McShane and Wood score goals regularly, I would prefer 4 strikers in the squad rather than 3.
We are not scoring goals pre-season
Tbf we are really only playing 30 odd minutes with an even vaguely first choice line up in each game so far - and we have scored 3.
I'd also say that Nikaj is very much an out and out number 9 - he's been hugely impressive imo.
Jake Tabor leaving Swindon by all accounts. Couldn't read all the article as it's behind a paywall, but could we see him at Lewes on Saturday....
@westsussexwanderer I don't think so, but he's an interesting one - jumped too far too quickly following that insane season with Amersham Town (who were having an incredible season, and subsequently collapsed after he left).
Tough one for him, is it better to go up in levels gradually? Probably.
👀
Jake Tabor leaving Swindon by all accounts. Couldn't read all the article as it's behind a paywall, but could we see him at Lewes on Saturday....
An excerpt from that article...
Although he didn’t start a game for Town, he made 14 appearances across all competitions, without finding the back of the net, and had a productive loan spell with Bath City.
He then moved on loan to Eastleigh in the second half of the season, starting quickly and netting, but then a change of manager saw him fall out of favour, and despite scoring a second goal against Rochdale, he saw his playing time reduced.
Tabor then returned to Swindon this summer, although the expectation was always that he would head out on loan, and it now seems like his time has arrived, with multiple National League South clubs being interested in him.
Holloway said: “Injured? No, but he's not in a good place upstairs. He thinks he needs other things, so I've been having some conversations with him, and we might find out in the next couple of days what those are. We'll wait and see.
“But it's all about being where you need to be, being where you think you can be, doing what you can do, and his was a very different story, very sort of media-led by himself.
“But did it work? Could it have worked doing those? He did very well at times, but does he believe he can still do well? I don't know. To me, it doesn't sound like it.
“So maybe, maybe I might need to do something else. But I still like the kid. I still believe he's going to do something.
“We might be covered if he goes anywhere else, but you'll see that. I'm only being realistic.
“It's a slightly different one because he had no background to give him any confidence if it doesn't work, ‘Where am I? What am I doing?’
“And without any games, it was difficult. I told him not to go to Eastleigh. I didn't want him to go to Eastleigh, but really, I should have left him at Bath.
“He was doing all right there, and it might have been better, but never mind. We'll have to wait and see.
“To be honest with you, it looks like he's gone somewhere else because that's what he wants.”
Tabor did feature in pre-season against Costa City and Chippenham Town, although he did not demonstrate the same confidence he had last summer, and did not score in either game.
Being behind Aaron Drinan, Fletcher Holman, Ollie Palmer, Harry Smith, and Paul Glatzel in line to start up front, and so it makes sense for all parties for him to move on.
"Why would I leave to join a League Two club? We're going there anyway!" - Marc White
Ok, so doesn't sound like he's in a particularly good place then, so maybe not Marc's cup of tea. Still, Holloway does like to be the drama queen so maybe it's not that bad!
