Stewart & Freeman stay, Wood & Thompson leave
Nothing too surprising. Stewart signing is a big boost - interesting that his and Freeman's extensions were triggered rather than offered.
Bean and Pierre tbc.
Wood and Thompson have been a big part of the club and it's sad to see them go, but probably for the best in both cases.
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Really sad to see Sam Wood go. Became a favourite very early on and seemed to be harshly left out of teams this season after some decent performances. His shift against Spurs will be one I remember for a long time. I wish him luck next season. I think he's be ok.
I'm not sure how much one can read into the extensions being triggered - why would the club not want to extend on existing terms, and instead negotiate and maybe pay more?
Great boost to keep Anthony. I haven't seen much of Freeman but by the sound of it has impressed and looked good when I saw him at Barnet.
Unless we are offering Bean something paltry, I think he will almost certainly be signing. The delay is probably due to the offer not being too high though, which is the right move from Ainsworth and Howard.
I'm not sure how many L2 clubs would pick him up on a free, although he could probably earn a fair whack at the likes of Forest Green or Eastleigh in the Conference next year.
Sad to see Woody go and Thommo had his moments but as I said in another thread, we need to aim for players who are a step-up from decent. Hope they do well wherever they go next.
Genuinely sad to see Woody go after some of the performances he's put in over the years, but it was increasingly obvious he wasn't in Ainsworth's plans. Hope he finds another club soon and wish him all the very best.
Hear hear @MindlessDrugHoover , one of my all-time Wycombe favourites. (OK, OK, "all time" isn't as long as for some of you...)
Chances of pierre staying in wonder?
Don't hold your breath! But you never know. As far as I know the 500 Club is still open to contributions and a bit more dosh and an "understanding " that a move in January would not be blocked unless it was clearly unacceptable might just swing the balance. A Keith Scott scenario as it were.
Whilst Pierre's stock has probably gone down a bit this season, a League 1 club will pick him up no doubt. Not sure he is Championship level yet.
Pierre clearly hasn't rejected the contract offer yet, so there is a chance.
Of course, it could be argued that, by signing a new contract, Pierre might be seen as lacking ambition. Who knows.
Thrilled that I was wrong about Stewart. Hard to argue with the rest of the decisions. Now we wait to see whether Bean and Pierre find better deals elsewhere. I expect the latter will.
He turned down a contract at Brentford when he signed for us permanently after Torquay, so lets hope so!
Local paper ran an article of which Lg2 players they should target now Plymouth have been promoted. Suggestion was that Plymouth were interested in Pierre but thought bigger clubs than them may be ahead in the queue. Looks unlikely.
If I were Andrew Howard I'd be trying to invest big in Aaron Pierre. I think a three year contract with a trigger would bring a healthy return on investment.
Unless of course Brentford have any other Terry Evans, Jamie Bates's, Alfie Mawson's or Aaron Pierre's falling out of their first team system.
Well Luke Oliver is a free agent I believe.
AP may have other ideas though RiTM. he's 24 now - you are asking him to sign until age 27 for a club in lg2.
frankly if Oxford, Bristol Rovers and Plymouth all offered him the same money as us, who would you advise him to sign for.
Easy to say now, but i did think Thompson was doing a pretty extended round of applause for the fans, even before the main one.
Quite nice that he got the 100 appearance benchmark, and scored that marvellous goal at Tottenham, as well as putting a good shift in out wide.
I think most of us would say he was a decent player for us now, whereas if this had happened at the end of last season he'd have gone down as underwhelming.
Writing has been on the wall for Woody. Great guy, and put some terrific work in early on. I think he was lucky he got to stay on this year after a poor season, but in our system, and with other options was always struggling.
Would obviously love Pierre to stay. The one player i always hated to see missing, over anyone. Pure powerhouse, and i can barely remember a more all round dominant pacy stopper.
On the whole this is good news. Sad to see two hard-working professionals leave and wish them the best, but always likely. It will be interesting if GA goes for similar (but slightly younger) experienced (and presumably similarly expensive) replacements or is satisfied that they have been mainly back-up players this season and will go for young, (and cheap) developing players as replacements. One thought on losing Wood. Does GA see Dunne as a left-sided replacement?
Great to see Stewart stay. I have the feeling that with him there we'll try and get a talented loanee in as his regular partner, with Sido and one of WDH and Max as back ups (the other loaned off somewhere).
Also be interesting to see whether Freeman is given the chance to develop. I think working with Sam should really help his game.
I would also like to make a rash prediction that Southwell will be our leading scorer next year. It was a bit of a baptism of fire for him at the start coming into a poor side with a lot of expectations on his shoulder. I just have the feeling that he can read the game quite well and if we can vary our style of football a bit more I think he'll do well. (I'd say Kashket as top scorer apart from I'm worried about his long-term fitness).
I'm relatively relaxed with Brown back as GK. Sometimes experience counts for a lot and I wonder whether if we'd have had a more experienced GK when Max and WDH were thrown in at the deep end we'd have dropped quite so many points. I seem to remember it also coincided with Blackman's dip in form so perhaps not unconnected.
Anyway. I'm suffering pre-season optimism 3 months early so I best go take my meds...
I'm hoping Pierre might do a Keith Scott, frankly.
@bookertease , wow that is quite the prediction with Southwell. That'd be good odds i'm sure. I remember Bayo suggesting he'd be top scorer, but that was pre Kashket, and probably positive rousing of the young man.
Would be great to have 3 well into double figures though!
@Malone I know they are different types of players, but I've always seen him as being a bit like Beavon. A season to get to grips with the professional game, before starting to come into his own and scoring goals for fun. Although I think he's probably a little bit short of that yet.
(Anyway - if he does nothing next year, no-one will remember my post, but if he does I can point back to my sagacity and bore people endlessly)
I wonder if Thompson was offered reduced terms but decided, if he was going to play for peanuts, he'd prefer to do so back up north where he can start put down roots for his next non-playing career. Him leaving will almost certainly free up significant wages, signing a mature, "proven goalscorer" from the league above on a two-year contract back in the summer of 2015 would not have been cheap. I liked him very much as a player - uncomplaining when played out of position up front for a whole season, using his influence last summer to discretely lobby for a return to the wing, and then playing there with panache this season when called upon, never letting his fitness levels drop. A model professional.
I've never personally been as big a fan of Sam Wood as many here. He always seemed a little headstrong to me and, last season in particular, rarely showed the desire to overcome a prolonged period out of form. Having said that, his headstrong personality did inspire some fantastic runs up the wing over the years and some great, impetuous goals - and when he did put the effort in on the pitch it really showed, his enthusiasm driving everyone else on. To have, seemingly uncomplainingly, dropped down to the less glamorous left back position in his second season here also shows real professionalism and I'm sure his fun personality and muscular physique, which he obviously took a lot of pride in, would have helped inspire some of the younger players.
Even with Wood and Thompson gone we still have three wingers - Weston, Freeman, PCH - contracted to a team which rarely plays with wingers. Weston and PCH can both play wide forwards, though it doesn't necessarily get the best out of either of them, I wonder whether Freeman might have to adapt his game to get game time here though. I wonder if there's any chance of him becoming a wing-back for the club - alternatively more competition for the fulcrum of a midfield diamond when we play that way?
Very happy stewart is staying that was my main worry. Nice to see freeman get another deal also. With a couple of solid signings we really should be in the mix next season.
Unfortunately we had and indeed still have a very old squad. Jacobsen Bean Bloomfield Saunders Hayes and Akinfenwa are all in the veteran stages of their careers not to mention Jombati who will be 30 when next season kicks off. With the possible exception of Hayes they are all players pushing to start regularly. So whilst Wood and Thompson may have something still to offer other clubs in the league I don't think Ainsworth could practicably have kept them due to the Dads Army nature of the remainder of the squad
@Dickie I hadn't realised Jombati was pushing 30 - wow! It's actually very interesting how our squad bascially breaks into two distinct groups - those 24 and under and those 30 and above. How many players do we have 25 - 29, basically at the peak of their careers? Off the top of my head I can only think of two - PCH and Weston.
I'm pleased for Freeman. Very few opportunities but has done enough to warrant a proper shot at it next season.
The crucial thing is that he needs to be given game time. I'd expect him to play from the bench as back-up to the starting wide forwards (Kashkett, Paris, Weston). Maybe with the odd game as a central attacking midfielder. If that is the case he will get chances to earn himself starts. With Thomo now out of the picture and Hayes surely expected to play a limited role on the pitch, I predict Freeman will have a decent season.
@aloysius , Wood "headstrong"? I saw him as a real team player, putting in his maximum effort for the team, uncomplaining when left out, and a pretty positive guy.
You're spot on about Thompson though, would clearly have been a decent package to lure him down from his home region. He wasn't anywhere near a success up front last season, and the Thompson/Hayes combo and style of football was one of the least effective combos in recent years.
Much more effective this season when not at the focal point of the team.
A colossus of a man though, built, tall and not someone to mess with. Makes me wonder why he didn't quite put himself about up front as he might have done.
@aloysius and @Dickie I think that the idea that the moment someone is 30 or over they're automatically past the peak of their careers is, frankly, bllcks.
I think Sam Wood gave the two best performances of his Wycombe career this season just gone; Crewe at home, and Spurs in the cup. I think he can probably consider himself a bit unlucky. It's not just meaningless hyperbole, he was amazing at WHL.
@eric_plant indeed and Thommo's headed goal from a great Weston cross...a class act.
Sadly, he could not carry that on in the League. No doubt both of them will come back to haunt us, but I think it's time for a change. Let's hope GA has a plan.