Stick or twist? Stay or go?

The review of the retained list at The Hive

The retained list for a football club doesn’t take too long to come out these days after the season ends. Most contain no surprises, some have the element of ‘will he stay, will he take a better offer elsewhere’.

The Barnet FC list was like others eagerly awaited. Maybe not quite as much as the past, a core of nine first teamers under contract with the option taken on three more. With talks ongoing with four more players that could mean as many as 16 players on the books, remember back to the time when Peter Beadle arrived in the building there were just five contracted players.

It’s a measure of how far we’ve come or recruited since those boys, that season the top seven had continuity of manager and players, we had neither and not surprisingly in the bottom three, not really rocket science.

Out of those four in talks, I would expect Ben Coker and Dale Gorman to re-sign unless there is a better offer elsewhere but given there is a scary amount of players out of contract from the Premier League down to the National League it might not be the case.

Jerome Okimo is a fence sitting one, completing 100 appearances over two years given his age and time out of the full time game is remarkable but testament to the professionalism of the guy. We know he’s edging towards the coaching staff more and more and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him follow Connor’s path and play less next year.

Luke Freeman I’d be surprised to see in a Barnet shirt next season. While I believe he can be a key player if at full fitness can he maintain that over the course of a season? Will there be plenty out there who can do that?

In my mind yes. Part of our recruitment philosophy is we go for players who complete 30+ games per season, we don’t carry sicknotes any more, everyone has to provide a significant contribution.

However, if Luke can prove his fitness I wouldn’t be surprised to see him invited back for pre-season, he has ability to pick any defensive lock, but weigh that up against someone who could do it consistently.

So then, six players released and let’s have a look at them.

Ben Wynter. He took a while to settle and then we saw the player everyone raved about when we signed him. Injuries have ruined his second season and whilst he looked the part again despite some rustiness in the latter part of the year an injury again ruled him out. As per the above we can’t afford to carry players, I also felt we stepped up a little and like Sam Beard his level didn’t move with it. Harsh maybe, but my opinion. If you want to move upwards you upgrade if someone doesn’t move with you unless you’re happy at the level currently. A really great guy though, he was a gent off the pitch and always ready to stop for a chat, I hope he get’s a good next destination.

Courtney Senior. The one that disappointed me. I was lucky enough to be in the office days before we signed him. His clips from his time in the Football League were unreal, there is a real player in there but that knee injury seems to have sapped any confidence that was there, I desperately wanted it to work out for him because I saw what he had, but maybe he’ll be one of those players who just never regains it.

Gary Hooper. Never going to be a surprise this one. A gamble yes and one that didn’t have the desired effect. His experience off the pitch would have a god-send for any young player but at the end of the day didn’t affect where we finished.

Moussa Diarra. Again, this one wasn’t a surprise. A really lovely lad Moussa but his troubles last season we never saw the player that Woking fans adored, he has been offered a contract on the coast at Eastbourne Borough where I believe they’ve really taken to him so we’ll see if that pans out for him.

Sam Granville. Also not a surprise. A good engine but not shown enough to be considered a National League player, Step 3 is too easy for him, I think the National League North or South will benefit him and make a career there.

Laurie Walker. The one that was expected and the least agreeable for many. It’s clear as a Barnet player things broke down, where and why is for Dean and Laurie to know and everyone else to speculate. Personally, I don’t feel Lozza hit the same levels as the year before, neither him nor Josh Keeley had any less mistakes in them than the other, similarly to some of our defenders, they wouldn’t be at this level with less than 10% mistake ratios.

The interest now is where it takes him, he’s pushing hard on the coaching schools with Rob Hall, does he head more down that route and into part time playing but still at National League level or drop a step below that?

Time will tell to see where these six end up for 2024/25, it’s harder to get a contract now than ever before, I wouldn’t be surprised to see one or two having to fit at Step 3.