I get that were hoping for DP to get the best out of each individual, and the squad as a collective. However, I'd be surprised if Hughes could be turned into a player that would be what I consider to be the quality of a regular in the match day 17. I never rated him at Wigan, and have never rated him in the P&B, and at 30, he really should not be standing in the way of Longstaff, or other squad members that are more likely to develop into that first team regular. We signed him after a loan spell at Huddersfield, and for me, we would have been better off loaning him out and keeping either Doro or Robson as back up.

I would argue Daz Clark is now beyond a marquee salary. Still a great player, but his contribution in the last 2 seasons would suggest he’s already peaked and on the slide, as is Ratchford.
Still 2 of the first picks for me.

did you read one of your own posts as well? it does tend to have that affect

Ratchford has a successor in place. For me, retaining Thewlis is vital. To do so, you need to get him on the pitch. Ratchford (in 2023) either is the fourth sub or is moved on.

Widdop, while Dean is on the rise, is still head and shoulders above the next best. His value needs adjusting, but I’d keep him for another year if he is the right price. Same with Charnley, still a valuable player but not at the price he once demanded.

A clever retention strategy could see us shave a lot off the cap this year, we just need to use it wisely.

I agree with everything you say, this bit about using it wisely made me shudder though! Let's face it given our track record in the past few years we are likely to release some small props and replace them with even smaller and replace some none ball playing forwards with some none ball playing forwards who also can't catch!

Recruitment for us is so important over the next 2 seasons. We have a lot of our big players coming to the end of their careers, we have some ineffective players to move on and then we need to identify and recruit the players who are going to make the difference to us. At the same time we need to allow some youngsters the chance to become first choice. Longstaff, Wrench and especially Thewlis have the potential to become first choice players and Riley Dean could also fall in to that category. I do feel we don't have enough young players on the up making the first 17 at the minute, the hunger and energy provided by young talent desperate to make an impression is really useful for upping the tempo. Hopefully Magoulias will fall in to that group as well.

I agree, our recruitment had been poor for a while. I’ve been vocal on this. But, Powell is being on record for being solely responsible for recruiting, so let’s see what happens.

There could be some long term players in our current squad who could fill vital roles too. Let’s not forget we have not seen Minikin or Harrison yet. Doro is getting lots of minutes, I assume Robson will get a lot of game time too. Wrench needs to force his way in somewhere, and Longstaff is the bright light of our youth.

There’s some scope for organic growth, and some green shoots for what they can deliver. It’s not all doom and gloom. I just think we need to give them some momentum with a huge set of angry props.