Squad for 2025-2026

[ILoveMoonPig]

I'm getting the impression that life in L1 is very much a case of basically doing a yearly squad rebuild. You can't really build long term, anyone young enough and developing well will take their shot at a step up to the champ.

I'm really grateful we have a pipeline of promising youngsters coming through and I hope we keep that going. It means we have a steady stream of young talent waiting to step in.

A lot of clubs will have to get promoted the first time they start doing well, or basically lose their star players and fall away.

[WestYorksRoyal]

I'm getting the impression that life in L1 is very much a case of basically doing a yearly squad rebuild. You can't really build long term, anyone young enough and developing well will take their shot at a step up to the champ.

I'm really grateful we have a pipeline of promising youngsters coming through and I hope we keep that going. It means we have a steady stream of young talent waiting to step in.

A lot of clubs will have to get promoted the first time they start doing well, or basically lose their star players and fall away.

That's not really true. We've lost Craig and Wareham to rivals when they could have been good squad options, and which may not have happened if we had the ability to open contract renewal negotiations earlier last season. We lost Mbengue to QPR, but again I bet we'd have tried to renew him and Bindon last summer.

Of course the best and highest potential players will move to the Championship, but ideally it would be a maximum of 2 or 3 a season and all for good fees. Then maybe add 3 or 4 who you let go when contracts expire, but by definition they will be easier to absorb. You should never be negotiating contracts for key players upon expiry, and if they want to run it down they become one of the players you sell.

So overall, you'd expect a churn of 5 - 7 players a season, of which most are fringe players you choose to let go and the better ones bring in money. No need for a full rebuild every year.

We've been rebuilding the squad pretty much every summer apart from 2024 solely because of bad ownership.

[Sutekh]

I'm getting the impression that life in L1 is very much a case of basically doing a yearly squad rebuild. You can't really build long term, anyone young enough and developing well will take their shot at a step up to the champ.

I'm really grateful we have a pipeline of promising youngsters coming through and I hope we keep that going. It means we have a steady stream of young talent waiting to step in.

A lot of clubs will have to get promoted the first time they start doing well, or basically lose their star players and fall away.

That's not really true. We've lost Craig and Wareham to rivals when they could have been good squad options, and which may not have happened if we had the ability to open contract renewal negotiations earlier last season. We lost Mbengue to QPR, but again I bet we'd have tried to renew him and Bindon last summer.

Of course the best and highest potential players will move to the Championship, but ideally it would be a maximum of 2 or 3 a season and all for good fees. Then maybe add 3 or 4 who you let go when contracts expire, but by definition they will be easier to absorb. You should never be negotiating contracts for key players upon expiry, and if they want to run it down they become one of the players you sell.

So overall, you'd expect a churn of 5 - 7 players a season, of which most are fringe players you choose to let go and the better ones bring in money. No need for a full rebuild every year.

We've been rebuilding the squad pretty much every summer apart from 2024 solely because of bad ownership.

This is also the first window in ages where the restrictions are off and the club can move to bring in players they actually want (and that therefore are also wanted at other clubs) rather than having to wait to dig around in the freebie bin and look for loans no-one else is particularly interested in. Presume there will be a lot fewer triallists around the club this summer too.

[ILoveMoonPig]

I'm getting the impression that life in L1 is very much a case of basically doing a yearly squad rebuild. You can't really build long term, anyone young enough and developing well will take their shot at a step up to the champ.

I'm really grateful we have a pipeline of promising youngsters coming through and I hope we keep that going. It means we have a steady stream of young talent waiting to step in.

A lot of clubs will have to get promoted the first time they start doing well, or basically lose their star players and fall away.

That's not really true. We've lost Craig and Wareham to rivals when they could have been good squad options, and which may not have happened if we had the ability to open contract renewal negotiations earlier last season. We lost Mbengue to QPR, but again I bet we'd have tried to renew him and Bindon last summer.

Of course the best and highest potential players will move to the Championship, but ideally it would be a maximum of 2 or 3 a season and all for good fees. Then maybe add 3 or 4 who you let go when contracts expire, but by definition they will be easier to absorb. You should never be negotiating contracts for key players upon expiry, and if they want to run it down they become one of the players you sell.

So overall, you'd expect a churn of 5 - 7 players a season, of which most are fringe players you choose to let go and the better ones bring in money. No need for a full rebuild every year.

We've been rebuilding the squad pretty much every summer apart from 2024 solely because of bad ownership.

This is probably reasonable. My head is still operating at 2005 levels, where you being in 2 or 3 players a year and the squad gently changes over time. That's just not the case any more.

[Uke]

That's not really true. We've lost Craig and Wareham to rivals when they could have been good squad options

Which is precisely what they didn’t want to be.

So they left at the end of their contract.

That’s not us “losing” them.

[tidus_mi2]

That's not really true. We've lost Craig and Wareham to rivals when they could have been good squad options

Which is precisely what they didn’t want to be.

So they left at the end of their contract.

That’s not us “losing” them.

Yeah, that's how I see it as well. Whatever the situation and perhaps it's arrogance on my part, but if we were offering the same as Exeter or Lincoln and we should be easily able to do that, they both would have stayed. Sounds like a common sense approach really.

[72 bus]

That's not really true. We've lost Craig and Wareham to rivals when they could have been good squad options

Which is precisely what they didn’t want to be.

So they left at the end of their contract.

That’s not us “losing” them.

Yeah, that's how I see it as well. Whatever the situation and perhaps it's arrogance on my part, but if we were offering the same as Exeter or Lincoln and we should be easily able to do that, they both would have stayed. Sounds like a common sense approach really.

Craig left because without injuries to midfield and right back he would not get a game, and he does not want to play right back.
Yiadom has the right back position whilst fit backed up by abreafa, Savage Wing and Elliot plus Knibbs would block him in midfield, and we have a shed load of midfielders in the academy that can fill in for a game or two.

[tidus_mi2]

Which is precisely what they didn’t want to be.

So they left at the end of their contract.

That’s not us “losing” them.

Yeah, that's how I see it as well. Whatever the situation and perhaps it's arrogance on my part, but if we were offering the same as Exeter or Lincoln and we should be easily able to do that, they both would have stayed. Sounds like a common sense approach really.

Craig left because without injuries to midfield and right back he would not get a game, and he does not want to play right back.
Yiadom has the right back position whilst fit backed up by abreafa, Savage Wing and Elliot plus Knibbs would block him in midfield, and we have a shed load of midfielders in the academy that can fill in for a game or two.

He doesn't want to play RB but signed for a club that announced him as a RB?

[WestYorksRoyal]

Yeah, that's how I see it as well. Whatever the situation and perhaps it's arrogance on my part, but if we were offering the same as Exeter or Lincoln and we should be easily able to do that, they both would have stayed. Sounds like a common sense approach really.

Craig left because without injuries to midfield and right back he would not get a game, and he does not want to play right back.
Yiadom has the right back position whilst fit backed up by abreafa, Savage Wing and Elliot plus Knibbs would block him in midfield, and we have a shed load of midfielders in the academy that can fill in for a game or two.

He doesn't want to play RB but signed for a club that announced him as a RB?

I think Ethan Galbraith has flourished as an inverted RB for them and has now been sold to Swansea, so maybe this the role Craig is lined up for and he views it as appealing.

I didn't appreciate, but I think only 4 of Orient's PO final starting XI are still there, one of which is GK. So we're not the only one with a major rebuild this summer.

[tidus_mi2]

Has Kelvin not signed yet because Couhig said he was improving the Wifi at the Stadium and he took it as an insult?

[Brogue]

Has Kelvin not signed yet because Couhig said he was improving the Wifi at the Stadium and he took it as an insult?

he hasn't signed yet because his agent is being a pcunt. He wants to sign...

[Sutekh]

Has Kelvin not signed yet because Couhig said he was improving the Wifi at the Stadium and he took it as an insult?

he hasn't signed yet because his agent is being a pcunt. He wants to sign...

WiFi is with the same agency as Saka, Gittens and Sancho so obviously should be people who know what they're doing

[Hound]

Has Kelvin not signed yet because Couhig said he was improving the Wifi at the Stadium and he took it as an insult?

he hasn't signed yet because his agent is being a pcunt. He wants to sign...

His agent is doing the job he’s paid to do

He has every right to negotiate, hopefully he’ll end up signing with us but again if he’s asking stupid money he’s free to find someone who will pay it to him

[Pepe the Horseman]

Happy days. Just two wingers away from a starting XI. Would also like to sign a big lump of a centre forward as plan B.

[Hound]

Happy days. Just two wingers away from a starting XI. Would also like to sign a big lump of a centre forward as plan B.

Would still take Yakou and persuade Kelvin to re-sign. Be happy with that

[windermereROYAL]

Is it time to lump on us yet?

[Sutekh]

Still hoping to add Richard Beale to the management team but he is suddenly attracting interest from other clubs.

[Sutekh]

Revised list

5 GOALKEEPERS

Tom NORCOTT - 2026
Joel PEREIRA - 2028
Matthew ROWLEY - 2026
Jack STEVENS - 2027
Josh WELLAND - 2027

6 RIGHT BACKS

Kelvin ABREFA - 2026
Ashqar AHMED - 2027
Boyd BEACROFT - 2026
Emmanuel OSHO - 2026
Tivonge RUSHESHA - 2026 - also defensive midfielder
Andy YIADOM - 2026 - also centre back

3 LEFT BACKS

John CLARKE - 2026
Andre GARCIA - 2026 - also attacking midfielder
Matty JACOB - 2026 - on loan from Hull City (medical today)

7 CENTRE BACKS

Finley BURNS - 2026 - on loan from Manchester City
Jeriel DORSETT - 2026
Philip DUAH - 2026
Abraham KANU - 2026
Paudie O’CONNOR - 2029
John RYAN - 2026
Michael STICKLAND - 2026 (+1 year option)

Sam HARRISON - 2026 (Sam is listed everywhere as just a Defender).

5 CENTRAL MIDFIELDERS

Joseph BAROUGH - 2026
Ben ELLIOTT - 2026
Luke HOWARD - 2026
Charlie SAVAGE - 2027
Lewis WING - 2028

2 DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDERS

Jacob HAMMOND-CHAMBERS-BORGNIS - 2026
Shay SPENCER - 2026

4 ATTACKING MIDFIELDERS

Carter-Blue BOWDERY - 2026
Mamadi CAMARA - 2026
Harvey KNIBBS - 2026
Jeremiah OKINE-PETERS - 2026

2 STRIKERS

Mark O’MAHONEY - 2026 - on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion
Basil TUMA - 2026

Still to officially decide:

Kelvin Ehibatiomhan

The OS lists Tyler Sackey still, thought he had left the club?

Considered as 1st team squad