Saints have six players out of contract in the summer, but how many will still be here in August.
The half dozen whose contracts are up are Danny Butterfield, Dan Harding, Rahdi Jaidi, Arron Martin, David Connolly & Oscar Gobern.
Of course the big question will be what division we are in and this will play a maor part in any decision, the stark fact is if we fail to get promoted for a second season income from season tickets and attendances will drop to some degree.
Whatever division hosts us, I would be surprised to see Jaidi or Connolly offered new deals, in the case of the former, he will be 36 come August and in truth Saints have to find someone younger, not to mention his not too inconsiderable wages, of course he may negotiate a lower deal and this could be the difference, but I feel the sands of time may be catching up with him and if we go up then I think it will be too much for him, if we stay down maybe a one year deal.
In the case of Connolly its hard to see him being offered a contract, slightly younger than Jaidi in that he will only be 34 in June, his injury record has not been good, but to be blunt Nigel Adkins just doesnt seem to fancy him as a player and has rarely picked him even for the bench when fit, however failure to get promotion would also see Lambert & possibly Barnard move on, so could he be offered a lifeline there.
In the case of Dan Harding its again a question of what division we are in, to be blunt he has been suspect at league one level, its hard to see him being good enough a league higher, in normal circumstances I would expect to see him offered a contract even if we were promoted, given that he has been a regular this year, but we should look at what happened to Lloyd James last year, James had started virtually every League game up to his injury against Brentford in January, indeed he made 28 starts plus two as sub out of the 46 in total, but he found himself released as the Chairman clearly is not prepared to retain a big squad just for the sake of it, so with other left sided options at the club under contract, I would not be surprised if Harding was released, ironically enough if we dont go up, I think it inevitable.
Danny Butterfield should be a nailed on offer, he has impressed this season and is clearly good enough to still play in the Championship, whatever division though he should be one of the cornerstones we build the team on due to his experience, we should do it sooner than later because there will be other clubs willing to offer him a good deal, already in the Championship.
Aaron Martin and Oscar Gobern are the last two and really it should be a given that they are offered a two year deal at least, however its not clear cut that they would sign it, Martin was linked with West Ham due to Wally Downes and its likely that they will be sniffing again in the summer when he will be available on a free,this comes down to the manager and how much he wants Martin, blunt truth is he doesnt appear to want him much, given the fact his total game time under Adkins is two full games against Blackpool in the cup Yeovil in the league plus 20 minutes at Colchester, IF you were Aaron Martin what would you do, sit on the bench at Saints or West Ham, I fear that Saints will lose a gem here if we are not careful.
Likewise Gobern, OK he has got off the bench a few times since Xmas and has usually impressed, showing he hasan eye for goal in the process, but he has been overlooked by the manager and it wouldnt surprse me if he too was tempted by a Championship club.
Nicola Cortese showed last summer with the release of a high number of players, including the aforementioned Llloyd James who had been a regular that he has no room for sentiment, he is not prepared to keep players when there are others in the squad who could do the job, I would therefore not be completely surprised if none were at St Mary's come August for varying reasons and I think given the size of the squad we currently have Cortese could well be justified in not offering contracts to players when there are others in the squad who could do their job.