It's been quite interesting reading the contrasting opinions from everyone, here's my thoughts on who would stay/go...
Bowns: goes without saying - keep;
Will: personally haven't seen enough of him to form a real opinion, but seems like a good team guy - keep;
Hudson*: quite a disappointing season from Hudson, compared to last, I think he can be a bit naive defensively sometimes - release;
Fournier: the man's on a 2-year deal anyway, but looks like a genuinely exciting prospect - keep;
Richardson: the definition of solid - keep;
Batch: has come a long way in the past two seasons, still not the finished article, but it'd be gutting to see him move to another team - keep;
Hendrikx: tough call, I thought it was harsh on him to sit out so many games at the end of the season, and he offers a physicality that has been [sadly] lacking this season... if he goes, we need to replace that aspect of his play - undecided;
Hotham: again, tough call, because while he does offer you more than any other D man in the league going forward, I do think his concentration in defense has been poor at times this season (that game at home against Sheffield being the prime example), if Lordo can set him straight on his job description then I'd be happy to have him back, but as others have mentioned how much are his goals worth when his errors have lead to goals for the opposition - keep;
Smith: seeing as nobody's mentioned him and he really hasn't featured that often this season (I think he was brought in as cover, no?) would let him go - release;
Lordo: again, the man's already been confirmed as a return for next season, and personally no qualms about that - keep;
Martin: if I was Steve King & Co, I'd be doing everything in my powers to bring JM and Bowns back with one or the other being the frontrunner for the 'C' next season - keep;
Doucet: liked what I saw from him this season, both in effort and goals scored, scraps for his size and even when he went on that barren run he still kept plugging away - keep;
Salters: when he signed, I was really positive and thought we'd made up for the loss of someone like Clarkson, someone who's big, quick, skillful, but also physical (not to the point where they're constantly in the bin, but someone who's happy to knock the oppo about) and sadly the longer this season's gone on, the harder it's been to keep so positive. I really wanted things to work out for Salters with us, because as he's shown when he's on point, he can be unplayable. Has he been consistent enough, showing that form? I think we can all answer that, regardless of whether he's been carrying an injury or not (will come back to address this later). Rumours are he's headed back to Braehead and for my money he's never looked too happy or settled with us, which is a genuine shame - release;
Piggott/Jones: cannot fault these guys for effort at all, and if there were the capacity to have them, I'd bring them both back and rotate them in where others need a break, but being blunt I don't think CJ has the skill for this level (& it kills me to say that, the amount of Cardiff boys who have moved on from the Devils is not nice to see) - Piggott, keep, CJ, release;
Haddad: again, the effort Joey's put in this season has been Herculean at times, but I don't think he's quite up to the standards we want to be headed in - release;
Mo: one of my favourite players, but I think if Russell comes back then you could argue the two do the same job, that said he is capable of magic moments, would like to see him step into being more of a play-maker for a secondary skill line - keep;
Kurka: this guy has the potential to be one of the best, but for whatever reason it hasn't quite fired for him this season, thought he looked sharpest with Culli or Russell - undecided;
Hervato: for me, one of the signings of the season for us, largely due to his effort and willingness to hit everything that moves, something we needed more from those who are a bit more physically capable than Herv - keep;
Culligan: like Mo & Herv, I think Culli embodies the Devils, he might not be the flashiest player (although is more than capable of being flash) going, but he will put in a shift for us every game and having someone who can switch effectively between attack and defence has to be an asset - keep;
Russell: hasn't quite been what I expected, but in no way has that been a bad thing, he's worked his socks off when he's played for us and his linking with Kurka looked like it had real potential, but I suspect he will want to move on to a better league - keep (if he wants to come back).
*This is something I've mentioned previously, and given the amount of comments that have been made in this thread alone about injuries and what I mentioned about Salters, I genuinely think we need to stop having Hudson as our conditioning coach. Yes, the club operates with a limited budget, and no doubt Hudson has done good considering, but I don't like this having players act as coaches - player-coach I can deal with, Hudson being solely responsible (I'm assuming?) for something as important, no no no. If we invested in a dedicated physio/conditioning coach, then I think we might see things improve for us. How many times this season (and last) did people complain about how tired the boys looked after the night before? Everybody in the league has to travel, some have handled that better than others in my opinion.
One final thought on Salters, if he came back to us next season 100% fit and fired up, back on a line with Douc & JM, I think he would change a lot of people's minds. If he goes though, good luck to him - let's make sure we get someone in who will be offensive, who can carry the puck, who will line up the opposition D, who will have the odd scrap, who gets people worried about having to play against them. The times this season where Salters has ticked those boxes has been too few (goalscoring aside, thought he was solid there).
Rant over... :lol:
