Southampton Football Club sprung no surprises upon the release of their retained list before their elevation back to the Premier League but is there a twist

Although there might have been one surprise in the retained list that had to be issued by Friday and this sparked only very minor speculation in the weeks leading up to its announcement, in the end it was pretty much as expected with all five first team squad players out of contract being released, plus Harlee Dean and Aarran Racine. The last four players to make up the eleven, a four of our scholars who have not been offered professional terms.

On a brighter note there have been four of our academy offered professional contracts, plus four promotions to the first team squad, although as home grown youngsters they will not be included in the 25 man squad that hs to be named by each Premier club now.

But there could be a twist, Rhadi Jaidi has announced that at 36 and spending virtualy the whole of last season injured, that he is retiring, however on Monday the club is holding a press conference to announce this retirement and his future plans, this is not usual for a football club to do unless that player is very long serving and established at that club, which in fairness Jaidi is not at Saints, so my guess is that Jaidi is being offered some sort of coaching role at St Mary's and given they are having a press conference it must be connected with the first team, I cant think of any other reason why we would go to the trouble of a press conference otherwise, in truth given that the local paper is banned from such events and that the nationals are hardly going to be interested in Jaidi, its going to be sparsely attended anyway so even the few who might attend could be tempted to give it a miss unless its first team connected.

Of the five released, four of them have played a big part in varying ways at St Mary's and all Saints fans should wish them well, Jaidi is the most obvious along with David Connolly as their contributions have been most prominent in the last three seasons, however both Bart Bialkowski and Lee Holmes have made their own contributions to this club as well over a slightly longer term and all four should leave our first team squad with the thanks and best wishes of our supporters ringing in their ears.

Photo: Action Images

DJI added 10:04 - May 19 I think you maybe right about Radhi and I for one will welcome it if it is true. He brings so much experience gained at the highest level and rumour has it, he's been assisting all season anyway. It is also great to see 4 Academy lads brought through as that sends out a message to others in the Development Squad that they can be part of a Premiership squad if they work hard. And as they are home grown, we can still have a further 25 man squad. With those they have let go, it does start to suggest where we might see replacements come in; Left/Right Wing, Centre Back & Striker!? What intrigues me most is who will replace the 2nd choice Keeper's role? Could this see Jack Dovey elevated up as he is a very promising young lad who has had an excellent season with Eastleigh as their 1st choice keeper and they didn't leak hardly any goals? I believe Jack trains with the 1st team when he's been at Staplewood? Or could this see a more seasoned keeper arrive as Forecast is no replacement, that's for sure! One thing's for sure, it will be a long Summer!!

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SaintNick added 10:25 - May 19 the big question for goalkeeping role is do we start with Kelvin, if we do then a good experienced replacement is in order Craig Forrest just released by Sunderland has been mentioned, or do we go for a top keeper again Paul Robinson has been mentioned and keep Kelvin as the experienced back up
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iowredandwhite added 10:29 - May 19 i believe jack dovey has been released as well
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SaintNick added 11:07 - May 19 you are right Dovey has been released
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SalisburySaint added 12:38 - May 19 i believe jack dovey has been released as well Quite right too He drove into the back of my car recently, with both his and my car being written off, the dozy sod. Think he's got a deal sorted out with Eastliegh next season
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SaintNick added 16:01 - May 19 how fantastic does anyone else have any stories of being run into by Saints players or any other professional footballers
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hortonsaint added 17:42 - May 19 Assume you mean Craig Gordon not Forrest who retired years ago! Guess he's being released due to injuries but a decent keeper. Re Robinson he seems highly rated by many on this forum but interestingly I've read criticism form Blackburn fans over exactly what Kelvin is accused of ie being rooted to his line. I'd like to see us go for Gilks now that Blackpool are staying down, Ince and Phillips would be nice too!

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Whatsforpud added 18:16 - May 19 No surprises then. I've enjoyed watching Connolly - very clever player. Holmes should do well elsewhere. Unfortunately for them, and for us, neither were very fit for long. Re the point about the press conference, it's a great pity that Cortese hasn't patched things up with the Echo by now. The paper has given huge support to the club with its coverage. The club needs the paper as much as the paper needs the club. Let's all move on.

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Jesus_02 added 22:48 - May 19 I think that the club have been OK with the echo ... there has just not been anything public..Connolly is technically very good, fantastic brain, I hope for the games sake that he takes up coaching, I hope for saints its with us but for obvious reasons I think his relationship with us broke down when he stopped playing regularly. Holmes has ability and if he keeps it together he will do well, he will be the kind of player that we will end up thinking we could have done better with. (like McDonald) but sometimes things just don't work out It seems like we are letting a few decent young players go , but then the four we have given contracts are fantastic...it just shows the way the club is going forward

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st_bangkok added 05:21 - May 20 I am wondering where Sinclair is in all this? No mention of him on scholars etc, or is he already under contract?
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Whatsforpud added 11:46 - May 20 Nick, re the Echo thing, Jesus_02 is suggesting that the club are OK with the paper, but you are saying they are still banned. Exactly what is the situation?
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ExiledSupporter added 20:08 - May 20 Nick, now that we know who is retained and who is released and you have completed your review of each part of the team I don't think you should flinch from revealing your priority positions for bringing in new players. Of course this will be the start of much discussion and quite possibly little consensus, but nevertheless I don't think it can be avoided - at least you don't have to identify/specify targets like NA does over the coming months!

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