Ghost of Clough

My money would be on Wood. Someone who knows exactly what Warne wants from his team.
He was also Warne's captain from 2017 until the day he left. He's someone he can trust to drop in the team at any time, reliably fit and is a goal threat from set pieces.

This season Knight played his best football at right back or right wing back. 

Close enough. Sunderland.

Close enough. Sunderland.

Your recent posts have dismissed the standard of free agents we might be able to sign, dismissed the potential for us to spend fees, and is seemingly now just dismissing any potential signing we make. 
How about waiting to see how it unfolds before peddling anymore doom? The fact we can allegedly spend fees has already disproved some of your claims, how we spend those fees will be key. Bargains will be out there and we are going to be a draw to many players. 

I think this is the key bit. We have a number of U18s who we want to fast track through to the U21s, so it makes sense to clear that path.

See the posts in the Academy Thread and it isn't quite as extreme as it first appears 

Part of the (horribly ruthless) question of whether a youngster will make it is whether their body can take it. Aghatise is already injured so much, even before men's football, and I presume that's a significant factor here. Just like that injury prone but talented Kyle McAllister we gambled on from Scotland, but then released. I think it will have played a role in the decision over Jack Stretton too. 

See the posts in the Academy Thread and it isn't quite as extreme as it first appears 

See the posts in the Academy Thread and it isn't quite as extreme as it first appears 

I think this is the key bit. We have a number of U18s who we want to fast track through to the U21s, so it makes sense to clear that path.

I think this is the key bit. We have a number of U18s who we want to fast track through to the U21s, so it makes sense to clear that path.

I would say that retained list makes it look worse than it actually is. A few of the U18s have been playing in the U21s all season. We still have the following team (assuming those offered deals stay):
Evans
Oduroh   Moore   Bardell   Moloney
Hawkins   DRobinson   Fapetu
Richards   Oseni   Nunn
That still leaves Bates as an U21 and the other promising U18s such as JThompson, Cox, KRobinson, Davidson, DBrown and Wheeldon as options

I would say that retained list makes it look worse than it actually is. A few of the U18s have been playing in the U21s all season. We still have the following team (assuming those offered deals stay):
Evans
Oduroh   Moore   Bardell   Moloney
Hawkins   DRobinson   Fapetu
Richards   Oseni   Nunn
That still leaves Bates as an U21 and the other promising U18s such as JThompson, Cox, KRobinson, Davidson, DBrown and Wheeldon as options

It is. But it isn't exempt from someone putting in the funding, and the business plan related budget

Do you have any idea how much it would cost to buy all of those players you want? Anyway, just to pick out a few...
We won't be looking for a young number 1 to replace Wildsmith
Leahy played CM all season
House played as a CF all season
Collins will cost too much
Rak-Saki was only on loan from Palace. No chance of buying him, and they'll be looking to loan him to a Champ side

No excuses for next season now. I won't accept anything less than 140 points.

As well as academy departures because we weren't even allowed to give them game time. Couldn't even loan them out as we weren't allowed to sign freebie loanees.

I was about to say this. We haven't been in an embargo since we exited administration. Last season, restrictions were part of the business plan. The terms of the business plan have now been relaxed.

I just don't see his all round game being good enough. If we're to play 343, which best suits the players we currently have registered for next season, then we would need a more complete forward. We've seen how it doesn't work when Collins is upfront on his own for example. Defensive contribution, in either winning the ball back high up the pitch or at set pieces is also extremely important. 
In front of goal, May is almost identical to McGoldrick, 2 less shots overall (1 less in penalty area and 1 less outside) resulting in 2 less goals (1 more outside the box, 3 less in the penalty area). However, that's where the similarities end...

Dribbles - dribble success is much worse, at 35% from 77 attempts vs McGoldrick's 56% from 84
Aerial duels - 8% from 49 vs 45% from 219
Key passes - 28 vs 38
Tackles - 25 vs 40
Clearances - 6 vs 20

I was about to say this. We haven't been in an embargo since we exited administration. Last season, restrictions were part of the business plan. The terms of the business plan have now been relaxed.