Crewe Alex 2nd Year Scholars - Retain or Release

With the Alex on a free week, I thought it was time to look at some topics I've wanted to discuss for a while now. My first topic is the clubs 2nd year scholars. Every season we see a number of graduating players get offered deals. And for the last 2 seasons, I've done my best to look at the 2nd year scholars and who will stay at the club as a pro.

Now, for the record I haven't watched many of these players play. I've seen brief snippets. When I talk about releasing or retaining them, I'm using my best judgement to decide what I think the club will do, not what I would do. I'm basing this on how much first team exposure they've had over the season and how they've done in the U18s. It's not an exact science and I don't want anyone to judge this too much.

Anyway, let's get into it and work from back to front:

Travis Ziglam(GK) - Release

The Alex don't produce goalkeepers very often and they also don't have many on their first team books at any one time. With Tom Booth now stepping up his development and them likely to move on from Dave Richards to another player in the summer, there is the potential for a 3rd choice GK to be signed. But I don't think it'll be Ziglam, who hasn't been in the U18s since October, with Miki Lenarcik now the prefered starter.

I don't know whether his absence is injury related, but I would be surprised to see him kept on for next season.

Nathan Robinson(CB) - Retain

With Offord, O'Riordan and Sass-Davies all gone from the squad they went into the season with, there are openings at CB for new blood to come in. If the Alex are committed to Zak Kempster-Down, that might lessen the chances of Robinson getting a deal, but the fact that he's made a first team appearance in the league before Zac makes me think they rate Robinson highly.

I would be surprised if Robinson wasn't retained and then given loan time away from the club to develop next season with the view to using him in 25-26.

Charlie Fisher(CB) - Release

If the Alex do retain Kempster-Down and sign Robinson, then I just don't see there being any more space for other CBs, especially Fisher who for whatever reason hasn't been around the U18s in months. It must be injury related, but if they keep the aforementioned 2 and you factor in a new RCB, Demetriou and Williams, that's 5 CBs on the books. I don't see them keeping a 6th. I think Fisher is released.

Matt Senior(CB) - Release

Senior is more tricky given he's been a regular for both the U18s and U21s alongside Robinson at CB. They clearly like him enough to bring him on in the EFL Trophy game against Newcastle, but I think he gets let go simply down to numbers.

Lucas Sant(LB) - Unsure

Sant is a tricky one. With Rio Adebisi on his way at the end of next season at the latest and there being a lot of question marks over Charlie Finney's fitness and ability to hack it at LB, there might be an opening for Sant, who has come into the U21s more and more as the season has progressed. He's another that made a sub appearance against Newcastle, so he might be one they see a lot of potential in. I'm genuinely not sure about him at this point.

Lewis Nolan(CM) - Retain

Nolan was one of the first scholars to come onto the bench when the injury crisis started in November, which to me says a lot about how much potential the management think he has. The Alex should have openings in midfield next season with Griffiths gone and Colkett and potentially Thomas gone in the summer also. They still have Owen Lunt and of course Powell and Tabiner, but I think there is space to add a youngster to the group and Nolan could be it.

Pharrell Leader-Williams(CM) - Release

Williams(or Leader-Williams depending on who you ask) hasn't seemed to have much impact in the U18s. He was an unused sub for all 3 of the FA Youth Cup games and whilst he's been in and out of the U21s, he doesn't strike me as one that the management view as having a lot of potential.

Callum Agius(CM) - Signed

It's easy when you're having such a good season to forget that another top looking talent getting ready to graduate and step into the first team picture. Agius has shown lots of talent in the U18s and is the current top scorer for the U21s as well, scoring double figures across both levels. I'm really excited to see how he does next season.

Joel Vincent(RW) - Release

Vincent recently went out to Runcorn Town on loan, but given he's spotty use in the U18s and the fact he's only made the bench a couple of times for the U21s says to me he isn't likely to be retained. I could be wrong based on his loan spell, but I would be surprised at this point.

Jack Parry(ST) - Release

The Alex rarely produce good strikers. See Callum Saunders, Lewis Reilly and probably Connor Evans. Parry has a fairly so-so scoring record in the U18s and rarely gets games in the U21s. He also wasn't chosen to come into the squad for any of the EFL Trophy games. He's gone on loan to Ashville in tier 10, which intrigues me, but overall I doubt he's retained.

Muhammed Jatta(ST) - Release

Jatta was a later arrival last season, but he's had some impact in the U18s and even scored in the U21s earlier this season. However, for similar reasons to Parry, I would be surprised to see him retained.

Rhys Allport(ST) - Unsure

Allport is slightly different in that he's actually scored a first team goal. He bagged against Newcastle in the EFL Trophy only minutes after coming on. He's bagged a couple of U21s goals as well, so it would suggest they see something in him. He looks like a small player, which might count against him, but I'm not really sure about him. He's 50/50.