should they stay or should they go?

Keep Locks, James Clarke, sercs, Holmes Dennis, and Matthews. Not sure on the younger ones.

Presumably a new coach comes in with new methods and tactics. It’s only reasonable for him to have a look at everyone before making decisions on who to ship out. Fresh eyes and a clean slate, which may well suit a few of the newer additions. Thats why it is worrying that it is likely to be January before a new manager is appointed, as it doesn’t give him much time to assess before doing any transfer business.

Keeping sercs is a must as I feel he’ll be wanting to leave

I don’t think any of our full backs are good enough (bar THD as I haven’t seen him play) so for me a right back is a must! And I think we need a CB with height, if Broadbent isn’t gonna play then get someone better in! Another winger would be good and a striker or 2 is the obvious choice. Wouldn’t be sad to see any of the current players leave either to be honest.

He became crap from the start for me as can’t win a header...can’t pass a ball..can’t mark a forward tight enough and gets caught out of position a ridiculous amount...
Having locks at the back thumping it to the opposition is bad enough but the pair of them is a recipe for disaster...
As long as we have that pairing we’re heading down the league

Out: Smith, Leadbitter, Broadbent, Payne.

Unrealistic in Payne's case as he will presumably have 18 months left on his deal (guesswork). Leads would be 3rd choice RB for me...shame but we need to free up cash. Same with Broadbent who doesn't seem to have progressed at all this season. Smith is just bereft of confidence and probably has to move on for his own sake.

In:
Striker, Left winger.

Four out, two in may give us some scope in terms of quality, although the wage structure will have to be adhered to. It's obvious we need a goalscorer, ideally one who can lead the line. A left winger who has the option of beating his full back down the outside would be good too.

Sadly though, I suspect that we may struggle to keep one or more of Bonham, Lockyer and Sercombe. Then we do have a problem as they would all take some replacing.

You are not alone. I think that as well.

Problem is Craig's always got a mistake in him, last Saturday if he'd managed to stay on his feet we may have got a draw, even snatched a win. Locks and Craig don't seem the ideal CB partnership to me when most Div 1 sides seem to have at least one 6'4" CB. Although like too many right footed wingers DC's managed to sign 3 left footed CB's, leaving Locks as the only right footed CB.

In my opinion he's nothing like that bad. But that's not the point - the point is you can't just sign a player on the basis of perceived qualities and assume those qualities will shine. A lot of players that fit a description end up scapegoated like Craig. Even an unchangeable stat like 'tall' can become obsolete if they are seen as crap at other things. 

We can demand "strong, pacey forwards" all we like, but like "experienced, proven managers" they don't always do what it says on the tin.