EdiBairn

You've got to have back up players of a reasonable standard in any squad. If you look at our starting 11 in 2013/14- McGovern, Kingsley, Vaulks, McCracken, Duffie, Sibbald, McGrandles, Fulton, Alston, Loy, Beck. I think most people would agree that is far better in quality than what we have now yet we failed to get promoted because we had no squad depth whatsoever to cover for injuries- we started a 17 year old Scott Shepherd in the playoffs, and nothing whatsoever on the bench to change a game.

Of the first team players being released, Grant and Watson were playing. Thomson is the only other one, so I can only assume Hartley may have told him similar.

Wrong- it was Hartley who personally made it clear to him he wasn't to turn up at the stadium

My concern is that's now apparently 5 players Hartley's fallen out with. Surely players aren't going to be keen to come here if the manager's going to fall out with them and get rid after a few months.

Taiwo was told not to turn up on Saturday as he wasn't in the squad. Hartley should have given him one last game IMO.

There's obviously some personal/health issue in Loy's life that's unfortunately prevented him contributing this season. It's certainly not a matter of him "downing tools". I have heard him and Hartley don't speak at all so I think it's safe to say he'll be leaving the club in the summer.

Would've been better with Robbie Thomson as a 4th option up front than O'Hara

I hope Hartley has plans to move on Harris, Loy, McKee and O'Hara at the very least. Our biggest budget ever isn't going to go very far if we're paying probably £4K a week to players who're going to contribute nothing.

Very disappointed to see Taiwo leaving while Muirhead, McKee, Welsh and O'Hara remain at the club. I think Taiwo offers more than all 4 together.

Realistically, I don't see anyone being kept beyond McGhee, Robson, Sibbald, Jakubiak(if we can get him back) and potentially Muirhead and Longridge since Hartley seems to like them. I think Blair could be a good player for us but Hartley barely played him so I can't see him wanting to come back.

He looked "promising" based on one good game 3 seasons ago and has done the sum total of nothing since.

O'Hara has had 40 appearances for Falkirk mostly up front and has never scored a goal in his career. Shepherd has had 60 appearances, mostly at right wing and scored 3 goals. As I said, neither good enough to start for us but why anyone would keep O'Hara is beyond me.

Shepherd has had more chances than O'Hara ever had in a 3rd/4th choice role. If he is a relative of yours I understand your concerns but he is not and will never be good enough for us. He has found his level and that is where he should remain. He's had nowhere near as many chances as O'Hara in his proper position. I'm not a relative nor do I think he's good enough to start for us, but I do think it's ridiculous we have people desperate for O'Hara to be kept as he 'offers a threat' while a guy who's started 4 games for us gets more abuse than Alex Harris.

O'Hara ran about a lot but had zero end product pretty much like every other game he's played. Nowhere near good enough.

He shouldn't be a starter but he's still under contract and realistically won't be going anywhere without us paying it off. I'd rather see what he can do in a 3rd/4th choice role in place of O'Hara.

I'd keep Mitchell Mcghee Kidd Taiwo Sibbald Jakubiak Shepherd Apart from that, I'd be releasing the rest of the squad.

My concern is that neither Welsh or Sibbald can tackle so it's going to be far too lightweight as a midfield pairing.

I wouldn't be surprised if Taiwo goes to a bottom 6 premiership club/ league 1 in England. Been probably our most consistent player over 4 seasons and I think he's massively underrated by our support. Yes, he doesn't offer much going forward but that's not his role and there's very few better at what he's in the team to do IMO. While his passing isn't Iniesta-esque, it's also nowhere near as bad as some make out.

The vast majority of those 62 have been 5 minute sub appearances out of position. Many of our fans have a bizarre love for O'Hara after one game 3 seasons ago. Facebook is full of calls for him to play every game and Houston was barracked last season for not playing him. I can guarantee you there will be complaints from many fans when he is quite rightly shown the door.

Shepherd has proven that he can score goals when played in his proper position for the under 20s and now Edinburgh City. For some reason our fans have written him off based on a few 5 minute sub appearances at right wing. O'Hara has had multiple starts and sub appearances upfront over 3 seasons yet has never scored a goal in his career, and hardly touches the ball when he's on the pitch except to give it away. Our fans act as if he's the next Messi.