Blackpool faithful share views on which out of contract players should be retained- and who shouldn't

The Seasiders have eight players in total who could depart for free in the summer, including Callum Connolly, Marvin Ekpiteta, Shayne Lavery, Matty Virtue and Richard O’Donnell. Meanwhile, Sonny Carey and James Husband are in similar positions, with the pair having options for a further year at Bloomfield Road.

A number of loanees will also leave at the end of the current campaign. Jordan Rhodes and Karamoko Dembele were both added to Neil Critchley’s ranks in the summer, while Hayden Coulson and George Byers made the move in most recent transfer window.

Discussing who the club should look to keep, one fan wrote: “Hubby (James Husband) definitely. (Shayne) Lavery if he performs well for the second half of the season and avoids injury. (Richard) O’Donnell has been excellent, definitely worth keeping. Love Marv (Marvin Ekpiteta) but on the ball he’s never been comfortable. (Callum) Connolly is flexible but not the best anywhere. (Sonny) Carey isn’t good enough for promotion.”

A second added: “Options taken on Hubby and Carey (though I’d see about selling Carey unless he improves over the second half of this season). If Lavery can recover his pre-injury form he’s a good one to keep but no one jumps out as irreplaceable. More problems replacing the loans (Rhodes/ Dembele).

Another added: “Take up the options and let the rest go apart from Lavery. Try and keep (Jordan Rhodes) and Karamoko Dembele but would think that depends on which division we are in. It’s too soon to make a judgement on (George) Byers and (Hayden) Coulson.”

A fourth noted: “Re-sign O’Donnell, Lavery, Husband, Big Marv, but the rest can go. Make Dembele the club’s biggest-ever signing. Get rid of the deadwood and flops.”