Source: FOOTYMAD
Francis warning follow up before Southampton and not replacing Lee Barnard
It's not rocket science that there will be players leaving Roots Hall in the summer, it's just trying to guess who, and how many will Tilly be able to replace! Francis:We heard a lot for Blues player-of-the-season Simon Francis at the weekend warning that there were a lot of unhappy bunnies at Roots Hall and not just because of relegation to League Two.Francis spoke to www.echo-news.co.uk: "I think there will be players going because we have a lot of lads here who are certainly good enough to play in League One if not the Championship. We have players like Steve Mildenhall, Alan McCormack, Adam Barrett and myself who want to play at the top level. I can't say for sure what will happen during the summer but I'm sure people will want to see what else is out there and see what is happening in other leagues. At the same time, I'm sure there will be players coming in too because the squad isn't big enough here." Francis still has another 12 months left on his contract at the club. And he too is uncertain about his own future. "I'm still a Southend player and I have another year to go but it is disappointing to get relegated. It's happened twice to me now at Southend but I will have to wait and see what happens in the summer." "I don't think we've replaced players who have left over the past couple of seasons, especially Lee Barnard in January. We've had a mixed and matched team for most of the season and have had loan players coming and going. We've had a small squad but that's been because of the financial situation at the club. The gaffer has done the best he can but we haven't had enough to stay up."
