Good lord is not a phrase I'm accustomed to uttering - so that was the second surprise I had when they came out of my mouth upon sight of Stevenage's retained and released list.

The first was the actual list itself. I had six departures possibly, and yet of the first-team squad only one departed, Harry Anderson, and he had been on loan at Colchester United since January.

Theo Alexandrou was the other to head out of the Lamex, the youngster's departure in itself a bit of a talking point. We'll get to him later.

But what it does mean is that heading into the summer transfer window, Stevenage have 17 senior pros still under contract and at the club.

That could rise to 19, Kane Hemmings and Alex MacDonald are in conversation with the club but have not made a decision.

They could be hanging on to see who the new manager is before making their final decision. They of course might already know who the new boss is and are simply hedging their bets.

But that takes you into the first point of note, having 17 pros is a great starting point for any new boss, and for the moment I am assuming that the new manager is an external candidate.

They will want to make their own mark on the squad but they have enough wriggle room to do so. They will also want to bring in new formations and tactics but there will be enough players, good players, to have a decent stab at filling all the crucial positions.

What any new manager will have to contend with is the raids that are coming on the squad.

We all expect Jamie Reid to be on the radar of many clubs after last season, whether anything arrives we shall see, and we also expect there to be approaches from Rotherham United as Steve Evans looks to rebuild the Millers.

The club doesn't have to sell of course, but they are now in a position where they can get fees for any player who does want to leave.

And you would imagine that any transfer fees coming in would be put back into either the transfer budget or the wage budget - nothing the new boss will grumble about.

Should of course the new boss be Alex Revell, then the changes to tactics, formations and personnel will be minimal, and the likelihood is he already has a good idea on who he wants to bring in.

* As an aside, I keep talking myself in and out of whether this list means Revell has got the job. Still don't understand why he hasn't been given the job already, if he is going to be the chosen one, but as every day passes, he must be getting closer.

The departure of Alexandrou is a surprise, he has been playing really well on loan at St Ives Town at step three and will be a popular signature for many at that level in non-league (although he can play much higher).

** Second aside, the fact Alexandrou has been let go just highlights the desperate need of Boro to have a reserves/U23 side. The gap between academy and first-team is now far too big to cross for the vast majority of youngsters.

It is an interesting list and a good squad. We all said that it only needed a few tweaks, a few more quality additions in specific positions for Boro to truly kick on. They've done part one of that.

And hopefully the fact it is now out means Stevenage CAN push on with the rest of their plans - season tickets, pre-season friendlies etc.

Top of that of course is announcing the new boss.