Day 15

Less than three weeks before the season officially kicks off, and we're still way short of being tactically prepared. Our starting tactic "familiarity levels" are mostly on the lower end of competent, which means I still haven't seen these guys playing anywhere near their potential as a unit. I hope that means I've got a pleasant surprise coming up over the next few months.

Simon Russell, who up until this point looked likely to be the starting right winger in our opening match, picked up a heel injury in training today. He'll be out of action for two to three weeks, so we'll almost certainly be missing Russell for the start of the league season.

This presents a problem, since the man who would challenge Russell for a spot in the side, Francis Laurent, is also injured. Laurent has a torn hamstring, and won't be ready to play until the new year. If the Kanouté transfer goes through, I'll be able to push Bore up from right back to fill in (with Kanouté slotting directly into Bore's regular spot). Otherwise, I have no idea what I'll do.

At the recommendation of my Assistant Manager, I approached Huddersfield about loaning central midfielder Chris Atkinson until the end of the season. He'd give us some much needed depth.

I also asked Woodhouse to look for right-sided midfielders I could sign on loan deals. It looks like we'll need somebody for at least the first half of the season.