Day 77

The bookies aren't even taking bets on us winning against Stockport tomorrow, but we're apparently only "slight" favourites.

We had a backroom meeting today. At Grant Brown's suggestion, new loan signing Zak Ansah is now on an individual training regime to improve his heading. We're also going to scout some players recommended by the coaching staff—strikers Kenny Reeves and Adam Vickers (neither of whom seem likely to make the grade), along with central midfielder Danny Keen.

I refused to go after a new scout, despite Brown's suggestion. Two is plenty for a team with no transfer budget, no real intention of signing new players, and an uncertain future.

Day 76

Zak Ansah agreed to join us on loan. That's brilliant. Hopefully he'll be able to fill Olembé's shoes while the Cameroonian is injured. Russell struggled in the role yesterday, so I doubt there are any decent alternatives at this stage.

Grant Brown thinks the 17-year-old Ansah is better than the strikers we have on contract, and a capable winger. I hope he's right.

Camaño finished his trial. I'm a bit disappointed that he wasn't able to win a contract. He's clearly capable, but he didn't show me that he's sufficiently motivated or interested. [I actually signed him in my previous Football Manager 2012 campaign, as Torquay manager, and he was a star for us until we hit the Championship. I won't let that influence me; every decision here is made according to the knowledge and information available to Juan Day.]

Next match is in two days. Ansah will start, if he's fit enough to do so. And Atkinson will come in for the injured Christophe. Otherwise, I intend to play an unchanged lineup. Again on the condition that people are fit. If they're not...well, I have some thinking to do.

Day 75

Arsenal accepted my loan offer for Zak Ansah. I took the news with caution—it's anyone's guess which way the youngster would go.

I settled for Russell as today's Olembé replacement—the winger shifted flanks, with Shuker dropping from attack to right midfield. Gowling kept his place, but was in a delicate "one more mistake and you're out" situation, while Koroma returned to the starting eleven to lead the attack. Pacquette took a place on the bench for the first time. I also opted to bring Power back in for Atkinson, who reverted to the bench—I'd like to see more creativity in the midfield.

Rui Marques got singled out as our key man. His influence has clearly played a part in our excellent defensive record—eight goals conceded in eight games.

The match started out evenly, with neither side making much headway. Then in the 10th minute Marques lost an aerial contest with Williams, who knocked the ball down to Bradshaw. The Kidderminster forward left the out-of-position Gowling for dead with a great change of pace, then raced to the edge of the area and fired past Anyon. It was a slight deflection from Gowling that sent the ball beyond our keeper's grasp.

One down so early in the game was not how I'd anticipated things proceeding. I told the boys to push forward, pressing for an equaliser.

It nearly came on 17 minutes, when Shuker's corner met the head of an unmarked Josh Gowling. But the defender couldn't keep it down, and the ball sailed harmlessly over the bar.

On 22 minutes, Koroma was unlucky not to get through on goal after a defensive error.

Christophe went down injured in the 34th minute. He was able to continue, but I had concerns that the injury might be impeding his play.

Koroma made a great run down the right wing in the 37th minute. Dribbling to the byline, he cut the ball back perfectly into the path of Barnes-Homer—who made no mistake. 1-1 at the break.

Gowling redeemed himself in the 56th minute, climbing above Marshall to head home a Shuker corner. We'd turned it around, from a goal down to a goal up. I looked immediately at my options for how to stay in front.

The first point order was shifting our tactics to an emphasis on counter attack and keeping possession. I also subbed the disappointing Nutter off for Park.

Barnes-Homer doubled our lead on the hour mark, thanks to an incisive breakaway. Power won the ball on the edge of our own area, splaying it forward to Russell, whose through ball was chased down by Koroma. Running at full pelt, Koroma passed low across the area, and Barnes-Homer had all the time in the world to tap in at the far post.

With an eye to the midweek fixture, I took Power off for Atkinson immediately afterwards. The substitute nearly added a fourth on 70 minutes, as he found himself in acres of space outside the Kidderminster penalty area and fired a powerful shot at goal. The placement wasn't good enough, however, and Lewis saved easily.

I made another substitution on 72 minutes. Shuker, who had played well despite looking short on confidence, made way for Pacquette, with Koroma dropping to the wing. I wanted to make sure Shuker would be fit to start the midweek game.

Both sides created a few more chances as the match approached its end, with Koroma especially dangerous, but no more goals were scored. We took it out 3-1. Barnes-Homer's brace earned him man of the match, although for me Koroma was the stand-out performer.

We're third, five points behind league leaders Mansfield, three points above 4th and 5th placed Telford and Grimsby.

2,550 people attended the match—more than expected, but still pretty awful. Maybe our continuing success will bring some more fans in for the next home game in two weeks.

Christophe damaged his elbow; he'll be out for three weeks. I hope Atkinson can fill his shoes as our ball-winning midfielder.

Ian Gardner reported on Tamworth's utility man Tendayi Darikwa. I don't think we'll be going after him at any stage soon.

Day 74

Our attendance is set to sink even lower at tomorrow's match against Kidderminster, with estimates for ticket sales at just 2,000. There's really not much more I can do—I've signed players with international pedigree, we're doing well in the league, and we're playing good football. I hope it turns around soon.

Speaking of tomorrow's match, we're "comfortable favourites" to win. With Kiddermister rated 3-1 to win, though, it's no sure thing. The fact that they're on a three match losing streak gives me confidence, but I don't know how we'll play without midfield talisman Salomon Olembé. There's a lot of pressure on the other stars of the team—Shuker and Marques—to pull out something special to make up for the Cameroonian's absence.

Kidderminster manager Steve Burr hit out at our playing style in a pre-match press conference: "I don't enjoy the style of football Juan Day insists on his teams playing." I took exception to this remark, since I pride myself on an attractive passing and counter-attacking style. Left with few means of rebuttal, I questioned his ability as a manager. Take that!

I got reports on the rest of the potential left-wing loan signings. McCann is a talented young player, but he's better suited to a central midfield role, so he's out of contention. Elliott Frear could do well in the role, with a fair amount of pace and relatively good dribbling ability. I asked scout Mark Bradshaw to take another look at him.

Bradshaw's report on Zak Ansah cemented my desire to get the Arsenal youngster on loan, even if he is more suited to a striking role. His pace and flair would do him well at this level, regardless of his position on the field.

Day 73

More reports came in for the potential Olembé temp replacements. Max Harrop is a definite no. Arsenal youngster Zak Ansah is more of a striker, but could possibly do the job—if he's willing to play for us. Cooper would be a decent option, but it seems we can't loan him at this stage, perhaps because it's outside the transfer window and he's based in Scotland rather than England—I'm not sure, and no-one will answer me.

I put in a loan offer for Ansah, and asked my scouts to take another look at him (Woodhouse isn't the most reliable source on player quality). I need to be quick, since we've got two matches in the next week.

Day 72

Assistant Manager Curtis Woodhouse came back with the report I requested on potential loan signings who could fill in for Olembé. My early impressions on the recommended players, based on incomplete and limited information, were generally positive. A few of the players look to be talented enough to fill most of Olembé's shoes, while only one player—Elliott Frear—does not seem worth my time. I asked for scout reports on them all.

The first couple of reports have already come in. Conner McGlinchey isn't good enough, despite a fair amount of potential. Alex Cooper strikes me as a fine talent, so I asked for a second opinion on the young Scot.

Scout Mark Bradshaw updated me on his findings in the league. Tendayi Darikwa may be the most versatile player I've ever seen. He can play anywhere except left back or goalkeeper. I requested match reports on him from my scouts; I'd be interested in approaching him, if possible, when his loan deal at Tamworth (he's contracted to Chesterfield) expires in January.

I arranged a Reserves friendly against Buxton for six days from now. It'll give the fringe players a chance to gain some match fitness.

Day 71

After yesterday's injury news, club physio Kevin Oxby thought it prudent to report on our current squad fitness. Of the names on the injured list, Laurent and Olembé are most notable. Olembé, of course, because he's our star player; Laurent because he's supposedly a very good right-sided forward, who I imagine could take some pressure off Shuker.

As for the others, Watson and Kanouté are talented young defenders, both of whom I expect to make a run for the first team in the second half of the season. Kanouté especially, since he's already been earmarked for a starting berth—he was even set to start in the next match before the injury.

Smith is being missed for the little something different he brings to our attack. A big, strong player, he offers a target for his teammates to aim at. None of Koroma, Barnes-Homer, or Shuker have the physique to do anything similar.

I took a look at the league injury table. We're sixth, with five injuries. All of the teams above us have six injuries. With four players suffering from long-term injuries and one soon to recover from a long-term injury, we're in the worst shape of all Conference teams—the other big physio room victims have two or three minor injuries and only one or two serious injuries among their ranks.

Day 70

Our hopes of staying near the top of the table took a serious hit today. Olembé picked up a thigh strain during training. He'll be out for the best part of two months.

I'm not sure what we'll do without our star man. Who will replace him in the team? How can we get by without the Cameroonian's dynamic runs on the left wing?

I don't know that I can answer the second question, although it's obviously my job to try. As for the second, I could switch Russell to the left and drop Shuker back into midfield, or put Nicky Nicolau into the side. I could also try pushing Nutter into midfield, with Park taking his place at left back. Coach Grant Brown thinks that Park could be a possible option on the left wing, too, although he's only rated "competent" in the position.

I asked Woodhouse to look around for any loan options we might have—none of the players in the squad strike me as capable of filling in for seven weeks on the left flank.

Talented young defender Samba Kanouté also found his way onto the injury list today. He overexerted himself lifting weights and suffered a back strain. He'll be out for five to six weeks. That complicates my desire to drop Gowling for the next match. I guess I could go with Park or Sinclair in the role, but neither of them fill me with confidence.

Day 69

We have some really cool analytical tools for studying the performances of individual players and the effectiveness of certain plays. Today I finally pulled them out.

I looked at the analysis of yesterday's match. I didn't go particularly in-depth, since I'm still learning what the tools can show me—I expect I'll come back to this again later in the week, and maybe on a regular basis in future.

A few things jumped out at me, though.

All of Atkinson's intercepted passes were forward balls; interestingly, he mostly played short backward passes from just inside our own half. Christophe and Power, the other central midfielders who played yesterday, both predominately played forward and sideways balls, and Christophe managed a brilliant 92.9% success rate (from 28 attempted passes).

Anyon's long balls tended to fail. Of the six times he put the ball near or past the halfway line, five were intercepted. This suggests that I might want to look into whether or not changing his distribution instructions would be a good idea. He also mostly gave the ball to Bore, whose 51 attempted passes far overshadowed the contribution of any other players.

Olembé attempted 14 crosses during the match. Half of those were in open play, and of these only two successfully found their target. Should I alter his instructions for crossing, or was this a one-off?

Both Olembé and Russell do the most damage when they stay close to the touchline, yet both had an average position some twenty yards infield. I don't know whether they might be better served by individual or team instructions to use more width.

Our attacking players tackled poorly—by which I mean that they consistently lost tackles, no matter where they were on the pitch. Olembé was particularly problematic on this point, with all three of his missed tackles being inside his own half (and, by memory, two of these led to goal-scoring opportunities for Cambridge).

No clear pattern emerges from the map of passes made by all of our players during the match, but I'm sure there is one. It may not be clear until I see the analysis of several more matches, but I'm sure there's something to learn.

This is a fascinating tool. I'll definitely be digging deeper into analysis in the coming days and weeks.

Day 68

The Lincoln Under 18s cranked out another win. How about that? They're now third in their group, after four games. It was 16-year-old Luke Weaver who stole the show this time, with a goal and a strong defensive display.

I opted for an unchanged lineup against Cambridge. Kanouté, Power, and new-boy Halstead all took places on the bench, along with Koroma and Park. I hoped that Russell could pull out a repeat of his performance from last week.

Olembé was named our key player by the match pundit, while young central-midfielder Luke Berry got the nod as Cambridge's man to watch.

I told the boys to control the match—we're favourites, so we should attack, but I don't want to let them sneak a goal on the break.

We created a few early chances, capitalising on the opposition's lack of confidence, but failed to turn them into anything.

Olembé forced a fine save on 18 minutes, with a vicious strike from a tight angle. Then two minutes later he had another chance from straight-on. This time the keeper had no chance; the powerful strike shook the back of the net.

Shuker had a chance to double our lead just before the break, but the forward took too long to pull the trigger and was tackled. One-nil at half time, we looked a sure-thing to win.

Olembé's dominance on the left wing continued in the second half. Jackson dragged him down in the 54th minute, resulting in a yellow card, while his teammates looked to have no answer to the Cameroonian's mazy runs.

Russell played in Shuker on 63 minutes, but the forward was once again wasteful—he fired his shot straight into the Cambridge keeper.

Then disaster struck in the 69th minute. Jackson evaded an Olembé tackle before charging up the right wing. His cross met the boot of Stephen Sterling, then ricocheted off Josh Gowling and past our hapless, wrong-footed keeper.

We took the game to them. Shuker fired over the bar from a free kick, then I subbed Alan Power in for Chris Atkinson to give us more midfield creativity.

Gowling did just enough to prevent Marriott from sneaking Cambridge ahead with ten minutes to play, after the striker broke free chasing down a through ball.

Back at the other end, Koroma raced onto a Shuker flick and found himself in a one-on-one against the Cambridge keeper. He buried his shot, giving us a dramatic lead late in the game.

Cambridge weren't out of it yet, though. Stirling found the back of the net with an excellent free kick from 25 yards out in the 90th minute.

We threw more men forward, recklessly pushing for a win. Our efforts earned a couple of injury-time corners. Gowling sent a header over the bar in the 93rd minute, with what proved to be the final chance of the match.

I have no idea how we managed to throw away the points in that one. Two-all in a match we should have won—both in terms of player calibre and performance on the pitch. And with Olembé pulling out a vintage performance. These kinds of results could cost us dearly come the end of the season.

Gowling will sit out the next few games. He made some important contributions for us, but his mistakes cost us a win.

2,632 fans showed up to watch the game. The stadium was just one-quarter full. That's pathetic.

In other news, Paul Robson resumed full training, so we have our back-up right-back available again.

Day 67

Attendance expectations for tomorrow's match against Cambridge United don't exactly fill me with confidence that the Lincoln board have our bottom line secured from further punishment. I just hope that, if things get worse, I won't be forced to sell any of my key players. It's out of my control, but it's a cloud hanging over me and Lincoln's future.

We are, at least, strong favourites to win. Not that that means anything. Remember what happened last time the bookies said we'd win comfortably? Yeah, I don't want that to happen again.

In other news, coach Jason Fowler reports that the team is pretty comfortable with my tactics and each other now—but they're unfamiliar with the current formation. I wonder if that's because I moved the right winger further up the pitch, or because we had a slight personnel change (thanks to new men and injuries), or a combination of the two. [I'd ask my staff and players, but that's not an option. I'm not sure it should be, either.]

Mark Bradshaw had another look at Irish full back Neal Horgan. He still says that we should sign Horgan, but I'm getting cold feet. I think we might be better off waiting until next season, whereupon I'll go looking for a talented youngster to groom as Bore's replacement.

Halstead agreed to the loan, and it's only the day after our offer was accepted—which indicates that he had no doubts. Excellent. He should give Anyon a real run for his money as first-choice goalkeeper. If my coaching staff are to be believed, he'll do even more than that—they think Halstead's the slightly better player, so he should win the spot.

Close comparison shows that it's not so straightforward. Anyon has vastly better handling, anticipation, and teamwork skills to Halstead, but greatly inferior first touch and command of area. Anyon's also stronger, more creative, and has less of a tendency to punch. But Halstead makes better, faster decisions and holds more influence over his teammates. [If only comparing real footballers could be so easy and mathematical.]

I wish they'd morph into one goalkeeper, so then I'd have the best parts of each—that keeper would be a quality player.

Day 66

Blackpool accepted my loan offer for Mark Halstead. I never doubted they would. The uncertainty now comes in whether or not Halstead himself is willing to play for Lincoln. Scout Grant Brown think yes; past experience (Fanimo, anyone?) leaves me unsure.

Brown handed me a report for two more talented young keepers today. First was Middlesbrough Under 18s' Connor Ripley, who looks to be a decent second preference option to Halstead.

Second was Ipswich youngster Cody Cropper, who's of a similar calibre to Halstead. Cropper, an American with a British passport, would challenge Anyon for a place right off the bat, and could develop into a good Championship goalkeeper (three divisions above us). If the Halstead deal falls through, I'll give Cropper a try for sure.

Day 65

Kanouté and Taylor both started for their international youth teams yesterday. Taylor didn't do so well for the Finland Under 21s in their European U21 Championship qualifying match. Kanouté impressed for the Mali Under 20s in their friendly win, with an assist and a vital header during his 72 minutes on the park.

Scout Grant Brown gave Gillingham defender Garry Richards a glowing report. I don't see any way for us to sign him, though—he's happy and under contract, and we have no transfer budget. Still, it's good to know we have options if we come into money.

Brown also suggested that Blackpool's young transfer-listed keeper Mark Halstead would walk straight into our starting lineup. I decided to put in a loan offer for the lad, in the hope that we could get him for the short-term then sign him on a free transfer at the end of the season. With the transfer window closed, we can only loan players for up to three months. I hope to extend that deal to the end of the season when the opportunity presents itself.

But one thing at a time—first we need the lad to join us on loan.

Day 64

I called the staff in for a backroom meeting (because I had nothing else to do).

At their suggestion, I put youngsters Oliver Pannell, Will Rawdon, and Nick Draper on individual training regimes. Injured winger Francis Laurent can look forward to movement training—focused on staying out wide when dribbling—when he returns (at least five weeks from now).

I agreed to scout the recommended players, but I doubt they'll be up to scratch.

Assistant Manager Curtis Woodhouse tried to talk me into changing Samba Kanouté's squad status from "important first team player" to "backup to the first team." I flatly refused, insistent that once the lad settles in he'll be a regular starter.

Grant Brown argued that transfer-listed striker Jamie Taylor should be considered a backup for the first team. I don't think so. I mean, technically he is exactly that—if we were to suffer a big injury crisis, he'd be in line to play...after Barnes-Homer, Koroma, Shuker, Smith, Rodney, Pacquette, and Laurent.

I did agree, however, to bump Jason Beardsley down from "hot prospect" to not needed—at 22, he's not likely to improve enough to ever stake a claim for a place in the side. I won't transfer list or release him, though, because we're not actually paying him anything (not sure how that happened).

Day 63

I took a look at our finances. We lost a lot of money last month—£120,612. Going over the numbers, I'd say we'll be spending between £250,000 and £350,000 a month (it was £298,009 last month). Our income, meanwhile, will struggle to cross £200,000 in any month, unless attendance at our home games increases considerably.

Maybe we'll get a couple of sell-outs for cup games against bigger teams, if the schedule pits us in such a situation, and maybe one of those matches will make it onto TV. If we can make it to the Second Round of the FA Cup, there'll be some money there. Otherwise, I'm really concerned about the club's bottom line.

Trimming the wage bill will only help a little, since it's a mere £14,966 a week—all that would be likely to achieve is to slow the bleeding in the short-term while gutting the club in the long-term. The real problem, as I alluded to above, is that our stadium seats 10,120 people, but our average attendance is just over 3300.

My guess is that, without selling a star player or finding cup success, Lincoln will lose a million pounds this season. I hope either investment or overdraft will keep us afloat. It seems there's a real imperative to rebound the team back into League 2, but we might not have the depth to pull it off.

Day 62

The Reserves faced North Ferriby in a friendly today. It wasn't easy picking a team from the dregs of the first-team and Under 18 squad. We only selected eight substitutes out of a possible twelve.

Pacquette opened the scoring with a vicious strike into the roof of the net when he had way too much time in the box in the 4th minute.

It was a terrible game. Both teams struggled to do anything decent, giving the ball away, squandering possession, and wasting goal-scoring opportunities. And Camaño, the only player whose performance I cared about, looked awful.

Platt blasted a penalty over the bar in the 39th minute. Rather than react with disappointment, I shrugged my shoulders. It's that kind of day.

North Ferribly equalised on 47 minutes, when a lovely through ball made our central defenders look awful and Brown converted his chance. That was probably the highlight of the match, from an impartial viewpoint. No, wait, make that any viewpoint. I struggle to recall a worse game, qualitatively speaking.

North Ferriby striker Richard Brown earned a well-deserved man of the match. He was the only player to impress for either side. We drew 1-1.

I don't know when I'll schedule the next Reserves friendly—probably next month. The first team next plays in six days.

Mansfield won their game in hand, so they're three points clear of us—with a five goal advantage. Wrexham still have to play their catch-up match.

Day 61

Youngsters Kanouté and Taylor both played in international friendlies yesterday. Taylor came off the bench for Finland to share in a 5-0 drubbing from the English Under 21s, while Kanouté had a decent game for the Mali Under 20s. I'm pleased to see them getting the experience, whatever the results.

Olembé was passed fit, but Power was not. I brought Atkinson into the centre of midfield to replace him. I also opted to drop Koroma back to the bench, with Russell coming in to play an advanced right wing role and Shuker moving into attack. Atkinson's defensive emphasis should balance out the slightly more offensive formation.

We had an early chance through an over-the-top pass for Shuker, who raced away towards goal before being dragged down inside the box, but the striker was offside.

The first goal came in the 13th minute. Russell crossed from deep on the right wing, after finding himself in acres of space, and Barnes-Homer met the ball with a brilliant diving header that sailed past the Tamworth keeper.

I looked on with worry when Marques picked up a knock on 24 minutes. We'd suffer without our talisman.

Russell continued to impress, with energetic running on the right flank and shots on goal on either side of the half hour mark. He then got dragged down by Tamworth defender Sam Oji in the middle of the penalty area. Tamworth just couldn't handle him. Nutter slotted the penalty away with the utmost of composure, while Oji walked for a professional foul in a goal scoring opportunity.

Olembé received a cross-field pass from Russell in the 50th minute, then cut inside and fired in a low strike that Hedge saved well. We appeared to be in absolute control.

I took a tired-looking Olembé off for Nicolau on 56 minutes. With a two-goal lead and Russell running the show, I had no fears that resting our star midfielder would leave us vulnerable.

Patterson broke free of our defence in the 65th minute, forcing quick reactions from Anyon to keep Tamworth goalless.

I replaced Shuker with Koroma on 66 minutes. Koroma then missed a gilt-edged chance to increase the lead. He dribbled around his man, then weakly struck the ball straight into the keeper when he had ample time to place his shot. Russell pounced on the rebound, but his shot went wide.

Bore made way for Park in the 69th minute. I was looking to the next match.

Unfortunately, I acted too soon. Christophe collided with McKoy in the 83rd minute, and had to be stretchered off the pitch. With no remaining substitutes, we were left a man down (although thankfully not one less than Tamworth, who of course were already playing with ten men).

Paul Green nearly embarrassed us in the 87th minute when a deep cross got carried goal-bound by the wind. Anyon was alert enough to save any potential blushes, though, scrambling to make a save.

Russell held the ball up brilliantly before threading the needle to release Barnes-Homer in the 90th minute, but the striker could not match his teammate's magic.

He received a well-deserved man of the match award for two assists and one of the best performances I've seen from any player. The win put us into second place on goal difference, although Wrexham below us and Mansfield above us each have a game in hand.

Christophe looks to be okay. The physio's given him the all-clear, so he should be fine to start our next match a week from now.

Day 60

Tomorrow's match against part-timers Tamworth could well have the feel of a training game, with a measly thousand people expected to attend.

We appear to be firm favourites, but if our last outing taught me anything it's that having the bookies on our side counts for nought. The gap in quality and experience is huge, but this is football. Anything can happen, and nothing is a sure-thing.

John Ward, the current Colchester manager and a former Lincoln favourite (before I was born), told the press that we should be weary of Tamworth right-back Paul Green. The lad spent the past five seasons in a Lincoln shirt, signing for Tamworth after the former regime got us relegated, so he'll probably have a point to prove. (That he should be re-signed, I suspect—with only the slightest trace of arrogance.)

Scout Mark Bradshaw still thinks Irish full-back Neal Horgan would be a good signing. I'll wait for him to watch a couple more matches before I make a decision, but the lad is absolutely killing it at Cork City. After 20 appearances, he's got an average rating of 7.91 along with six goals and six assists. It is a lower standard league that he's playing in, but that's still bloody impressive.

Before retiring for the night, I turned my attention to tomorrow's match. Kanouté's off on international duty, so he can't play. I don't want Park starting in central defence, though, so Gowling will probably return to the side. Nutter had a shocker last time out, but it's too soon to drop him on bad form, which means Park will sit on the bench.

Further up the pitch, I'm considering throwing Atkinson in for his first start. Power is struggling to command a presence in the midfield, and looks to still be recovering from the last match, so he'd be the one to make way.

Olembé's a fitness concern—the veteran Cameroonian can't handle back-to-back matches in the same week so well these days. If he needs to drop to the bench, my choices are Nicolau, Platt, Russell, or a change to the formation (with either wing backs or no left-sided midfielder).

And finally, I'm not sure about a Koroma/Barnes-Homer pairing in attack—after their anaemic display last time out. If I drop Koroma to the bench, Shuker will most likely push forward. But then I've gotta worry about the right wing. Robson's injured and Kanouté's on international duty, so Bore can't step up from right back. And Russell may be required on the left side if Olembé's not fit enough to start.

Lots of things to ponder for tomorrow.

Day 59

With the transfer window closed, I was treated to a roundup of activity in the league. We weren't the biggest movers in the market—newly-promoted Alfreton signed nine players to our seven (although it appears the half dozen signings before my arrival were not counted).

We have five league games this month (September), including an away tie against title-favourites Luton Town.

On the training front, Assistant Manager Curtis Woodhouse reported that Joe Anyon and Jean-François Christophe made the most progress.

Meanwhile, I picked up 3rd place on August's Manager of the Month Award. I'm pretty stoked to pull that off in the first month of my first season as a football manager. Here's to many more awards to come.

The board confidence update kept me firmly on my feet, though. They are "satisfied" with my management. Ouch—I thought I was doing well, exceeding expectations and building a strong first-team squad with no transfer budget.

Day 58

We had a backroom meeting today. Apparently Josh Gowling is unhappy with training—he thinks he shouldn't have to do any extra work. I turned off his free-kick-taking individual training focus, but left the preferred move training as is.

Meanwhile, I put Shuker on an individual regime emphasising free kick taking—at the behest of Grant Brown.

Brown also suggested that Conal Platt had the wrong squad status. The Irish midfielder should be considered "no longer needed." After shaking off my initial shock, I transfer-listed Platt. If we don't need him, then we should offload him as soon as possible. (Unfortunately, he's another of the "new" signings from before my arrival—so selling the lad won't be easy.)

Brown felt the same way about goalkeeping coach and Reserves keeper Chris Adamson. I disagreed—we need Adamson as an emergency player, to be called upon while I look for a loan signing if Anyon gets injured.

It took the Reserves less than twelve minutes to take the lead against Stafford Rangers. Rezgane beat his man before scoring with a powerful strike from just inside the box. Two minutes later, he missed an easy chance to double the lead.

Wasteful finishing from both sides kept the scoreline at 1-nil going into the break.

Stafford equalised in the 48th minute, with an opportunistic strike from Docker—who pounced on a deflected cross.

After an hour, I wasn't feeling too pleased with the efforts of the trialists. Rezgane's contributions all occurred in the opening 15 minutes, while Camaño looked like he thought he had better things to do with his evening than play football and Cuenca had been quiet all match.

Camaño still managed to pick up man of the match, though, thanks to his total dominance at the back. Six tackles, seven headers, and seven interceptions all went to his name. He may have been uninterested, but he was still by far and away the best player on the pitch.

I terminated the trials of Cuenca, Rezgane, and Thompson after the match. They haven't shown enough to justify further consideration. Camaño is still a chance, but I'll wait until I've seen him play one more game before I make a decision.

As I expected, selling Platt will not be an easy task.

Stevenage Reserves striker Ben May was mentioned as a potential signing during the backroom meeting. Brown compiled a report for me later that evening. He's good—better than any of our current attacking options. But signing him looks unlikely—we can't afford any transfer fee whatsoever, and he probably wouldn't be willing to join on loan.

I offered Conal Platt in an exchange deal, thinking "it's a long shot, but I might as well try." Stevenage accepted.

I had to haggle his wage demands down around £500 from £1,300 to £850 per week, raising the goal bonus offer by £20 and adding an £8,500 bonus for scoring 20 league goals in a season. But we got him, minutes before the transfer window closed. That ought to prove an interesting selection headache—three high-calibre strikers, May, Koroma, and Barnes-Homer, set to duke it out for the two available starting places.

The transfer won't go through until January 1st, mind you, so Koroma and Barnes-Homer have plenty of time to earn their stripes.