Day 199

We held a backroom meeting today, for the first time in two weeks. The main talking point was potential signings who turned out to not be very good at all. One player recommended by Curtis Woodhouse seemed like a decent prospect, though.

Oliver Lancashire has a lot to live up to being named after an entire county, but it looks as though the central defender might go some way to doing just that. Tall, strong, determined, and with no weaknesses other than a poor passing ability, he’s got a fair bit of growth still ahead of him. He’s out of favour at Walsall, and his contract is expiring at the end of the season. I asked Ian Gardner to take a closer look at him, but I think Lancashire will be high on the shortlist going forward.

Left back Mathew Park completed his loan spell and returned to Hearts today. He was a handy squad player during his three-month stay. Hopefully his replacement Alex Billington will be at least as useful.

Coach Mark Brown suggested I talk up central midfield prospect Toumani Diagouraga to the media. I opted instead to put in a bid to loan him for five months. I’d love to see a midfield quartet of Olembé, Birchall, Diagouraga, and Shuker. I might just make it happen.