Day 262

We had a backroom meeting today. Mark Halstead has been unhappy with his high training workload. I took him off the extra handling practice we’ve had him on, disappointed that he doesn’t have a greater drive to improve. Grant Brown coldly suggested that I change winger Simon Russell’s squad status from “backup” to “no longer needed.” I refused—he’s still useful, and will continue to be until the end of the season. I did agree, however, to bump young central defender Karlton Watson up from “hot prospect” to backup.