Day 274

Matthew Barnes-Homer’s man of the match performance at the weekend earned him a place in the Team of the Week for the fifth time this season. I still find it astounding that the best-performing player in the league (that’s him) has only been rated in five of the 35-or-so weekly dream teams. His average rating of 7.42 blows away next-best Phil Airey’s 7.32, and yet the striker has earned just six man-of-the-match and five team-of-the-week plaudits.

Veteran central defender Rui Marques accepted my offer of a one-year extension to his contract. The Angolan also got a £100 a week pay rise—well deserved, given his scintillating form and exceptional leading of my defence this season. Hopefully he can reproduce this crucial defensive work for us next season in League 2.

Leading us straight to promotion to League 1 would be a wonderful send-off for his storied career, which has seen him play for Stuttgart in the Bundesliga, Leeds United in their darkest days at the bottom of the Championship and League 1, and the Angolan national team (19 times over six years).