Crusoe

We don't have enough cover at full back to let Lomax go at the moment. Plus, I still think he has the potential to be a very good player.

Wolfenden's contracted until June 2009, I think, but if he hasn't picked up much action before the end of this season I can see him being a casualty. It might be a little unfair that he hasn't had a run in the first team, but on the other hand he'll be 22 this year and has only 3 goals in 29 appearances (4 starts, 25 as sub).

Either he's not good enough, or the management isn't convinced enough to give him a run.

Either way I wouldn't be surprised to see him released in the summer.

If he and Grayson had a massive bust-up they may be looking to sell now rather than loan him out.

On the topic of Ugarte, he's requested that Wrexham cancel his contract. Looks like he's given up hope of playing again. Shame.

Christ. I'll not be buying any shirt that makes me look like a queasy bee with a highlighter.

Whether we sell or not will also depend on whether the club believes he'll sign a new contract. If they don't believe he'll sign, they'll snap someone's hand off for £500,000 now.

I've heard two competing rumours over why he didn't sign for Southend. One was that he had a godawful game in his last loan appearance and they decided the money wasn't worth gambling with. The other is that it was a done deal and his agent demanded an extra £30,000 in fees for arranging it (there was no suggestion that this was illegal, I should point out, just fairly sharp business practice), which put backs up at Southend.

Either way I'm not too concerned if the transfer fee is any more than £100,000; I don't rate him more highly than that.

Yeah, I think loans can be re-arranged, but I'm not sure if either MacDonald or Anderlecht would see a regular place at Oldham as a better prospect (or shop window) than sub appearances at the Championship's leading club. Maybe I'm just overly negative, though.

Following the successful vote I could believe that TTA would splash the cash just once for a high-quality player.

Text from club - Birmingham have accepted an offer from us for Kilkenny, but he has not responded to the contract offer. Mixture of good and bad - if he was interested, you'd think we'd be at least negotiating, and the fact that the club have announced that negotiations haven't started doesn't fill me with hope.

I've no idea what TTA have in mind, but this tone irritates me no end. The club is bigger than TTA and will go on regardless of their next decision, and to act otherwise is an infuriatingly patronising message to fans who supported the club long before they arrived and long after they'll have gone. Don't get me wrong; this is not a good night and I understand their frustration - but phrases like "death knell for professional sport" just sounds like toys-out-of-the-pram doom-mongering.

Wasn't Ryan Sugden supposed to be the next big thing based on his reserve scoring record? A pre-Chris Hall, if you like.

I was getting a little nervous there at 2-1. Thanks Deane and Craig.

Yes, I'd agree with that thinking. It's important to keep players rested, but not before they've had a chance to get knackered! Games like this help establish form under less pressure than league games.

Bristolatic -

I can't see Shez just having one left back, we'd struggle to cover any injury, so I reckon it could still be Boertien plus A N Other as long as Boertien proves himself. If he doesn't, our 'mystery' signing (is it Mr Wright?) had better be able to last a full season and I'm not sure he would. He's about Daz Sheridan's age isn't he?

Agreed, but I can only see one coming in. He would be first choice with a combination of Stam and Lomax as backups. To bring in two left backs would hit our wage bill when only one is likely to play regularly.

I use Madasafish (formerly FreeNetName) and they've been consistently good over the last three years - can't think of any downtime more than a couple of hours, and none at all in the last year or two. They do well in reviews for heavy consumer users.

Well, the latest I've heard is that we won't be signing Robbie Williams - he's off to Huddersfield Town, according to an acquaintance.

Not sure if this has been mentioned or not, but we can forget Clive Platt - he's signed for Colchester United for £300,000. A little bit out of our league price-wise, I suspect.

My current most played list:

Well Thought Out Twinkles - Silversun Pickups

French Disko - Stereolab

British Mode - Goose

Skylon! - Gruff Rhys

Photocopier - Fujiya & Miyagi

The Gruff Rhys track is awesome, a hypnotic 15-minute tale of a flight, an actress, a terrorist, a bomb disposal expert and a dilemma.

Robbie Fowler played 23 games last season, 21 games the season before, 33 games the season before that (and so on). Hughes may be physically fit but he hasn't played professional competitive football in a long time. I think he could come good but even then I doubt we'll see him in form until well into the Christmas run-up.

...he can just sit here for 2 years and move for nothing at the end of the contract picking up the signing on fee...

I'm not sure I agree. If all he does is sit there then no reputable club will be interested in him, so he can forget a juicy signing-on fee. And if he plays well, then clubs will come looking for him earlier and he'd be an idiot not to jump at the first decent offer.

I agree, and while I understand TTA's frustration they well and truly burned bridges here (not saying that Porter and his agent haven't, just that we gave up the chance to be the "bigger man").

What's the point of it? If he decides to stay, it's just embarrassing. If he decides to go, what does this achieve?

It's understandable, but in my opinion unprofessional, toy-throwing.

Non-league: Farnborough Town FC (now sadly liquidated and reforming as Farnborough FC) - spent most of my time growing up there.

Scotland: Dunfermline Athletic FC - knew a few Dunfermline fans at university.

Italy: Brescia - they had my favourite player of all time, Gheorghe Hagi.

I had also heard the rumour about their interest in QPR. Bob, I wouldn't place too much reliance on that email you received.