Newcomers

At the start of the new league season, we took several defenders on loan, in an attempt to patch up our battered back-line. And it seemed to be working, even if the resulting low scorelines weren't necessarily giving the fans maximum value-for-money. Permanent signings were bound to be on the horizon, and today I was able to unveil the first batch of these. Paraguayan central defender Dario Veron - nicknamed "The Wizard" - was just the man to make our terrible defensive record disappear. And midfield maestro Miguel Angel, formerly of Barcelona and Real Betis, was the perfect lynchpin for the centre of our midfield, as a long-term replacement for the underperforming Georgi Kinkladze.

This meant that we didn't renew the contracts of a couple of our trialists. Kevin McKenna, whose late red card had cost us three points on the opening day of the season, was released without contract. Striker Dejan Lazarevic managed three starts whilst Pahars was injured, but he managed a total of two shots in those three matches, so letting him go wasn't a hard decision.

Still, the squad was blossoming, and a few players were getting uneasy. Cathal Lordan went public with his concern that there was too much competition for places. And who could blame him? We had four players who could play on the right side of midfield, and he was fourth choice.

More new names were on the horizon - including a proven goalscoring superhero - more about those tomorrow, along with news about the clearout of deadwood...