Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Wednesday 12 June 2013

12 June 2013

Apparently 18 is the magic number. According to an interview in yesterday's Telewag, Rob Scott said that an 18-man squad is what they're looking at for this season. With the number currently at 14, we're apparently looking for two more defenders, a centre-mid and a winger to top us up to 18. "Rob Scott and Paul Hurst go in search of the final four pieces of their jigsaw ahead of the new campaign." An 18-piece jigsaw? That's a small jigsaw.

We have a smaller jigsaw because we don't have any money, but we are in a good shape. Hopefully a square, or that jigsaw will look weird. OK, I'll stop with the jigsaw. What does worry your London Diary, however, is that we have no second goalkeeper. Last season we had Greg Fleming on the books and he only really played for the reserves. He didn't make it on to the first-team bench, as apparently Shaun Pearson plays a bit in goal. Does this scare anyone else?

Don't get me wrong – I love watching games that mean nothing to me when an outfield player has to go in goal. What shirt is he going to wear? Will the gloves fit him? Is he scared? It's exciting, though not when it's our team. James McKeown was undoubtedly one of our best players last season, keeping us in a number of games. The saves in the FA Trophy against Welling (away) and Dartford (home) still make the hairs on my ears stand on end. But the man is not a superhuman and may get injured, maybe even during one of those football matches that we play. Surely it's better to have another keeper on the bench, as finding a decent stopper at short notice is never an easy thing. Remember Tommy Forecast? Case, rested. Maybe if Shorty and Shouty read this then we might win the FA Cup this year?

I do like the idea of having a smaller squad this year though (with two goalkeepers) because it may bring consistency. Last year we had a lot of players, especially in the last third of the season, which meant we'd often field two different teams in the same week. If we have 18 (or 19) players then there's not much fiddling to be done. Get a good recipe and let's eat that for a year. Having such a small squad makes us sound boutique though, doesn't it? Like a nice little boutique hotel on the seaside with only 18 (or 19) rooms. None of this corporate Holiday Inn 300-room business that you might get in Milton Keynes. We're so boutique it's beautiful.

In other news. Barry Fry isn't interested in Liam Hearn. Good, because Liam isn't interested in you Barry. However, Barry and John might have a kickabout. Ciao babes.