Cod Almighty | Diary

Not getting the old gang back together again

3 September 2013

Let Middle-Aged Diary search Alan Goodall for you. The 31 year-old defender, who has joined Town on a month's loan joined Bangor City in the League of Wales at the age of 19, going on to play for six other clubs, including two spells at Rochdale. Last season he made 31 appearances for Fleetwood, scoring four goals. In an interview for the Telegraph (the bit I could read before the page got obliterated by smog plugging a videostreaming service) he describes himself as reliable, a "steady Eddie".

An unsteady eddy would mean moving rapidly in circles, a decent description of mid-period Danny Butterfield, between his first incarnation as a full back sufficiently polished to keep Macca out of the side, and his Lawrence-inspired metamorphosis into jogging Danny B, the would-be play-maker. He went on to have a decent career at Crystal Palace and Southampton however, and his release by Carlisle yesterday was enough to inspire speculation that, if not fevered, certainly merited the odd "Is it just me, or is it warm in here?". Butterfield will be 34 in November.

You can tell a slump has been going on a long time when the return of old players associated with better times comes to seem realistic. John Oster (34) remains without a club.