Cod Almighty | Diary

Many hands spoil the broth but too many cooks make light work

5 January 2016

We have two new signings, if not new arrivals, and one sad departure to discuss.

The former Grimsby Town full-back Brian Keeble, who has died from cancer at the age of 77, played before even Middle-Aged Diary's time. His family's memories in today's Telegraph evoke a different age. Obviously a very gentle man, it would nevertheless be impossible, surely, for a present-day defender to play more than 300 matches without a single booking. That he marked both Stanley Matthews, who I mentally pigeonhole in the 1940s and 50s, and Kevin Keegan (70s and 80s) reminds me how much more fluid real life is than our efforts to make sense of the world.

Cod Almighty has, by the way, a new Postbag editor, who is champing at the bit to get started, so if you have memories of watching Brian Keeble, please share them. In the meantime, our thoughts are with his family and friends.

I can't add to what original/regular Diary told us about Conor Henderson who, as anticipated, has now joined us on a contract to the end of the season. Go over to the official site and Arsene Wenger will mark your card. Let's just add that Paul Hurst, – who, unlike us, has seen him play – has earned a fair amount of credit for his player acquisitions, then wait and see.

Our other new signing, also to the end of the season, is the young goalkeeper Callum Bastock. Although in the Telegraph he sounds like he might be off again, on loan to get some regular match experience.

Among the top-level pundits – who generally ignore the 99 per cent of the game that is not the top flight or the race to get into the top flight – it is fashionable to be dismissive of the players on offer at this time of year. In Paul Futcher and Andy Todd, though, we have had two instances of mid-season signings who went on to define our season, and in a good way. I can also think of a few who royally buggered things up, without necessarily being bad players. Although no such qualification is needed for Richard Brodie. No doubt you can suggest some more examples of particularly good and bad transfer window business.

See you.