The Diary

Like the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Paul Hurst always gets his man

30 June 2016

Devon Diary writes: The youth of today, hey? Yesterday it was all Luke Summerfield and whether he's a CAM or a CDM in FIFA parlance. Today it's all about whether or not a player is verified with a blue tick on your social media platform of choice. Times change but I find myself pining for the days when we'd be happy if we'd seen a player on Match of the Day or at least last season's Panini album.

Whatever, though. The signing of Twitter-verified fullback/midfielder Ben Davies on a one-year deal yesterday looks like a great bit of business by Paul Hurst and the player seems genuinely happy to be with us. Often when players move on from a club they get a bit of a slagging from fans but in Davies' case it's pretty much impossible to find anyone with a bad word to say about him. Pompey fans loved him last season and still do, wishing him all the best. Fans from his previous clubs, including Sheffield United, also reckon we've got ourselves a top player.

Joining Davies for the first day of pre-season at Cheapside today will be one Dominic Jack Spencer Vose, on a season-long loan from our good friends at Glanford Park. Vose was, of course, a January target for Hurst, only to be beaten to his signature by Scunny. I'm not at all worried that he chose them over us a few months ago: he was understandably a little hacked off that the Dragons chose to put him up for sale mid-season without mentioning it to him first. But Hurstses has his man and now my only worry is that there's a recall clause in January. If it all goes well then we might see him whisked away back up the M180, a la Conor Townsend.

Let's not worry too much about that now, though – it's another great signing for both us and Vose. If he'd stayed at Scunthorpe, he would probably be described on FIFA2016 as a BW (Bench Warmer) and then offered out on loan to some other club, a club without even a hint of a rivalry with GTFC – and where's the fun in that?

Vose was our tenth signing of the summer and the squad is looking pretty tidy, especially considering the horrors and heartaches of a couple of weeks back. But we're still a way short of an expected 25-man squad so who else is going to be joining us?

Woah, hold the front/back page! We've signed winger Tom Bolarinwa from Sutton United on a three-year deal. Tom (or to give him his full name, Ayotomiwa) looks like a pacy, tricky winger and contributed a fair few goals last season as Sutton got themselves promoted into the Conference Premier. Another non-League player? Shouldn't we be looking higher? Nah, trust Paul Hurst to have spotted something special and to believe that Bolarinwa will be worth the investment.

Fan in Makofo shirt Interestingly, the last player to get a three-year deal with Town was Omar Bogle and that's turning out quite nicely, isn't it? Before that we have to look way back to 2011 and one Serge Makofo. Hmm. Still, he was popular with some of our supporters, wasn't he? Well, at least one of them.

Yikes, I can't keep up. Just as I'm ready to submit my diary comes news that York City midfielder James Berrett has signed on a two-year deal. Word on the street (athough they call streets gates in York and actual gates are called bars which is awfully confusing) is that Berrett is one of the only players to emerge from last season at Bootham Crescent with any credit.

Both Bolarinwa and Berrett were present at Cheapside today and I am utterly jealous of anyone who will be able to attend the first few pre-season games. Damn you, geography, damn you to hell!

How are you feeling about the new season? Optimistic? I'm genuinely excited for the second season on the bounce and reckon the gaffer has put together a really promising squad. I've had a wager on promotion but this year I'm being realistic and haven't put it all on winning the league. We can do it though, can't we? These new signings are bringing back the feelgood factor and if you need further persuading then it's surely the news that Market Rasen's first family, the Disleys, have their fish tattoos.