In's, out's and maybe's part 4

Been AWOL for a few days back home to the land of my fathers, or Welsh Wales isn't it look you. In my absence we've signed a player, lost another in almost Marcus Stewart-like circumstances, and revealed the identities of the new physio and goalkeeping coach. Oh, and Andy Welsh has agreed a new deal.

Taking the last of that list first, I'm pleased with the Welsh news. Once he'd got his fitness up to scratch after he joined us last season he was consistently our main provider of opportunities. He's an excellent crosser and has a lovely left foot and a good attitude - he didn't throw the toys out of the pram when he (rather unfairly) lost his place to Andros Townsend, he got on with it and did his part from the subs bench. Informed sources say that he'd been dismayed at the club's slow pace of doing business regarding his new contract, but all's well that ends well, in his case at least.

Not so for Paul Warne however. He - like Terrell Forbes - had gone public stating his dissatisfaction with his contract negotiations, not so much with what was on offer but with the time it was taking to complete them and the difficulty of dealing with a chief executive who failed to return calls. Be that as it may, on Thursday Warne was quoted in the Western Gazette as being 'not a million miles away from signing'. Twenty-four hours is a long time in football however and the next day the club announced that Warne had left the club "after they failed to reach an agreement on a new contract". Very similar to last year's events then, when Marcus Stewart verbally agreed a deal with the club only for it to be pulled at the last minute. Hard for anyone to blame Russell Slade this time, not that will stop some from trying. But regardless about the rights and wrongs of how the club does business, I can't say I'm too unhappy about Warne leaving. He gave us two good years but was clearly slowing down by the end of the season. I suspect that this season he would have been a very positive influence in the changing room and at training but increasingly less influential on the pitch. In an ideal world it would have been nice to be able to afford to keep him, but I can understand the club's (and presumably Skivo's) reasoning in letting him go. The best of luck to him anyway, I'm sure he'll have no difficulty in finding another club, albeit probably at a lower level. Ideal player/manager/coach material for an ambitious L2/Conference club, I'd have thought.

No news on the final two players left from last season who have still to sign a contract, though we know they've been offered one. Josh Wagenaar is on duty with Canada and the silence over Terrell Forbes situation is deafening. If he's still here by the time the season kicks off I'll eat my hat.

We may not have a goalkeeper at the moment but we do have a goalkeeping coach now. The grapevine was wrong about Alan Fettis, the new man is former Middlesbrough keeper Ben Roberts. He retired at the top at 29 with a debilitating back injury and went on to take a sports science degree. Joining him at the club is the new physio, Simon Baker. He's another youngish guy, in his late 20's, and is another with a sports science degree. He's familiar with the club, having played for the youth and reserve teams around the turn of the century and for the last few months has been looking after Darren Way's rehabilitation following the midfielder's car accident, which is doubtless how he came to Skivo's attention. The best of luck to both men, it'll be fascinating to see how Skivo's new scientific approach to training, treating injuries and hopefully preventing them pans out, but it must be worth a try.

It's late, I'm tired, I'll blog about the new signing tomorrow. Adios!