Gotcha (well, got one or two of you)!

I must apologise to anyone who was taken in by yesterday's blog. Yes, it was an April Fool, and no, I've not really converted to the dark side. Most people obviously saw it for what it was straightaway, but if you were fooled then you have my sympathy.

Actually, two or three responses to the mirrored blog on the Ciderspace site gave me pause for thought and perhaps ought to give the club some concern as well; with some respondents echoing in real life my fictitious complaints and saying they too were completely disillusioned with watching League football with all the expense involved when they could go to local non-league clubs to watch a similar product with better or at least comparable facilities and at a much cheaper price. Perhaps that's one explanation as to where the so-called 'missing' fans have gone over the last couple of years?

Back to reality and I was a little disappointed this week to see that Skivo has ruled out contract talks with the current squad until our position in division 3 has been secured for another season. I can't see what difference it makes what division we're in when it comes to offering new contracts to the likes of Dean Bowditch, J-P Kalala, Nathan Smith and Terrell Forbes; surely it's a no-brainer that all four will be retained next season, if we are in a position to do so. The danger in leaving contract talks in abeyance is that other clubs can and will fill the gap - already there are hints from informed sources that Dean Bowditch has been approached by another club keen to take him on next season. One of the criticisms made of Russell Slade was that he was too slow to initiate talks with players coming to the end of their contracts, now we see exactly the same situation being re-enacted, this time under Skivo. One begins to wonder if it is in fact the manager's decision not to begin to secure his squad for next season, or is he acting under instruction from above? Let's hope that divisional survival is secured sooner rather than later so contract talks can begin as soon as possible. I'm sure that all concerned - players, management and fans - would welcome some certainty regarding the make-up of the squad next season rather than the usual last-minute panic.

After a fortnight off it's back to the football at last and two important games coming up over the next 3 days. First up it's relegation-haunted Southend away on Saturday, followed by the visit of promotion-chasing Leeds United to Huish Park on Easter Monday. We all know the score. We mustn't lose against Southend and given Leeds recent form should go into that match with every confidence of getting something out of it. Offer me a couple of draws here and now and I'd take them both. As far as the Southend game is concerned the bookies make the home side 6/5 favourites. The draw is priced at 23/10 and a Glovers win at 9/4. My fiver's going on the draw. Running total: -£4.62p.

Just read: Solar by Ian McEwen, and Glory Boys by Harry Bingham: I really enjoyed McEwen's latest, a climate-change black comedy, believe it or not. As ever with McEwen the writing is immersive and you realise after you've finished the book that you've learnt all sorts of things without realising you were being taught. Clever stuff, but very entertaining. In contrast 'Glory Boys' was a curiously old-fashioned yarn, a tale of two fighter pilots struggling to find their way in post-WW1 USA. It's a bit unfair really to compare the light reading of Glory Boys with the literary heavyweight that is McEwen, but that's the way the cookie crumbles, I read the one after the other so that's how it goes; but really there is no comparison. I got halfway through Glory Boys before losing patience with it, went straight to the last chapter to find out what happened in the end and didn't feel I'd missed anything in between.