Magic Daps gets his cake and eats it

Pre-season training has been going on for around two weeks now, and while there's been no real news regarding definite signings we do have some interesting possible signings to run the rule over at tomorrow's first home friendly against Swansea City.

The main points of interest come at centre-half, where 2 trialists have been training with the Glovers. They are former Brighton defender Adam Virgo, as mentioned last week; and former Leeds and Stockport centre-half Paul Huntington. Virgo's pedigree as a solid, reliable performer is well established, but Huntington is perhaps less well-known. Well, he's less well-known by me at any rate, in fact I'd never heard of him before now. He's potentially a very interesting acquisition however. He's 6'3", 22 years old and began his career at Newcastle, making 16 Premiership appearances for the Geordies at a comparatively young age before being transferred to Elland Road. Injury decimated his time at Leeds however and he eventually ended up at Stockport, where he played most of last season, making 26 appearances for the Hatters. He's clearly got potential, but equally clearly could be regarded as being injury-prone - in other words he sounds the ideal player for us. Young, hungry, and presumably looking to use us as a stepping-stone to get back to the higher levels of the game; but a bit risky for the bigger clubs in the division to be taking a chance with. Last term we managed to go the entire season with only 3 central defenders in the squad - Steven Caulker, Terrell Forbes and Stefan Stam. This season we could potentially do the same with Stam, Virgo and Huntington; plus a loan signing if and when required.

But we may be getting ahead of ourselves. Skivo's budget may not allow him to sign both Huntington and Virgo, time will tell. There are other trialists at the club in other positions. As far as can be told keepers Matt Glennon and Richard Martin are still with us and this week we were informed we have a 19-year-old striker on trial, Craig Calver from AFC Sudbury, a former Southend youth player. There are still more trialists around apparently, but the club have done a good job in keeping their identities secret, at least until tomorrow.

One signing we do know of is the return of midfield enforcer JP Kalala, subject to a medical. I know some people regard JP as a kind of anti-footballer, a poor man's Van Bommel if you will, but I'm not one of them. His passing and general distribution is better than he's given credit for and his ball-winning abilities and defensive know-how will be needed in a squad that so far seems to consist of mainly kids, flair players and Andy Welsh. In an ideal world we would all play like Barcelona, but in League One that just ain't going to happen and you need an enforcer like Kalala at times. I'm happy he's back, even if he is a pain in the arse.

One player we now won't be signing is Lee Trundle, who's taken his magic daps to The Gnoll in preference to Huish Park. The where? I hear you ask. The Gnoll is the home of Welsh Premier League side Neath, who offered the former Swansea favourite a 3-year £2500 a week deal to become the WPL's highest paid player. Trundle no doubt bit their chairman's arm off, as well as his other arm, legs and head, as well as finishing off the sandwiches in his packed lunch. I would have loved a fit and motivated Lee Trundle to have signed for us at one point, but that point was some years ago now. Skivo might (and presumably does) disagree, but I can't help feeling we've dodged a bullet on this one.

Stop press! News just coming in over the ether - Paul Huntington has signed a 2 year deal with the club and JP Kalala a 1 year deal. Good news!

Last week's behind closed doors games ended in a 3-3 draw at Wycombe and a 1-0 loss at Stevenage, not that anyone's counting. Anyhow, it's off to Huish Park tomorrow for the first friendly of the season. I'm looking forward to seeing our new signings play, in particular Andy Williams, Luke Freeman, Ed Upson and now Paul Huntington. It will also be nice to see Shaun MacDonald back at Huish Park, albeit playing for someone else.

Just read: Old Man's War, The Ghost Brigades and The Last Colony by John Scalzi. Super SF trilogy set in a hostile universe where mankind has reached the stars only to find hundreds of other intelligent species doing their level best to wipe each other out. But in the end the biggest threat to man comes from within... Think Heinlein's Starship Troopers, but with a sense of humour and added balls. Recommended.