Reinforcements arrive from Pompey

The window for "standard" transfers closed at Midnight. Endland U21 Martin Cranie has joined from Portsmouth "until the end of 2008" and the club website is still saying that Linvoy (Linvoy) Primus will join as an "emergency" transfer next week. Emergency transfers are limited to 93 days, so Portsmouth will get their way and have the option for Linvoy to return in December.

We should be relieved that we have secured some defensive cover. Cranie can play at centre-half or right-back. I will take Pards' recent comments about Cranie "needing further development" with a pinch of salt. It could be that he was being very open having switched his attention to Paul McShane (or elsewhere) and that we have been forced to rethink our plans as the window closed. The fact that Portsmouth will have the option of taking Cranie back in January (and Primus if he comes) is less than satisfactory and our January window activity will likely start with the same defensive headache. I'm guessing there is still a good chance that Portsmouth will extend any loans if their side is settled - they certainly have plenty of able cover.

The rumoured signing of Jermaine Beckford came to nothing and was clearly not a priority but he would have been a good gamble if the rumoured price of £500k was possible. As we have a habit of returning for players we have previously been linked with, this might be one to look forward to in the future but you have to think we would face strong competition for a player with Beckford's scoring prowess and reputation.

We now need to ensure we avoid too many injuries and none serious to any key players. Hudson, Moutaouakil, Fortune, Bailey and Varney to a lesser extent must stay fit and playing if we are to go into the second half of the season in the top half of the table.