Three in - no complaints

Good to see that we finally managed to strengthen our squad further with the addition of three new faces before the deadline closes. Paul Benson was finally signed in a deal that I suspect Dagenham & Redbridge will be happier with than Richard Murray & Co, on the basis that they held their ground over the price and I suspect we had to yield. Let's just hope that this 30 year old can give us a return that might seem unlikely bearing his age and relative experience.

Jon Fortune has also been signed and again, I suspect the timing of his signature meant we have moved more towards Jon's view of his worth than we wanted to give him. Nonetheless, Fortune is a proven player, certainly at this level, and I suspect Miguel Llera might see even less playing time as a result. Who knows, Forch might even get the testimonial he missed when he left for Stoke a couple of years ago?

The third signing was something of a surprise, in that Joe Anyinsah has joined from Carlisle. Anyinsah is a right winger who is 25 and has made less than 100 full appearances in six seasons at three clubs (Bristol City, Preston and Carlisle), and those include loan spells at Hereford, Bury, Crewe and Brighton. I'm not expecting too much from Anyinsah. My guess is he's been signed as cover for Wagstaff or last 15 minute run-outs when young Scott may be puffing.

The only other news was the unsurprising shock exit from Southampton of Mr Alan Pardew and entourage. Coming on the back of a 4-0 away win at Bristol Rovers, you have to think the decision had already been taken late last week and perhaps the players were aware of it when they travelled to Bristol. The official line from Southampton hints at working disagreements between "the First Team management" and that of the "Development team" and "support areas" of the club. Interestingly, Les Reed, is running the development side of things at Southampton and he remains at the club. The timing may prove to be fortuitous for Southampton as all they appear need is a motivating force to galvanise their expected promotion push. What price Curbs? It might not be a PL job but it's a club he could reasonably expect to get promoted and who could expect to arrive in a strong position in the Championship. With a decent support base and a modern stadium and training facilities, he could save face in lowering his sights and Mrs C wouldn't need to learn a foreign language or be uprooted from her Essex mansion.

I'm home late tonight and can't wait for my next home game on, er, 11th September.