The vibes around TC leaving would appear to be dampening somewhat thank phuck. We absolutely need stability in the immediate term and a third manager in two years was the last thing we needed particularly off the back of a season where progress has been made (even if we can argue the toss about the quality involved in getting there). Coming off the back of Lewis Neilson being wooed by the Bride Of Chucky, TC leaving on top off that would have started sending out horrendous signals.

Therefore, can we now get back to using the hard earned longer pre season now to get this show back on the road? Harkes re-signing is a good piece of business and a fully fit Peter Pawlett returning will bolster the squad. But having lost Lewis Neilson, do we now need another CB? Charlie Mulgrew will be less likely you would think to be able to play week on week particularly where there’s midweek fixtures ongoing. And obviously you can add to that a replacement keeper (either a back up to the Finnish guy or an out and out number one), THREE midfield players (let’s face it Levitt will not be returning, Butcher will not play again and we’ve really yet still not replaced Jeando), plus a couple of forwards, minimum.

With the extra time we’ve got before pre season training, we really need these guys in before that. Integrating them from the word go is surely going to be more beneficial for the season ahead than a couple of last minute buys on the 31st August by which time we’ll be four or five games into the league season already.