7th July 2006

A week had passed, my scouts were ordered to return today. I had meetings planned with them this morning I have been elated with the information that they had gathered. I knew my budget now and I had a rough idea of what I need to do with my squad. I knew I needed at least five to six more players and I knew I needed to bring in quality in depth. So I settled down to all my information, videos, reports and interviews. I had made a shortlist of players that i had my eye on, there wasnt many class players available on the transfer list but my scouts gathered some good infomation on people i could get on loan.

A few days had gone by and eleven players had left the club, to join my feeders clubs. I had bids accepted, rejected and negotiated right, left and center but I managed to secure one of England’s top youngsters on loan, Victor Anicebe. he has come in on loan for the rest of the season. I had bids accepted for Danish goalie Kasper Schemichel, Saint-Etienne Midfielder Fredy Guarin, Kevin Miralles of Lille and Rene Mihelic of Maribor. I decided to let my Assistant Manager take care of pre-season matches. I wanted to take a back seat to initially asses my squad further.