Off and running

So welcome to Lee Vaughan, the first new face through the Cheltenham Town revolving door, and the first impressions seem promising.
He has certainly said the right things so far, lots of use of the word 'passion' and describing himself as tenacious, so we will see if that's the case when he pulls on the number two shirt in mid-July.
I have seen him a couple of times, and he likes to get forward, is certainly not afraid of a tackle and can also take penalties, and from the reaction of Kidderminster's fans, he will be a big loss to them.
"He'll be a great signing for you, absolutely gutted he has gone," said one, and another tweet I was sent said: "Harriers will certainly miss him - first name on the team sheet in recent years."
So he has been a big part of their side, and now at 27 he wants to kick on and become a football league player, and our former players Steve Guinan and Jerry Gill have also spoken very highly of him.
But the most telling statistics are that he has played 157 games for Kidderminster in four seasons, and has picked up 39 yellow cards and two reds in that time.
The first figure tells us we are getting a player who will rarely be troubling Ian Weston over the two seasons (at least) that he is with us, so once again we are getting a player who wants to be out there.
The second figure will tell us about the competitive nature, the will to win, and the fact that he won't be shirking any 50-50s. Maybe in pre-season he can show a few of his new team-mates how to approach a 50-50...
Much has been made of our lack of red cards last season. We were the only side in the division not to get one - and we haven't had one since Alan Bennett's against Fleetwood in October 2012.
Before that, I can remember Sido's at Southend in the 4-0 defeat during that fateful March which cost us automatic promotion two seasons ago, and I remember Andy Gallinagh getting one at Burton which was later rescinded on appeal.
But we have never had that many under Yates' management, which has led to suggestions that we are 'too nice' or alternatively that we are a bunch of bottlers who don't get stuck in enough - both surprising given that the manager could not be accused of either of those traits when he played.
The answer lies somewhere between the two, I believe, and while we need more aggression and more tiger in the tank, we certainly don't want red cards flying around like confetti.
So there has to be a balance. We want to see passion, commitment, effort - but we don't want to be down to 10 men every game, or we'll eventually struggle to put a team out.
So while most of the reaction to the signing has been positive, I am sure there are a few dissenting voices about - some will no doubt feel this is a cheap option from the Conference, and I have seen some pointing out that our left-back was signed from there, two years younger, also with no league experience, and has not exactly been a roaring success.
All of this is true, but I don't regard the Conference as a cheap option. Most of the clubs in there are full-time and we are well aware that many sides have bigger wage budgets than ours, and also comparable or larger attendances.
We also want hungry players with a point to prove, and there are plenty of them in that League.
Players who have been discarded by clubs higher up earlier in their careers, and have that desire to come to clubs like ours and show what they can do in the League - rather than journeymen chucked out by higher-level clubs who see us as just another contract on the road to their PFA pension.
We finished in the lower half of League Two and teams in the top half of the Conference would easily give us a decent game. After all we lost in the FA Cup to a side who were relegated by 12 points, so I don't think we are in a position to look down with any snobbery at Conference clubs and players.
In my last blog I put Forest Green's Jared Hodgkiss down as a potential right-back target, and he and Lee Vaughan are very similar players with similar career paths, starting at League clubs, not making it, having a solid few years in the Conference and now in Vaughan's case going again.
Plus the man he is replacing at right back came from Bath City having only played one Conference season at Twerton after spells at Weymouth and Basingstoke - and overall he didn't do too badly.
Actually, now I come to think of it, Harriers have a decent left-back as well...
Every signing is a gamble, and not every signing will come off. Even the best managers don't always get it right after all. For every Wayne Rooney or Robin van Persie, there is an Eric Djemba-Djemba and a Bebe...
But while Vaughan has come in, Jermaine McGlashan has departed.
I have mixed feelings on this one. Some of me thinks this is the best outcome for everyone after nontryergate, but some of me is also disappointed that he didn't want to stay and prove his critics wrong.
We know all about the lack of end product, going to ground to easily and his tendency to run down blind alleys - but I do not think he can be accused of a lack of effort in games.
However his decision to go smacks a little bit of running away -  'Mummy the big boys in the playground were being nasty to me - can I go to a different school please' - and I thought he was better than that. It's all a bit too convenient.
What has interested me is the seeming change in his circumstances from before the incident blew up.
From January, we had all assumed he would be off anyway. I was told as much around February-March time, that the club would try all they could to keep him, but that it would be futile, and those at the top of the club were almost resigned then that he would be going.
That was also the message at the directors' fans forum earlier in the season - 'the club will move heaven and earth to keep him' was the phrase used - but again the over-riding message was that he was a goner.
Then all of a sudden we are told that he was about to come in and sign a contract before the naughty people on Twitter started being nasty and mean, so what has/had happened to all these clubs queueing up to take him, I wonder - or was the offer so good that he couldn't turn it down? Heaven and earth had clearly been moved sufficiently.
I started this blog talking about passion and commitment - and if Jermaine is the type of player who is going to cut and run because a few people are having a go at him online, maybe he is not the type of character we want here anyway.
It is a shame that the good memories we have of him, notably the two Torquay play-off games and the sight of him skinning a good few full-backs with that acceleration of his will be overshadowed by the way he has left - but he made the bed and he has to lie in it now.
He made the choice to say 'no' when the manager asked if he was putting it all in during that training session, and he made the choice to turn down the deal he was about to sign because of a few Twitter comments.
But let's end on a positive note - and it is great that Steve Elliott has signed his player-coach contract. Good luck Steve - and let's hope there are soon a few more new faces coming in for you to help whip into shape during pre-season.

Let the fun begin...

Right then, here we go.
The dust has settled, the season is over and already we know the date for the first pre-season friendly - only two months to go until the rollercoaster starts again.
But who will we see in the red and white at the Spiers and Hartwell Jubilee Stadium on July 12?
We know who a few of them will be, but there will be a few new faces - maybe as many as 10 - to find between now and then.
The released lists are starting to filter out - many clubs have decided those players who are surplus to requirements and also offered new contracts to others who may or may not decide to accept them.
So while some of us are enjoying Bosnia v Iran, Honduras v Switzerland and other such footballing classics in the next few weeks, Mark Yates has got some hard work to do.
He has already sorted Steve Elliott's future out, which is great news, but the one to watch now is Scott Brown - will we have to find two new goalkeepers this summer?
Let's hope not - but there are a few potential replacement number ones about.
Interestingly, Shrewsbury have let two goalkeepers go, which may set some alarm bells ringing as the Greenhous Meadow is not far from Browny's house in Wolverhampton. Let's hope their new boss Micky Mellon has someone else in mind.
The keepers in question are Chris Weale and Joe Anyon.
Weale is 32, and has 333 league games behind him - so would not be lacking in the experience stakes, plus he comes from Somerset, so the geography card works here. (Random trival fact: his identical twin brother Sam is an Olympic modern pentathlete).
Anyon, 27, has played second fiddle to Weale, but played a number of games for Port Vale, including a calamitous visit to Whaddon Road where he let in a farcical goal a couple of seasons back.
Trevor Carson, 26, played against us twice last season - for Bury in their 4-1 win at the start of the campaign, and in the 0-0 draw at Portsmouth, and has 133 league games behind him with a series of loan moves.
One-club man Chris Lewington, 25, played 127 games for Dagenham, including a few against us including the 5-0 win at Victoria Road two seasons ago, when he got the red card.
Paul Jones, 27 has left Crawley and has a record of 308 league games, including 158 for Exeter, who themselves have bade farewell to Artur Krysiak, 24, - whose most memorable game in his 173 senior football outings is probably not Burton 5, Cheltenham 6.
The final goalkeeper is Phil Smith, 34, - and he has already played for us at Evesham, as he was on trial two seasons ago and saved a penalty. He has just left Portsmouth.
But we don't want any of them - we want Browny, so get on with it Scott... pen, contract, signature. It's quite simple.
We do need a right back having let Sido go, and the one name which really jumped out from the lists I have looked at is that of Christian Ribeiro.
The 24-year-old with two Wales caps was born in Neath but is a Stroud boy, having gone to Marling School, and started out at Bristol City before ending up at Scunthorpe after three loan spells.
He has had a few injuries, but played 25 games as the Iron went up last season, and he might fancy moving back home... I would have tipped him for Forest Green, but they signed our old loanee David Pipe to fill their vacant right-back slot.
Another bonus is that Ribeiro can also play centre-half - who mentioned Keith Lowe...?
Pipe is going to the New Lawn as they have let Jared Hodgkiss go, and the 27-year-old has always impressed me when I have watched Rovers play.
He is a solid, no frills, out and out right back. That may be exactly what we need.
He started at West Brom and played 155 times for Rovers in his time there including 38 games last season, and was also their skipper (we need leaders don't we...?).
And before people wonder why we are thinking about looking in the Conference for a player, remember that Sido came from Bath, didn't he?
My other right-back possibility comes from down the M5 at the Mem, and I am hoping that he doesn't fancy a trip to Alfreton or Dover on a wet Tuesday night in November.
Michael Smith, 25, has been offered a new contract by the Gas, but was one of their plus points in his 50 league and cup games for them last season - in fact, along with Jonjo O'Toole, he was in the PFA League Two team of the year - so the best right back in League Two...
That's going to mean a lot of interest I am sure, and I am not certain that we will have enough financial clout to tempt him here unless Stevie can have a word! You wouldn't need to move house Michael...
Talking of geography, I will give our old boy Brian Wilson a quick mention - but a story on the BBC website says he will be going to a club in the North West after leaving Colchester, so expect him to sign back here in the next few days, haha!
One of the features of the lists I have checked out is the large number of left-backs that seem to be going unwanted by clubs at present, and I know I am not the only CTFC fan hoping that we will be looking at them.
On the other flank to Michael Smith at the Gas is 23-year-old Lee Brown - also offered a new deal but potentially in the same boat as his team-mate, and another near ever-present last term.
I can already hear the groans about why I am advocating two players who have played in a relegated side, so just for you we will look elsewhere - but his name is Brown, so he will fit in well to our back five!
At the top of the age and experience scale comes Jamie McAllister at 36 and with 500-odd games behind him, but freed by Yeovil, for whom he played 40 games in the Championship last term.
Not far behind him, and in the Billy Jones league of free-kick and corner delivery is another New Lawn old boy, Kevin Nicholson.
Now 33 and another 500-game man, Torquay have let him go, and he is another player who I have always been a fan of and has no shortage of experience. Both of these two would fit the 'leadership' criteria I feel.
But they don't really fit into the 'younger squad' mantra Yatesy mentioned when he released Jamie Cureton - and there are no shortage of left-backs who do.
First, we go back to Shrewsbury for Welshman Joe Jacobsen, 27, who played a century of games for the Shrews, and captained Wales' under-21 side.
Then, Dagenham have said farewell to 23-year-old Femi Ilesanmi, who played 117 games for them, and not all of their fans are happy about the decision - usually a good sign.
Up in the North West, there are two Scousers who might want to come down here and help us understand what Terry Gornell is saying, former Accrington man Laurence Wilson, 27, and ex-Morecambe player Robbie Threlfall, 25.
I have always liked Wilson, who can play left-back or further up the left flank, and scored the winner against us at Christie Park for Morecambe a few years back.
He started at Everton and has 255 games under his belt, but has usually been Northern-based, which could work against us - but Gornell and Jason Taylor were tempted south so it can happen.
Threlfall started at Liverpool and after a few loan moves went to Bradford and then Morecambe, so like Wilson is another northern boy - but in 2007 was named in the Daily Mail's England team of the future, predicted in the wake of our failure to reach Euro 2008.
A bit closer is Mansfield, where James Jennings, 26, has been let go after one season where he played 32 games and got four goals, playing as a left wing-back in their three-at-the-back system.
The last of my nine left-back candidates is Joe Widdowson, 25, who Northampton have freed after 63 games there in two seasons - so there is plenty of choice in that position.
But the search for centre-halves, as I think we will need one of them as I don't expect Stevie to play every week, was not so fruitful.
The only two who even remotely came on to the radar where Torquay 28-year-old Aaron Downes and former Newport (and Oxford before that) player Harry Worley, 25, - but I have to say neither have ever really impressed me, so let's hope that some youngsters from higher-ranked clubs catch the eye.
Into midfield, where we need some legs and energy, and this afternoon there was a mini-Twitter meltdown when the name of Luke Summerfield appeared on Shrewsbury's released list.
Yes, I know. Look forward, not back you hypocrite. Here we go again...
Summers is only 26, and made 54 starts for Shrews in his two years there, but having left us to go to League One I am not expecting him to want to drop back down.
He might be looking at the League Two play-offs and seeing how his dad's Burton side do - if they go up a family reunion may be a possibility at the Pirelli.
Also close to home is Ryan Burge, 25, who has left Newport and already said he wants to play for his hometown club.
He has plenty of bite in his tackles and I don't think he would lack in the 'desire' department.
I spoke to him at his grandad Rod's funeral recently and he seemed a really nice bloke - confirming the story about Keith Downing offering him a deal just before he was sacked, and then the next manager revoking it...
Talking of Keith, one of the players he tried to sign before that League One campaign was Sam Togwell, who along with other targets Martin Woolford and Gary Hooper ended up at Scunthorpe - but has now left Chesterfield.
He is 29 now, and has the thick end of 300 league starts under his belt - experience, leadership, promotion knowhow... wonder if Keith's interest may be resurrected.
One player we did get here briefly at the other end of the experience scale is Lawson D'Ath, who impressed Dagenham fans on loan there last season, and will be in demand after leaving Reading.
He played one full game for us, and scored a beauty - against Exeter in a 3-0 win, then played against Yate in the Cup and then got injured before coming on against Wycombe on Boxing Day.
We sent him back and kept the inferior Jake Taylor, but I liked Lawson and at 21 is certainly in the 'young, hungry and something to prove' category, and has good passing ability as well as getting stuck in.
No shortage of suitors I'd imagine.
Two very long-range punts who would be extreme outsiders for a role here are Gary Jones and Marvin Elliott.
Jones would be ideal on the leadership front, but his 36 years and 600 games - including 45 last season, so no worries on the ageing sicknote front - make him the man you could build a midfield around, with some younger legs to help him out.
The younger squad ideal and his fondess for the north however make this unlikely.
Based closer to home, Elliott is 29, a Jamaican international, and his injury record recently has not been good. Finance will most likely work against anything happening - but again vast experience from a higher level, box-to-box and goals from midfield, 25 for City in 216 league starts.
A more viable alternative to get us passing may be Luke Young, freed by Plymouth and scorer of a peach of a free-kick against us at Home Park.
A 21-year-old one club man, he, like D'Ath, has the young legs, but more experience with 99 starting and sub games for the Greens, whose fans were not altogether impressed with the decision to free him.
Finally, a name from very close to home - Forest Green in fact, 27-year-old Yan Klukowski.
He has elected to quit FGR to try out league football, and his record of goals from midfield in the Conference is excellent, with 48 in 126 Conference starts (plus 33 sub) - one in three games.
As a side who struggled to find goals from midfield last season, bar Matt Richards from penalties or free-kicks, this has to be attractive and with him on our doorstep he must be under consideration, surely?
Of course, there is no guarantee that he would reproduce that record at the higher level but every signing is a gamble and some risky ones might just pay off.
He scored 12 goals last season, 11 the campaign before that and 18 in 2011-12 - all from midfield, which is an impressive record. Someone will surely take a chance on him, and who says it can't be us?
We are also going to surely be in the market for wide men, especially, as seems likely, we are going to revert to the 4-5-1/4-3-3 system from the golden Autumn of 2011.
I can't move on without putting Ashley Grimes, 27, forward, and we know he and Yatesy have spoken since the M6 U-turn which he must now regret as he is on the list at Bury after only six league starts for them.
He has 35 goals in 90 league starts, and could be the man to play the 'Mo role' down the left.
As could another old chestnut, who we understand Yates spoke to last summer - the Benin international Rommy Boco, 28, whose move down to Plymouth from Accrington was a short one.
He scored two goals for Argyle. Yes. Both against us, one each in league and JPT - and scored against us in 2012-13 for Accy. As we know, we do like signing players who score and play well against us. Especially wingers.
Another left-sider to consider, at the peril of becoming the Shrewsbury Old Boys Club, is Paul Parry.
Now 33, he is an old-fashioned winger. Whether he has the pace is questionable, but he has a great left foot and could provide ammunition for Byron, and maybe score a few himself cutting in from the left.
He hails from Chepstow and started out at Hereford, so the geography issue doesn't apply, but the over-30 thing may well do - but we cannot surely rule out everyone whose age begins with the number three, can we?.
I am reminded (via @hEaLeR_CTFC on Twitter) that we actually bid £50,000 for him a few years back, if I recall correctly that when he was at Hereford, but that was turned down. If at first you don't succeed...
Finally on the winger front is another local lad, from Wotton-under-Edge, 25-year-old Sean Rigg.
He usually plays down the right hand side, and again could cut in from there and support a front man.
Rigg has left Oxford after two seasons, and earlier won promotion with Port Vale - but is not a prolific goalscorer.
Finally, the attack - and the question has to be how many forwards will we bring in if it seems like the manager wants to use one right up top - most likely Byron Harrison. We also have Gornell (unless he is going to be the mysterious second player on the transfer list which Jon Palmer tweeted about last week, only for it not happen...) and so there might only be room for one more.
The first name which cropped up, and someone we have tried to sign at least twice is Jack Midson, now 30, but like Boco at the top of the 'always plays well and scores against CTFC' list. Safest way to stop that is to sign the bloke.
Another who has played well against us is one of the three men to score more L2 goals than Byron last season, 25-year-old Bristolian Reuben Reid.
The former Gloucestershire second XI cricketer (random trivia fact number two...) has had an array of loan moves but after leaving Yeovil I would expect him to head back for Plymouth, where he was a youth product and where he scored 21 goals last season.
Whether he and Byron together would work is something we might not get the chance to find out, and the same goes for a player Yatesy knows very well, having had him at Kidderminster, 29-year-old James Constable.
He has been offered a new Oxford contract, but has not yet signed it with Gary Waddock wanting a quick answer - rumours are Portsmouth might be his next destination.
So if we have the big man in Harrison we might be after the smaller, nippy type, so what about 27-year-old ex-Crawley man Billy Clarke?
He could be the sort of player to forage the channels and might work out the way Jimmy Spencer did two years ago - weighing in with a share of goals - and he is another who has a promotion from this division on his CV.
So these are just a few names gleaned from a scan of the lists I have seen so far.
Others will come out in the coming days and weeks, and no doubt fans will have their ideas about who they think might fit into our squad.
Let the fun begin...

More names to add already - via Twitter:
Jay McEveley (Swindon), left back, aged 29 (@Reed2412)
Alex Rodman (Grimsby), winger, aged 27 (@whyalwaysjimbo)
Craig Westcarr (Walsall), striker/winger, aged 29 (@TheJackO'Neill)
Jake Cole (Plymouth), goalkeeper, aged  28 (@Watten86)
Jamie Turley (Forest Green), centre half, aged 24 (@MikeStewart1974)

The final curtain

Before I start on this stream of consciousness, I just want to thank everyone for the mostly-positive reaction to the last post.
As I write, it has had 971 views, which is the second-most of any post on this blog (this is number 194) and is beaten only by the diatribe on Martin Allen before we played Gillingham last season.
The reaction has given me some insight into who actually takes the time to read these ramblings - it would appear that I have directors, current and former club officials and past and present players taking a look as well as the regular fans - so thanks very much.
Anyway, that's another season done and dusted, and the overwhelming feeling is that this is a very good thing, but while it has been one of the most forgettable of our Football League campaigns on and off the pitch, we must learn the lessons from it and ensure that we can get back onto the straight and narrow.
There is a lot to cover in this post, so I am going to separate it up into sections and try to tackle each subject, so here goes...
Dagenham game
It was, quite simply, a season summed up in 90 minutes. Again.
We took the lead, lost it, took the lead again, lost it again and then lost the game, giving away comical goals along the way and maintaining our home malaise in some style.
The only plus point of the game was seeing three teenagers on the pitch, in Joe Hanks, Harry Williams and Zack Kotwica, and they had differing amounts of impact.
Hanks was the pick, setting up the first goal with an excellent whipped-in free-kick, looking composed on the ball and not scared to take responsibility.
In the first 15 minutes, I counted that he had eight touches of the ball and did not waste possession with any of them. He was pointing at more senior players and was first with a pat for Sido after that own goal.
A bit of maturity beyond his years at times, and I think he showed he did not look out of place and that he is ready for more exposure next season.
Williams, in his best role just off Byron Harrison, was busy to start with but faded as the game went on. But again in his games, he has shown promise and a summer on the weights and a decent pre-season will hopefully see him in and around things next season.
On his first start (about six months too late in my view) Zack was disappointing. I thought he struggled to get involved bar one or two promising runs, and I feel he has gone backwards in his development.
If he had started some games in September-October time rather than constant 10-15 minute cameos, I think he would be better off now. He has also suffered from not playing 90 minutes more often this season.
Elsewhere, it was good to see Connor Roberts given a chance, and I felt sorry for him with the own goal. Sido didn't look at all before playing the ball back, but I did think Connor panicked a bit - he could have pushed the ball away, or punched it, or tried to pat it down then kick it afterwards.
It was perfect placement however - Sido curled it perfectly into the corner from almost on the touchline. I bet he could try that 20 times and not repeat it!
The second goal was a deep cross which Connor started to come for, then went back and ended up being beaten through his legs at the near post after two players comically fell over and allowed the centre-half a free run. Our season in a nutshell right there...
For goal three I thought he was unfortunate. He made a good save on to the post but the forward was left with a tap in.
So that was that - and it was a game which, along with most this season, will quickly be erased from the memory.
Managerial contracts
Before that game came the news about the managerial team's long-running contract saga finally being resolved with Neil Howarth's departure and Mark Yates' deal being cut in half to 12 months.
As I said in the last blog, something had to change.
There had been rumblings about the coaching, and clearly this season has not all been sweetness and light on the training field.
I am sure that the directors came to this decision after consulting various people around the club, and it is hoped that a new approach in the dugout will breathe new life into things.
Yates made no secret of the fact that he wasn't happy to see Howarth go, and that is hardly a surprise.
After all they have worked together for nine years with a Trophy final, a play-off final and some Cup runs, but without getting over the line to any real tangible success.
On the outside, they seem like the ideal good cop-bad cop pairing which so often works with a management team, and it is a shame to see Neil go. A decent bloke, and a good servant to the club.
But times have to move on, and I am intrigued to see how a new management team, with a first-team coach and player-coach alongside Yates, will work.
Of course Yates will have a say in who that is, which is quite right as he has to work with him, but I hope the coach comes from outside the club.
Someone with experience, fresh ideas and a new outlook is what we need. Dave Kevan did a decent job while he was here and I would hope the new man might have a similar impact.
But we know Yates can be stubborn - he is the gaffer and what he says goes ultimately, but I hope he will listen and take on board whatever ideas the new coach will bring.
The player-coach looks odds-on to be Steve Elliott, which is great news if it happens.
He has his B licence and is about to do his A, popular with the fans, will command respect from the players and therefore will not be lost to the club on and off the field.
So what of the manager?
I sense the support for him is around 50-50 - at least everyone I speak to who says he deserves one more shot at it is tempered by another person who says he should have gone as well.
He is lucky - kept on mainly by the loyalty of the board, who point to the two play-off campaigns as proof of his credentials and are giving him one more shot.
But this is the last-chance saloon, as the one-year contract suggests. He has, with many fans, lost the credit of those two play-off campaigns, with his detractors saying that he actually failed both times, as we didn't go up.
The league table doesn't lie, and with the 12th-highest budget in the division, we finished 17th, which is underachievement, so he is, without doubt, a man under pressure.
He is the kind of character who will hopefully rise to that.
heI hope  comes out with the 'I'll prove you wrong' mentality and sticks his critics' words back down their throats, but he has a big summer in store and then probably 12-15 games before the heat will intensify if things are not going well.
In effect, the board have hedged their bets, and put him on trial again. It's back to square one, and he has to prove himself to us all over again - and if he fails the trial, there are not two two-year contracts to be paid off.
Non-tryers-gate
As I wrote last week, I was stunned when Scott Brown came out with his words at Rochdale about the two training ground non-tryers.
They let him down, along with the rest of the team, the manager, board and also the fans, and thanks to Jon Palmer and the Echo, we now know who they are.
Jon and the Echo were quite right to name them. I know you all think I am bound to say that, but we have a right to know as fans of the club who these players were.
For the record, I didn't know who they were until the Echo's story, and I was totally wide of the mark with my suspicions over their identities - as was everyone else, hence the Echo's decision to reveal their names.
I was surprised, as over the season a lack of effort is, I feel, not something you could accuse these two players of. A lack of quality at times most definitely, but not a lack of effort.
The finger of suspicion was falling on others, which was not fair on those who were being blamed, especially the player being sung about in the LMI during the Dagenham game.
I am sure the club are not happy the names have come out, as I suspect they were hoping the storm would blow over and by next season it would have been largely forgotten about, and maybe with the two players still in red and white.
Overall, I don't feel they handled it very well.
The chairman came out and talked about the players never playing again, and how it may be a reason not to renew contracts.
Then the manager, after explaining the situation, appeared to play it down, and having played the pair at Rochdale did so again against Dagenham, before they were named.
A statement saying who the players are, with an apology from them stating that it won't happen again and they are fully committed to the club might have done the trick. Not all fans of course would have accepted that, but it would have a start.
In JP's story, one of them was 'poised to sign a new contract', while the other has a contract due to his appearances clause. So much for not playing for the club again, or not having a contract renewed.
In that case though, I suspect the contract was on the table before this brouhaha erupted, and since the naming, the manager has stated he might not sign it as he is upset about nasty comments on Twitter.
I don't know what he expected. People were not just going to turn round and say 'It's okay, you admitted you weren't putting it in, but we don't mind, so have a new contract on good money,' now were they?
So the attitude therefore seems to be, they have found out who I am, they are having a go at me, so I am off - rather than stuff you lot, I am signing again and I am going to play my heart out for you next season and win you round again.
It seems a convenient little escape clause for him.
To be honest, I am not fussed either way if he stays or not, and if I had to make a choice either way, it would probably be better if he went elsewhere, and we could draw a line under this little episode.
Finally, and to try and add some perspective, I went to Rod Burge's funeral last week and spoke to a couple of our ex-players about this (they were trying to get the gossip from me... but I had none!)
One of them, a real crowd favourite and someone who you could rely on for 100 per cent every time, admitted that he would sometimes not put his all in during those Friday sessions, and he was not alone in that.
He said players know they are in the side for Saturday, don't want an injury and don't want to use up all their energy, leaving themselves running on empty for the game.
But crucially, he said that if the manager was to ask him if he was putting it all in, of course the answer would be yes - and when a certain S. Cotterill was your manager that is hardly a surprise - which begs the million dollar question - why on earth did these two say no when Yates asked them the question...?
The retained list
I could never be a football manager for many reasons, but one of the biggest would be because of the job of having to tell players they are not good enough, or they are not getting a new contract.
You are playing God with people's livelihoods and either crushing the dreams of young players or consigning more experienced pros to the scrapheap and maybe forcing them to get a proper job.
Not pleasant, but a necessary part of the season for a manager like Yates who needs to find some leeway in his budget to try and re-shape an underachieving squad into one which can be more competitive next time round.
Regarding the out of contract players, I thought he got the decisions right.
Sam Deering, Ashley Vincent and Ed Williams all looked pretty clearcut, with Deering's omission last Saturday rubberstamping his fate while the other two never looked likely to be kept.
Deering played nearly 80 games, largely in an attacking role, and did not score a goal, and rarely set one up either.
There was no faulting his effort or work-rate in my view, but having had a lot of chances, it is time to move on, and maybe he can get the form back he showed at Barnet with another club.
Vincent's move didn't work out for whatever reason. We saw flashes of form, but they were extremely brief, and it wasn't until February that he started a match, so good luck to him and I hope he gets regular football somewhere.
I feel a little bit sorry for Ed Williams as he has some ability but was maybe a victim of circumstance and never got a chance anywhere near the first team. I hope he goes off and proves a success somewhere.
The contentious ones were Sido Jombati and Jamie Cureton.
Shane Duff got a newspaper column out of my tweet about Sido after the decision was announced, and a good piece it was too.
Mark Yates was right in his interview when he said that Sido looked like a Championship player when he came on the scene. He did - and I had thoughts that we might make some money out of him.
He became a cult hero, but he hasn't kept up that form, and has become very prone to mistakes this season. I know he is not the only one who has messed up, but his errors seem to have been more calamitous than most, getting more ridiculous as they went on, capped off by Saturday's own goal.
I think Yates gradually lost trust in him. Towards the end of the season, he dropped him and put Mitch Brundle, an 18-year-old loanee who had never played right back before, in his place, then shunted Sido to left back.
That spoke volumes, and although he restored him to right back towards the end, I think the writing was on the wall. Sido should get another league club, and if they get the 2011-12 vintage, they have a top player on their hands. Big if though I feel.
And so to Cureton.
I was 50-50 on this one, as he had 11 goals in 24 starts and had started to link up with Byron, plus I thought his knowledge would be ideal for Bobbie Dale, a young kid coming through to rub off on.
But I can see why Yates' reasons why he has elected to go the other way, and this was the most borderline decision of all.
He wants a younger squad. Yes, I get that one.
He has tried to accommodate two strikers when one would be better. True again, and Jamie does not suit the lone role these days in my view.
Those who think he should have stayed point to lack of service, and say he wasn't used right.
OK, so he could have started more games, and he was better when he did as I never felt he had any impact off the bench, but I don't subscribe wholly to the 'lack of service' argument.
He scored 11 goals in 24 starts, and missed presentable chances in other games, notably at Northampton, Exeter, Scunthorpe and Tamworth - chances which all proved crucial as we either drew or lost those games.
I am in no way saying the misses were totally responsible for those results, but if he got 'no service' then how did he get those goals or chances? Someone must have set them up for him as he didn't make them all himself.
New contract offers to Hanks, Elliott and Brown are spot on, and I hope they all sign them as soon as possible. I think Brown's decision will also prompt a decision on Connor Roberts. I hope he stays too, but we will see.
The Jermaine McGlashan situation has been discussed above, and we will see what transpires there.
As for the contracted players, Jason Taylor is on the list, which is no surprise as he has been out of the 18 lately and his move here has not worked, so it is better that he moves on.
There is a slight mystery as JP tweeted on Tuesday that two players were going on the list, but only Taylor has, thus far.
The identity of the other potential listee, if it happens, seems to be a head-to-head fight between Craig Braham-Barrett (see non-tryers gate above) and Terry Gornell, who in my view has not had a proper crack of the whip.
I am a fan of Terry and hope he gets more opportunities to play in his best role - up front - rather than as an attacking midfielder, which does not suit him.
He has scored goals at this level and I think he will do so again given the chance. Maybe next season.
The other players kept give us something to work with as a nucleus to build from - Troy Brown had a decent season, Matt Richards was in my view not as bad as people have made out and does not deserve the treatment he has had from some fans, and Byron Harrison deservedly took player of the year accolades.
When Browny re-signs (please...) we have a spine, and now it is up to Yates to go out and embellish that with new arrivals.
I think Brown is the most important contract renewal we need to fall our way. His rant at Rochdale has elevated him to almost God-like status with some fans and he is a reliable keeper at this level.
It would be very difficult to go out and find someone of equivalent ability to come in and replace him, and would also rob the club of a real talisman and one of the few players with a real connection to the supporters.
Yates has gone as far as he could given the number of players out of contract, and those with deals, and of course there is no guarantee that the four offers will be accepted.
Some would have liked him to go further maybe, while others are unhappy with decisions on certain players.
But we need change. Practically every fan has said this season that the squad is not good enough and wants 'big changes' - yet they moan when Yates makes those changes and decides not to keep players on. I can imagine the reaction if every player had been kept on...
As it is, we could still have four of the first-choice back five which let in the third-most goals in the division and was partly or largely responsible for losing 37 points after being ahead, so it's not revolution, more an evolution.
Summer shopping list
So now focus turns to the summer, and what Yates needs to do to the squad.
First, lets see what we have got (italics mean offered contracts/future uncertain, new pros underlined).
Goalkeepers: Brown, Roberts
Defenders: Braham-Barrett, Elliott, T Brown
Midfielders: Richards, Hanks, Powell, Bowen, Williams, Kotwica, McGlashan, Taylor
Forwards: Harrison, Gornell, Dale
So, including the four new pros, we definitely have 10 players and potentially 16 if the four with contracts plus Roberts all stay, and no-one wants Taylor. we have been told we will have a bigger squad, so say that is 24 players, we are looking for a minimum of maybe eight and a maximum of possibly 14 new faces.
Obviously, if Brown and Roberts stay, we won't need a goalkeeper but could end up hunting for two new ones, or one senior to join Roberts, or a new back-up for Brown depending on how things pan out.
Defensively we will need a right back for definite, and at least one centre-half, as if Elliott takes the coaching job I cannot see him being a regular (15-20 games maybe?) and I know I would not be alone in hoping Yates will be looking for a left back as well.
The manager's comments about accommodating two strikers when maybe he didn't want to points to his desire to go back to the 4-5-1/4-3-3 which produced the best performances of his reign in that glorious autumn of 2011.
So we need some midfielders. That midfield had the passing ability of Pack, the bite and bustle of Penn and the box-to-box engine of Summerfield - and he has to clone those three somehow, which will be his biggest challenge of the summer. They need to be players who can weigh in with goals.
Harrison will be first choice as the focal point, and Yates needs to find the pair to support him. A left-sided winger/forward in the Kaid mould plus a right-sided version as well - and I am sure he will want another out-and-out forward.
A big list and a big challenge, and already the retained lists from other clubs have started to filter out and already there are some interesting names being thrown around.
I am not directly advocating any of these as targets, but Christian Ribeiro (Wales international right back, released by Scunthorpe, who comes from Stroud), ex-Plymouth midfielder Luke Young, our perennial target Jack Midson and our transfer-listed U-turning favourite Ashley Grimes are among those looking around for the clubs, so there are players out there and more will become available as more clubs make decisions.
Happy hunting Mark!
And finally...
Like most CTFC fans, I am glad to see the back of that season, and hope the next one will be better.
But while 17th in the table was not the finish what we all wanted, a much bigger football club 40 miles south of us with 94 years in the Football League were relegated.
I think that puts into perspective what an achievement it is for our club to be looking forward to a 16th season in the 92 (even if we could be playing Wigan's B side soon if Mr Dyke has his way, but let's hope that doesn't happen...!)
That doesn't mean however that we can just sit still and stagnate - I want the club to thrive and progress as much as everyone else, and here is my wishlist for next season and beyond:
1. Less negativity - I am sick of it. Yes, it has been a poor season on the field, we all know that without having to be reminded about it 24-7.
But I am fed up of the negativity and constant drip, drip, drip of moaning about everything and anything to do with the club. I appreciate that much of the mood comes from what we have seen on the pitch, but this is not a new phenomenon - they just seem to be shouting louder when the team is doing badly.
Recently, there have been far too many people only too happy to tell everyone that they are not buying a season ticket for next season because of what was apparently the 'worst season in living memory'. Fine. Your decision to spend your money how you like, but there is nothing big and clever about announcing it on social media.
Also, there are far too many people running down anything the club tries to do. Now, I know they don't do everything right all the time, but no one does. Everyone makes mistakes.
The latest one has been those having a dig about the recent fans' panel. Those who joined are arse-lickers and it is all a farce apparently.
Any Cheltenham fan could have applied to the club to be part of it, and I decided to as I want to help the club. I was actually refreshed to see a number of faces I had never met before. It wasn't the same old faces, and there were a number of criticisms and suggestions put forward which will hopefully, down the line, benefit all fans.
Then today the club announced a family excellence award. Some of the comments on the club's Facebook page about it were just childish and embarrassing, and those who wrote them need to take a look at themselves. And so it goes depressingly on.
2. No scapegoats - Now, I am aware that fans have players they like, and players they don't. I am the same.
But every season it seems there has to be a scapegoat. One player who gets it in the neck all the time, and cannot 'win' however well they might play, and who gets the blame for the team's failings even if not directly responsible.
Danny Andrew, Jeff Goulding, Junior Smikle and now Matt Richards have all held the mantle, and I am sick of it.
I am not sure what purpose it serves for people to single out one player above all others. A team wins together, and it loses together.
Players make individual mistakes in games, but having seen 42 league games this season and all of our Cup games, I cannot say that Richards made more mistakes than anyone else, and played any worse than anyone else.
I have seen the abuse thrown at him justified by claims that he was hyped up when he signed as Pack's replacement. Hyped up by who? I cannot remember anyone saying that at all.
Presumably, people saw him come from a higher level on a two-year contract, with many believing he is towards the top of the wage bill (I have no idea if he is or not). They don't believe he has justified that. Fair enough, but that's not justification for abuse in my book.
People often say 'if he wears a Cheltenham shirt I will support him' - but seemingly it is not always the case.
3. Look forward, not back - Like the one above, I know everyone has favourite players and managers from the past, but that's where they are - in the past.
Players come, players go, but the most important thing is the future of the club.
People like Russ Penn, Keith Lowe, Marlon Pack, Luke Summerfield, Alan Bennett and Kaid Mohamed served us well, and the decision to let some of them go was maybe not the right one at the time.
But we have to move on, while I am not saying we should forget what they have done and what they contributed, constantly harking back and using their memory as a stick to beat the current players and manager is, frankly, becoming tiresome to me.
Like the negativity, it wouldn't be happening had we fared better on the pitch this season, so let's hope for better results and maybe the current and incoming players will get the focus and the wistful reminiscences can stop.
4. Fans and players united - This is the most important thing on my wishlist.
This club had its' most successful period between 1997 and 2002, and a big part of that was that we managed to create the perfect storm of board, management team, players and fans who were all pulling in the same direction.
We have never had that since then, so maybe it is not a coincidence that we have not recaptured that momentum again.
At the fans' panel recently, many people commented about the detachment of the players from the fans, and the need to get that back. It is crucial.
Times have changed. It's not like the days when players came in the bar and had a beer with the fans any more. Many of them don't drink (or aren't supposed to...) or live a distance away so want to see family after games.
Events like the open day in July and the barbecue for season ticket holders at Seasons are important then to try to establish some sort of link between fans and players.
The fans will be up for it, but the players must be too. They must not just huddle in a group together mumbling two words to fans.
They have to engage with them, be interested in talking to them - not like the end of season two years ago when they came into the main bar, stood in a huddle in the middle for 10 minutes then scuttled off again having barely said a word to anyone.
Little things matter to fans. Applauding them after games, home and away, win or lose (this goes for the manager too), signing autographs, posing for pictures, and above all just playing with a smile on their face rather than a grimace like this squad have for a large part of the season. Things like that will endear players to fans
Too often, they have looked to get off the pitch as quickly as they can. They need to remember they are there for the fans, not the other way round.
More connection between players and fans will not necessarily win us matches, but it might make for a better general atmosphere about the place.
5. More atmosphere - The million dollar question... how to get more noise at Whaddon...
Win more games for a start, yes that might do the trick, but some clubs don't win much, yet have fans who make decent noise at games.
Crystal Palace for a start - and yes, I know, there are a lot more of them, but you get my drift. At our level, Accrington and Aldershot are two sets of home fans who give it a decent shot.
The usual excuse is 'we will sing when there is something to sing about'. Sorry, I don't hold with that.
I used to stand in the Paddock in the 80s and 90s when we yo-yoed between the Southern League Premier and lower divisions.
There wasn't much to sing about most weeks, and about 800 in the ground, but we sung. Even if we lost 7-0 at home to Redbridge Forest or beat Corby Town 8-0, we sung.
I know what you are saying - he is looking back at the past, exactly what he has just told us not to do, the bloody hypocrite...
Maybe, but I am trying to make the point that atmosphere does not always have to be defined by what is on the pitch. A rousing few songs before kick off and in the early few minutes can give the team a good lift, then you just carry it on.
All it needs is someone to get it started. We had Middy usually, and we followed his lead, having a good laugh, and getting behind the team.
The Wymans crew gave it a shot - but where are they? (even the chairman asked this at the fans' panel) Again, I suspect the results haven't helped, but the ground needs a lift, and it needs someone to get it started, so at the risk of coming over all Delia on you all, come on Wymans, where are you? let's be having you...
Someone needs to start a singing group or section again, and get some vocal support going next season. Whether it is in the LMI, the Paddock or the In2Print, I hope it happens. And if people tell you to shut up, i
just ignore them. They used to tell us to shut up back in the day and we just got on with it.
We all support the same team apparently, so let's try and concentrate that and stop bickering between ourselves.
I know some fans want to watch the game and support their own way, but respect those who want to be more vocal, and sing or drum - and vice versa.
Those who want to sing, chant and drum are not drunken hooligans in the same way that those who don't want to make lots of noise are Baker's puppets or happy clappers. Mutual respect - let people support in their own way. If people want to sing, let them. If people don't, fine.
But one request for any singers next season - just slow the songs down a bit, especially the Tractor Song... Thanks.

Have a good summer!

Thank you Browny

On Thursday night, I was at Whaddon Road for a fantastic evening with 11 former CTFC players, who all served the club with great distinction.
During the evening, they were asked what it was that made Cheltenham Town special for them. As director Tim Russon went along the line, all of them, from Mark Boyland, through Clive Walker, Bob Bloomer, Jimmy Smith, Jason Eaton, Russ Milton, Jamie Victory, Steve Book and Lee Howells to Shane Duff and Damian Spencer, one word kept cropping up.
Togetherness.
They all pointed to the camaraderie in the dressing room, and the bond between the players, board, manager and fans which pushed them to great success, be it a Southern League Premier Division title, an FA Trophy win or a Conference crown.
How ironic then that 48 hours later we had Saturday's startling revelations from Scott Brown after the defeat at Rochdale, which finally laid bare what an utter shambles this miserable season has become.
Firstly, let me say well done to Browny. He came out of the dressing room after the game, and I noticed him sitting down at the bottom of the stand looking out at the pitch, where Dale fans and players were still celebrating their deserved promotion.
Then he came up, and spoke first to my BBC Glos colleague Pete Matthews, and then seperately to Jon Palmer, and what he said left me absolutely stunned.
I was literally stood there open-mouthed as he revealed that a couple of his team-mates told Mark Yates on Friday they had not been trying, not giving 100 per cent.
Whether he was talking about matches in general over the season, or in training that day, or in past training sessions is unclear, but still, it is an utter disgrace.
Browny was really angry. You could tell in his voice. It was unlike him to be like that - he always seems such a calm character.
But this revelation, coupled with the limp, weak display of most of those in front of him on Saturday, had tipped him over the edge.
He should be praised to the hilt. He deserves no reproachment at all.
There was no question to prompt his words. He just came out with it, like he had been holding it in and needed to release the pent-up anger - rather like I feel every week as I sit and construct this stream of consciousness. It is very cathartic...!
He was almost speaking through gritted teeth, and every word he said only served to confirm what we have known all season.
He deserves credit for sticking his head above the parapet and saying what he did. In fact, there is an argument to say that the manager should have come clean and told us and it should not have been left to a senior player to feel he had no option but to spill the beans.
Now is the time for the board and manager to act.
There are players at the club who do not care, and who effectively are cheating the supporters, and stealing a living from the football club.
The first question I have to ask is why, Mark Yates, was this player or these players part of your squad and/or your starting XI at Rochdale?
Why was this waste of space allowed to take the shirt of another player or a hungry youngster who does want to try? That decision is almost as shocking to me as the players' confession in the first place.
What is for certain in my eyes is that Saturday has to be the last time they will pull on the shirt. I don't care who they are - how important they are to the team and whether they have a contract for next year or not. I want them out. Over to you Mr Chairman and Mr Manager - let's have some decisive leadership here.
Name and shame if you have to, at the very least fine them a week's wages, but there is no Cheltenham Town fan I know who will countenance that player or players lining up for the club again, thank you very much.
It is an insult to those who have spent hard-earned money on season tickets, and been short-changed with terrible home performances. An insult to those who have spent good money travelling up and down the country from Plymouth to Hartlepool following this team.
They put more effort into their fancy dress costumes than some of our players did in the 90 minutes on Saturday.
We were miles away from Rochdale's level. They are going up, along with Scunthorpe and Chesterfield. Our combined record against those teams, played 6, lost 6, goals scored two, conceded 14.
So no surprise that we are not going anywhere. In fact, looking at next season, I have us in the bottom eight without major surgery on and off the field.
Mark Yates does deserve credit for putting Joe Hanks on at half-time, and the fact that he was our man of the match for a 45-minute display should show his fellow midfielders up. But I am not sure they care enough to take notice of it as long as they get their pay cheques.
Sign David Noble? No thanks. After watching him and Matt Richards stand and wave Bastien Hery through to set up the second goal, I will drive him back to Rotherham or wherever he lives myself.
It was reminiscent of that horrendous day at Crewe, the 8-1, or that 4-0 surrender at Stevenage. It could have been another 8-1 but Rochdale all but stopped playing at 2-0 and could taste the champagne which later came raining down on me in the stand as I tried to stop the radio equipment getting waterlogged.
A couple of others played themselves out of a contract once and for all, thank goodness. I also hope the club will suspend any thoughts of keeping Jermaine McGlashan as well after another in an ever-increasing line of insipid displays. Thanks Jermaine, but no thanks.
We have a young, hungry winger in Zack Kotwica who wants to play, can beat a man, and can cross a ball - I am not sure Mr McGlashan has all of those attributes.
While Yates deserves credit for playing Hanks, he is also culpable in his development being stunted. Why has it taken 18 months for Joe to get back on the field again after his promising cameo against Exeter in October 2013? Yes, it is that long ago.
In the meantime, we have seen Noble, Richards and Taylor strolling around with barely a care in the world, Sam Deering look busy without achieving very much and can't-be-bothered loanees like Lee Lucas and Kemar Roofe come in for a few games and waste the club's money.
Meanwhile Joe has kicked his heels on the bench, or in the stand, or been sent out on loan. Scandalous waste of talent, and poor management to leave him out for so long without getting a chance.
Yes he may have only played for 75 minutes in total for the first team, but he has showed in that time that he can do a job. He has done more than some of those loanees - and he could have saved us a lot of money.
So what now?
Something has to happen, and it has to happen soon.
I get the feeling that something is brewing, and it will all blow up in the next 48-72 hours.
What it is, I have no idea, but I just get that sense, and it will affect the management team I think.
We need new ideas, a new voice, and a new approach.
When Dave Kevan was part of the coaching staff, we turned in some decent displays. He brought in  fresh ideas, a new pair of eyes and a different approach. I think there needs to be some fresh blood in the coaching set-up.
Whether that is instead of or in addition to some of the current incumbents is open to question.
There is an argument for splitting up the Yates-Howarth axis - either with a new number two for Yatesy or a new number one with Howarth - or they both go and we completely start afresh.
Whatever it is, there needs to be a re-think.
If Yates is to stay, he needs to change his approach, and his attitude. He needs to find leaders, and he needs to make sure he doesn't fall out with them. Bennett, Lowe and Penn are big misses. I cannot see those three tolerating any non-tryers, can you?
And people could tolerate their departures a bit more if they were replaced by players of equal or better quality. On the whole, they haven't been (Bennett for Michael Hector then Troy Brown being the exception, although neither had or has Benno's leadership qualities).
But Noble for Penn, plus Lucas or Roofe? No. Michael Ihiekwe or Mitch Brundle for Keith Lowe? No way. See also Craig Braham-Barrett for Billy Jones. No comment needed.
As someone pointed out to me correctly on Twitter earlier on today, Yates' mantra when he came in was to find young, hungry footballers with a point to prove. That person also pointed out that as soon as he was given some decent money to spend, he went away from that to journeymen, who largely cannot give a toss.
The 'Yates is a good judge of a player' epithet has also taken a bit of a bashing as well, hasn't it?
Players like Marlon Pack (who fell into his lap it has to be said), Luke Summerfield, Bennett, Jombati (until Bennett left and he went downhill), Penn, Steve Elliott, Kaid Mohamed and the loans of the likes of  Jack Butland, Luke Garbutt and Jimmy Spencer were all good signings, who all performed well. But they are now tempered somewhat by having to endure the likes of Richards, Taylor, Craig Braham-Barrett and a lengthening series of unconvincing and at times downright useless loans, coupled with the reluctance to give our own kids a proper chance.
In my view, Harry Williams' youth team form deserved a chance in the side long before now. I would even say he deserved a pro contract long before now. Again, why use Roofe or Lucas when Harry was there?
Yates needs to take a bit more of the blame for his own mistakes and those of the team on himself. He has shifted a lot of flak on to the players and of course they do shoulder a lot of responsibility for this season, but ultimately the buck has to stop with you Mark.
Your failed recruitment. Your unloved squad. Your underwhelming tactics. Your obviously uninspiring training. Your now-poisonous environment.
Yes, the players have made some ridiculous mistakes in games. Over and over again. So why are they doing that? Is it that they don't care (partly, as we now know) or have they just stopped listening to the management team?
If so, or if they keep making the same mistakes, or following the game plan, then why have they then not been left out of the side? That is mainly because of our small squad, so threadbare due to players being sold, and then not replaced adequately (see above).
This has meant that players have known that how badly they perform, and whatever mistakes they make, there is likely to be no-one to take their shirt, so they are free to coast through training, and games, before picking up their money.
There are not many of this shower I want to see in our red and white stripes in July, whoever is in the dugout.
Along with Browny, who told us he has been made a 'fantastic' offer to stay - please sign it!, I would keep (as long as none of these are the non-tryers, and I don't believe any of them are) Troy Brown, Terry Gornell, Byron Harrison, Zack Kotwica, Joe Hanks, Jamie Cureton and Connor Roberts, plus the four youth team graduates. The rest can go (Steve Elliott reluctantly).
This is a massive summer. As I said earlier, I cannot see us - as we are now - being out of the bottom eight. If they stay up, Rovers and Northampton will have clear-outs and improve. Luton coming up will go through the division, and of the play-off sides I fancy Grimsby to come up. They won't be poor.
None of the relegated sides are bad enough to be dragged right down, so we need to get this summer right.
We need action from the board to sort out the managerial side of the club with the utmost urgency. We need to root the bad apples out of the playing staff as well, never to be seen again.
Then we need a clear plan for the summer, whoever the manager is. We need to get back to finding hungry players with energy, passion and drive to play a decent style of football, and get the loyal supporters, the bedrock of this club, enthused again. If we get this wrong, then this club is in big trouble next season.
There is a nasty stink about the place at the moment, a poisonous atmosphere that needs to be killed off, and killed off fast before it spreads irreparably. It can be done, but action is needed now.

Decision time

It is traditional for Cheltenham Town fans to travel to the last away game of the season in fancy dress and some are now pondering their costumes for the trip to Spotland on Saturday.
Can I suggest that they look for clown suits - or maybe they could go dressed as footballers?
I am sorry, but this is the gallows humour we have been reduced to after some of the laughable fare we have had to endure this season.
I am one of the lucky ones - I don't usually have to pay to watch it, and yesterday I had to do some proper work so managed to avoid another '1-0 up, 2-1 down' shambles.
It was the third time that has happened at home, Rochdale and Southend being the others, and having not been there I cannot comment on whether this was as bad as those two.
But even from my desk on the other side of Cheltenham, I could almost hear the collective groans, and as soon as I saw news of the equaliser flash up, I was waiting for the second Fleetwood goal.
And sure enough within nine minutes there it was - all depressingly familiar and no reward whatsoever for the people who have dug deep in their pockets to watch it this season.
Five league wins at home equals (as someone said on Twitter yesterday) about £82.80 a victory if you are in the In2Print, which is probably about the same price as a season ticket at Bayern Munich, for you hipsters out there.
We don't know how much the season tickets are for next season as the club haven't told us yet. I cannot imagine, unless the offers are pretty stunning, that there will be a massive queue banging the club's doors down to buy one.
So we are still not officially safe. Three games left, Mansfield and Rochdale away and Dagenham at home, see us needing to eke something out while hoping teams below us don't overtake us.
It is still unlikely - Wycombe, Northampton and Bristol Rovers all need to win two games (and Wycombe play Rovers next Saturday), while Accrington, Portsmouth, Morecambe, Hartlepool and Exeter all need one win - assuming we lose all three of our games.
But we cannot make assumptions. More ridiculous things have happened, and teams have gone down in the past without being anywhere near the bottom two until the last day of the season - Lincoln being one which springs to mind.
We should not be in this position. Yesterday takes the tally of points lost from winning positions to a staggering 34. Six defeats and eight draws after being in front - 14 games thrown away.
It is the worst in the division. Last season, we held that record as well with 26 points lost, four wins and seven draws.
So it is not a new problem. Not confined to this group of players - so do we blame them for it, or do we look at the manager and his methods?
It suggests a lack of mental strength during games. Players all to easily switching off and reacting negatively to conceding a goal, meaning they all too often concede another one straight after.
Also, they lack the killer instinct after going ahead. They seem to lack the belief to go on from taking the lead and looking to consolidate it, or add to it.
All too often this season, we have put together a good 50-60 minutes then collapsed into a dire shambles.
Burton and Hartlepool at home - we led 2-0 at or near to half-time, and drew both games. Rochdale, Southend and yesterday we led 1-0 around the hour mark or later - and lost all three.
Away from home, Wimbledon was the worst of course, cruising after three quarters of the game before chucking it away and then you look at games like Burton, one up with 18 minutes to go - lost 2-1.
It is all too depressingly familiar, and the manager has failed to find an answer for it, so we are now in this precarious position.
It is decision time across the club - youth players will learn their fate this coming week, out of contract players in limbo, and also, the board has a big decision to make.
There is a two-year contract, unsigned, with the names of the manager and his assistant on it.
As it stands, there are many who would like it to stay that way and that number is growing.
After 34 points from winning positions lost, and four wins from the last 19 League Two games, the question has to be asked whether he deserves a new two-year contract, which he probably won't see through and will almost inevitably leave us paying him off at some point?
I am sorry to say it but the answer at the moment has to be no. No way should the club give him two more years - and it is highly doubtful that he should be given another 12 months.
The majority on the terraces are calling for a new broom through the playing side, and that could well extend to the dugout as well.
There is no love at all for this squad of the players. They have let the fans down too often, and not justified the faith placed in them by the manager.
Yates has not helped himself either. He has deflected the flak on to the players in the majority of his post-match interviews - I don't feel he has placed enough of the blame on his own shoulders.
The Lowe and Penn departures, and to a lesser extent that of Billy Jones, added to that of Alan Bennett last season, have constantly come back to haunt him as in the majority of cases their replacements have been inferior - Troy Brown for Bennett being the exception here I think.
While I wish everyone would move on from it, it is understandable that many fans cannot while we perform so poorly and Lowe and Penn's York seem to win every game 1-0 and are in the play-off places.
Lowe was deemed not good enough for a regular place as a centre-back for us and Penn could not get into our midfield, yet they have been stand-outs for York, and their arrivals at Bootham Crescent have co-incided with their upturn in form.
When they went there, York were in real fear of going down. Now we are in that position.
We talk about a lack of leadership in the team. Lowe, Penn and Bennett were leaders, but they have gone as the manager didn't want them in the side any more. But he has not found new leaders to replace them.
While Jones was not great defensively, his replacement has been worse, and we have lost the set-piece threat as well. Penn's replacement (s) have been largely inferior loanees, kids from Premier League clubs who have come and gone quickly.
Lowe's replacement in the squad have been two loanees, one of whom in Mitch Brundle has done ok, and Michael Ihiekwe who has never really convinced me - certainly not better replacements.
Marlon Pack was always going to be difficult to replace, Kaid Mohamed's replacement has barely played for one reason or another - all over the squad, good players have been replaced by inferior ones.
Yates' mantra has always been that players coming in have to be better than the ones they are replacing - this petently has not been adhered to this season.
Yates always gets flak for his substitutions. Either the lack of them, or the timing of them.
He can be reactive, rather than proactive. He seems to struggle at times to spot a weakness in the side, or where the opposition are getting on top and find a way to cure it.
Other managers don't have that problem, and on occasions their substitutions have changed games against us - Neal Ardley for Wimbledon did that with Danny Hylton at Kingsmeadow, and Gary Rowett with Dominic Knowles at Burton, both came on, scored twice and we lost both games.
I cannot remember the last time a sub came on for us and had a real effect on a game. These players who are on the bench should be champing at the bit to come on and make an impact, but they rarely do.
So - is that down to the manager? Is he motivating them properly? That is part of his job, but then equally the players have to motivate themselves as well.
That brings us to the usual question. Do we blame the players for these abject displays, or, as the manager put them together, is in charge of who trains them and how, decides the tactics etc, is the blame at his door?
It has to be a 50-50 split. Yatesy has to accept some of it and players equally have to look at themselves and accept that they have underperformed on a regular basis.
These are experienced players on the whole. The majority of the squad have 100 League games behind them or more. They are not kids. They have won plenty of matches down the years and should have the nous to see games through like yesterdays, but they don't.
Many of them won't be here in three games time - and it will be good riddance to the majority of them. So why should they care if we go down or not?
You would hope they would have professional pride. A relegation on their CVs will not help them find a new club, but they don't seem to.
Some attitudes are not helping endear them either. Jason Taylor was rumoured to have left the ground yesterday after being left out of the 18. Don't hurry back Jason.
Matt Richards was apparently jeered as he was substituted yesterday. Much as I don't like to hear that, it sums up the feelings on the terraces and he needs to think hard about why the fans are reacting like that to him.
These attitudes seem to be prevalent throughout the squad. When we score a goal, the celebrations always seem so incredibly muted.
A goal is meant to be the biggest thing you can do in a game, but our goals are almost greeted with a 'so what' feeling - a symptom of the general apathy around the place.
Someone made a very good point on Twitter yesterday, which I agree with - Yatesy has had an easy ride from the fans this year, and this must be down to his status at the club as a former captain.
I suspect that someone with no such link to the club would have had 'preferential' treatment like that, and would probably not be in the job right now.
We are told the reason for the contract not being signed is a 'clause' they are trying to sort out. I wonder.
There is no way that the board (if they are doing their job properly) can be happy with what they have seen this season, both on and off the field.
The club has a stale feeling about it. Fans seem to be losing interest and want to look back rather then forward, the players don't seem bothered, and everything seems to be hard work.
The board need to think very carefully. The club is in need of a massive lift and if they come to the conclusion that a change of manager would help to take that black cloud away, then they have to do it.

Which way is the beach...?

So now it is pretty much official - the season is over with four games to go, and we can get the travel brochures out.
The weather is telling us that at least, and there wasn't much at St James' Park on Saturday to persuade us that these last 360 minutes (plus stoppage time...) is going to be much other than a last chance for those without contracts for next season to change the manager's mind, bar a total collapse in form and some freak results below us.
By far the best part of Saturday was the debut of Harry Williams. Overdue in some eyes, including mine, after 38 goals at 'junior' levels this season and a succession of underwhelming loanees in his position in the side.
He didn't have to come in and rip trees up immediately. All I was looking for him to do was not to look out of place - the rabbit in the headlights effect (copyright Bagasan Graham, Swindon, March 2012).
I think he passed that test. He got involved, tried to keep it simple, made some good runs off the ball without getting the pass he should have, and without being spectacular, played his part in the side calmly and effectively.
I think the manager did the right thing, taking him off after an hour, and I now hope that he will keep his place on Friday and beyond, rather than giving Billy Daniels some time to get match practice for a side he won't give two hoots about in a few weeks' time.
It is good to see a truly local boy in CTFC colours. Cheltenham-born, a former Southside Tiger and Balcarras boy who has come up through the Academy all the way to the first team.
I am prepared to be corrected, but I can only think of Martin Devaney as another Cheltenham-born player who has played League football for us, as Dave Bird, Zack Kotwica and Joe Hanks were all born at the other end of the Golden Valley.
In these days where fans say there is a lack of connectivity with the side, to see players like Harry come through can only be a good thing - but only if they are good enough. It cannot be done for the sake of it.
But I don't think Yatesy is the sort of manager to do that. He will not put young players in unless he feels they deserve to be there on merit, so let's hope Harry can go on from here.
We started the game slowly, and were deservedly behind. Neither full-back covered themselves in glory defensively all game.
Exeter's threat came from out wide, and was always present. We never clamped down it with the restored CBB saved by his pace on more than one occasion, and Sido forced to resort to needless fouls with monotonous regularity which only served to put more pressure on our goal.
Neither of these two have contracts. This display won't have done them any favours on that front, and I am sure there will be better full-backs going spare in the summer meat market.
I know. There is a better right back playing in the centre of York's defence. Please. Let's not go down that road again...
Steve Elliott was back in central defence and had a very good game alongside Troy Brown. Apart from the messy Exeter goal, they looked pretty much untroubled, and I think Steve's presence just calms everyone down - including Scott Brown.
I wish Steve was 25, not 35. He is a true warrior, and one of the few players (if not the only one) who would want next to you in a battle - someone who would go through brick walls.
It seems inevitable he will go, and he has looked his age at times this season - but I wish we could keep him here somehow.
Coaching and playing the odd game, helping out the young centre-halves in the Academy maybe? I don't know, but it will be a shame to see him go. I am glad I have got his white shirt!
We struggled early on in midfield, until David Noble got hold of the game after the Exeter goal, and he ran the show until half-time.
That again has re-ignited an argument. Do we try and sign him for next season, and try to build a team round him?
I still say no. This is based on two things - money (I have no idea what he is on at Rotherham and would ask as a wage, yet I think he will be too expensive) and injury record.
He looks brittle, and we need players who will give value for money, ie the potential to play 35-40 games a season, and on the evidence we have seen we probably will not get that from Noble.
I can imagine the 'sicknote' barbs on everyone's favourite internet forum if he signs and then spends a lot of time in Ian Weston's company. Not worth the risk in my view - good player that he is.
What Noble's impact on Saturday added to the collapse against Southend after he went off does tell us however is that we need a 'passer' in the team - a quarterback to dictate things.
Matt Richards is certainly not that, and neither is Jason Taylor. Add that to the shopping list Mark...
Up front we had the same old problem - lack of service - so fair play to Byron Harrison for making a silk purse from a sow's ear with a goal from not even a half-chance.
That's 15 now, 13 in the League (all single goals) without penalties. A very good effort, only bettered by Sam Winnall (22), Scott Hogan (17) and Reuben Reid (16), and matched by Rhys Murphy, Luke James and Jonjo O'Toole.
As I said last time, in a mediocre side who barely creates a chance, he deserves a lot of credit. His job is to score goals, and he has done just that, and even if a lot of his performances are languid and bordering on the lazy, I have decided my player of the year vote will go to either him or Scott Brown.
Why? Because those two are the reasons why we are not right in the mire - without Byron's goals and Scott's saves we could be Torquay right now.
Byron played alongside Jamie Cureton, who also got little to work with, but while Byron took his quarter-chance, Jamie badly missed his more clear-cut one.
After the game he was brutally honest about that and the other chances he has missed. Not good enough basically, should have scored them, and can therefore understand why he has not started as many games as he would like. If only all players were as honest and self-critical as that. He knows he won't be here next year.
Zack Kotwica will be and he had a bright little cameo, coming as close as he has ever done to his first senior goal - denied by a good save from the goalkeeper.
It may be a little galling for Zack to see his mate Harry beat him to a starting role, but I hope it happens for Zack in the next four games. I think he has earned it on merit.
Finally to two more players who are out of contract. One, Jermaine McGlashan, who everyone seems resigned to losing, and who some will miss and others are not really fussed either way.
I am in the latter category, and Saturday was more evidence for that feeling, as Jermaine did his usual thing of getting into promising positions then failing to make the most of them, either by trying and failing to win a free-kick or corner, or by failing to produce a decent cross. He should have got a penalty though, when he was tripped and then bizarrely failed to appeal for it in any way shape or form.
Finally, Sam Deering. He has never scored for Cheltenham and after coming on for Williams had a chance right at the death which summed up a) why he will be leaving and b) why he will never score a goal for us.
I am still having nightmares about that miss. Before my knees gave in, I was a very average Sunday League striker turned even more average central defender, yet I think I would (just about) have backed myself to score.
Sam had done well along with Byron to carve out the chance, and all he had to do was slip it into the corner. I bet he has done it in training hundreds of times, but he basically passed it to the keeper.
It could yet be a pivotal moment. It gave Exeter a tiny bit more breathing space above the bottom two. If they stay up by a point, or on goal difference the drinks in Devon are on Sammy.
It has also stopped us from being to able to say we are safe with any real clarity.
I think we are, given the amount of traffic between us and the bottom two and the fact that many of those below us will take points off each other (Wycombe, for instance, have Northampton, Torquay and Bristol Rovers still to play), but it would have been nice to be a little more free from nagging doubts.
As I said at the top, some freak results and four defeats for us would be needed to make it happen, and even I am not that pessimistic.
Just roll on May 3 at 5pm, when I can down a few ciders (no doubt in the company of some mad Norwegians) and try to forget that season 2013-14 ever happened.

An all too familiar story

Spineless, gutless, pathetic, unacceptable, bottle-job - pick your phrase or adjective of choice, as they are all an accurate description of our second-half 'performance' yesterday.
An all too familiar tale, a Ground hog Day of our season, and I am among the many who have had a gutful of it now.
Like the manager, I just want this season finished. Five more games, 450 minutes plus stoppage time - let's get it done and then move on to watching cricket and getting some sun (hopefully...).
The first half yesterday was - in the context of this season's home displays - not bad.
We looked as confident as we have on our own soil, I thought we passed the ball well, the movement was good, and the tempo was decent.
The downside was that once again we didn't create very much. The goal was all Byron's work, seizing on a loose ball on the edge of the box and smashing it low into the net.
Aside from that, we were tidy enough between the two penalty boxes, I thought David Noble, Sam Deering and Matt Richards had the best of the midfield tussles, and we were the better side.
Only just it has to be said, as Southend had the better chances - Scott Brown made two good saves, and down our left-hand side, we gave them far too much room.
Time after time, Kevan Hurst, John White or Michael Timlin had far too much space on that flank. Sido was being sucked inside and often Richards was left isolated against one of those three players and crosses were coming into our box.
It is a problem we constantly have. We simply never seem to be able to stop crosses. Every team we come against seems to have an outlet down one side of our defence or the other, and it puts us under pressure all the time.
Conversely, we don't seem to have that threat. Jermaine McGlashan barely got into the game, and when he did, the crosses were non-existent. He wasn't the only culprit on that front - when Mitch Brundle, or Deering, Richards, Jombati (or anyone) got into a promising position, there was no telling cross, no final ball of any significance at all.
I feel sorry for Byron. That goal yesterday was his first real shot on goal for three or four games. Some will say that is partly his fault, and that he can be lazy. He can, yes, but equally he cannot do it all himself, can he?
The goal yesterday was his 12th in the League, all 'single goals (he hasn't got two in one league game, but his other two were in one game - Crawley in the League Cup) - and in a side like we have had this season which doesn't score many goals, isn't free flowing and barely creates a chance, that is a very decent effort.
We are getting into player of the year territory, and that goal tally should get Byron high up in the voting, but I don't think it will as he is yet another 'Marmite' player with the fans.
Although surely the fact we now hold up players who were criticised severely when they were here as Messiahs the time has surely come to appreciate players like Byron and his contribution. He is a striker, a number nine, and is there to score goals.
That is his job, and he has delivered, and in a side which has produced a lot of pretty insipid stuff all season.
His goal yesterday was a rare moment of quality at Whaddon - but was then followed by 45 minutes of the most dreadful stuff we have seen.
The loss of Noble didn't help. He had been quietly influential in the first half, and to lose him so quickly in the second was undoubtedly a blow.
But we were winning the match, and the loss of one player should not totally disrupt the rhythm of a team, and should not lead to such a pathetic, spineless display.
Someone else should have put their hand up and taken on his mantle - Richards, Deering, Jason Taylor or Billy Daniels especially, but none of them did that. They all hid.
We should have been confident. On the front foot after a good half, and buoyed by getting a goal right at the end of the half - but it seemed to have exactly the opposite effect.
We barely strung three passes together, and gifted Southend two goals to add to the annals of easy goals we have let in this season - a very long list.
Phil Brown deserves some credit for the two changes he made, but the warning signs were there, even in that first half.
Scott Brown made those two saves, and an even better one which led to the long throw we conceded from. He did nothing wrong, but once again he was let down by the players in front of him.
Weak minds, said the manager afterwards. Spot on, weak defending, powder puff stuff in our own box, and a player in Barry Corr who showed more desire, and wanted to get to the ball, wanted to score a goal more than our gutless players wanted to clear the ball away.
It was no shock when we conceded again, a free kick to us was cleared, it was no shock that one of our players didn't win the second ball (we stopped doing that at half time, but haven't won many of them since about 2011) and two passes later it was in our net.
I am not sure where Sido had disappeared to, but Hurst had all the time he wanted to run down his channel to score.
After that, Southend had the easiest 23-minute procession to go away with the points. We didn't test the goalkeeper, never looked like equalising, and seemed to be almost going through the motions.
Only one ball in from Zack Kotwica which caused a little scramble - that was it as far as any nominal threat on the Southend goal in that last quarter of the game.
Kotwica had come on as one of two late changes, with Jamie Cureton replacing Daniels, who was totally and utterly ineffective - as poor an individual performance as I have seen all season.
So, once again, the question has to be asked - why is he here?
Hours before our defeat, the youth team beat Bournemouth 5-2, with Harry Williams scoring a hat-trick. He plays as an attacking midfielder, the position Daniels was apparently filling yesterday.
Those goals took Harry's tally for the season to 38 in youth league, Cup and reserve team matches, which must make him one of the leading youth level goalscorers in the country.
Yet we haven't seen him in our team bar a short spell against Morecambe, and instead we are helping a player who has a long-term contract at a team in a league above get some match fitness.
I think that is very wrong, and what message does that send out to people like Harry, Joe Hanks, James Bowen, Bobbie Dale and Adam Powell? Play as well as you like in our youth teams, and impress when you go out on loan, but I am going to bring in a loanee who is a year older than you to do a job which you might be able to do.
Now, I know Harry Williams is not the finished article, but surely that goal record alone deserves an opportunity in the side? Surely he deserves the chance to show what he can do? I will be very disappointed indeed if we don't see him, Zack and even Connor Roberts get at least one start in these last five meaningless games.
What have we got to lose? These players are meant to be the future, but unless they get a go, how are we meant to know if they are ever going to be good enough?
They will come in and make mistakes, but surely the fans will give them some leeway in these games, won't they? Surely fans will get behind players like that more than they will want to see players like Daniels, who frankly didn't look like he even wanted to be out there.
I know that has turned into a rant, and I know I champion these young players a lot, but if, as the chairman says money is going to be tight further down the line, then these players need to feel valued, not that they are banging their heads against a brick wall. We want them to be our future, not someone elses.
OK I feel better after that - now back to yesterday. The other substitution was Kotwica for Taylor - yes, Taylor, who had earlier come on for Noble. No injury, just the hook as we tried to chase the game.
Obviously, this has provoked a lot of debate, but I am siding with Mark Yates here.
He explained it that at 2-1 down, Taylor is not the sort of player who is going to get you back into the game, but is more the player we wanted at 1-0 (when he originally came on). I see that point, and it is a plausible reason for the change.
Taylor was also playing extremely poorly indeed, and therefore that is another reason why I have no issue with the change being made. The player understandably wasn't happy and gave Yatesy a volley before he sat down.
Yesterday's capitulation was the last chance for some players in my eyes.
Of those out of contract, I would not shed any tears if McGlashan, Deering and Jombati left.
McGlashan has six goals this season which is a decent return, but he does not make the most of his major asset, his pace. He beats players, leaves them for dust, but then what? Usually a cross which hits the first defender or doesn't even get that far. Not enough.
If he thinks he can get a contract higher up the leagues or in Scotland, then good luck to him. He might be a player who we miss further down the line, one of those who is appreciated more once he has gone, but I am prepared to take that chance.
Deering has played nearly 100 games for us in a central/attacking midfield role, and not scored a goal. His assists can be counted on two hands in that time, I would guess. Not good enough.
There is no faulting his effort. He is a 100 per cent man every time, rare in our current team, but looking busy and running around a lot isn't always enough. I was delighted when we signed him two years ago, but he hasn't been the player I hoped he would be.
Now Sido. A folk hero. Brilliant when he came into the side, now a mistake-prone shadow of that player. If his name was Simon Johnson, and he wasn't Portugese with an exotic name, he probably wouldn't be the cult figure he is. There is better out there I think, much as I love Sido.
Scott Brown is the only regularly-playing out of contract player I would keep. I hope Roberts and Hanks are also kept on if they want to stay, but that is about it.
I cannot see Cureton and Steve Elliott being here next season. Cureton has also not lived up to expectations, and Steve I am afraid has looked a bit leggy recently and it seems Old Father Time is catching up with him - but what a servant he has been. He will be missed if this is the end.
Vincent as well will go I think. After being ignored for whatever reason, he had a decent burst but has been out back in the ice box again. Same goes for everyone's favourite left-back CBB. Five more games sat on the bench, and then time to look for a new club.
Of the players under contract, I would not shed any tears if any clubs came along and wanted Taylor. He has never fitted in here.
I am not sure his heart was ever in it - after all he wanted a loan move a month after the season started when he wasn't getting in.
It is a shame as he was brilliant when I saw him for Rotherham - another of those players who looks excellent for other clubs, and a shadow of that player when he comes here (see also Deering, Richards, Gornell etc etc etc...).
I feel sorry for Gornell. I like him as a player, good, technical player, clever (but so was Jeff Goulding...!) and I don't feel he has been given a fair crack in his best position, up front.
The attacking midfield role was one which never suited him, but he tried his best. I want to see him where he was effective for Accrington and Shrewsbury in the past, scoring goals against us, through the middle as a forward. If Cureton is going, then don't use him - give Terry the nod instead. He will be here, after all.
So if Brown stays, we will have a 'spine' of him, Troy Brown, Richards and Harrison to build something around, which is something to start from, plus Gornell and Kotwica, assuming Taylor goes elsewhere.
I wouldn't sign Noble if he is available, as if these injuries are going to keep recurring we will not get value out of him, and there must be someone of quality out there in our budget who can do that job.
Same goes for Michael Ihiekwe, I wouldn't sign him. Mitch Brundle I might be tempted to have a gamble on - as I think he has done okay at right back in six of his seven games... but he is a centre-back really, so if we were to sign him, where do we play him?
The summer is massive for Yatesy (assuming he finally does sign this contract!). He has to get it right and then start next season on the front foot.
The pressure will be on him not only from the fans but also massively from the boardroom as well, as they know that turgid home performances like we have seen for the vast majority of this season have alienated a lot of fans who might not ever come back, and more may join them if it continues.
If it goes wrong, and, say, we are in the bottom half after 10-15 games, then that might be the end for him, and the board will be answering questions about why this much-protracted new contract was given in the first place as we have to pay compensation, which could have been saved etc etc.
But I am getting ahead of myself - let's cross that bridge if it happens - but let's hope it doesn't come to that.
In the meantime, let's just enjoy the last five games. Or at least try to...