Out with the old, in with the new - Blyth ring the changes

A new season for Blyth Spartans in League 2 and a real step up in class. The club has gone professional so all the part-time players need to be offered full-time contracts. In a lot of cases players were expecting a 100% hike on there current deals, something that I just can't afford and did not reflect their abilities. So some of the ageing French contingent had to leave as did Alassane Mendy, who wasn't developing as I'd hoped. Oliver Nicholas also left the club for a record £75K.

Lionel Zoko also left for a decent £35K, He'd become surplus to requirements as I'd captured some excellent loan signings (finally) from Newcastle in the form of Aaron Spear and Ryan Donaldson. Other stand-out signings are:

Pedro Botello (D RLC)
Signed on a free, but from the Seville Acadamy. The Puerto Rican physical stats that will improve with training and age, but crucially he has excellent Heading (16), Marking (13) and Tackling attributes

Stephen Folan (D C)

A former Newcastle Utd player, the Irishman has good defensive stats and was instantly worth £160K upon signing.

Jamie Ness (M C)

The Rangers reserve player has joined on loan. Non-English loans are great source of quality players for lower-league clubs. They don't want wages covered and importantly don't count against any of the loan quotas imposed in the English football leagues (4 long-term loans & 5 loans in match squad). Ness is quality and should fit straight into Spartans' midfield.

Kal Naismith (AM L, ST)

Another Scottish loan, this time from Kilmarnock. I tried to sign Naismith whilst in the BSP, bringing him in on trail, but he didn't event want to discuss terms. I've forgiven him and acquired a decent left-winger to challenge Ismaël Fofana. I will also train him on the right so that both can play to their full potential in the same team.

Tom Lawrence (M/AM RLC)

A Welsh U19 international and former Man Utd. youth player impressed at the England Trail exhibition games. My scout said that Lawrence would "be a leading Premier League attacking midfielder in the future". I immediately snapped him up, and in his first friendly he scored but also broke his ankle and is out for 4 months. But one to definitely watch.

Jimmy Murphy (ST)

At 17 Murphy is young and raw, but a precocious talent with a 5 star potential rating given by my assistant. He cost a club record £8K and I'm looking to him as an impact player from the bench and to break intothe first 11 at the end of this season.

My season expectations to the board was a top-half finish but in terms of the wage budget I've been restricted. the only option was a maximum of £10K, although I've pushed it up to £11.5K. The media prediction for Blyth is 24th, but I plan to prove them wrong again and sneak into the playoffs.