.jpg)
On transfer deadline day Andy Williams returned to Edgar Street on loan. At the tender age of 22, and with just 93 senior starts to his name, he was our most experienced outfield signing of the summer.
The previous summer Graham Turner had made a point of signing experience. He signed the likes of Clint Easton and Trevor Benjamin specifically for their experience, admitting the move was more expensive but would bring benefits. He was right. Promotion was achieved far ahead of some expensively assembled sides and to the surprise of most of the footballing world.
But the summer saw big changes at Edgar Street. Out went a dozen players at the end of their various contracts. In came a sucession of talented youngsters, nine in total, all of which combined didn't have the experience of one Wayne Brown. The new arrivals had less games in the starting XI than the average League season. The departed had three times that - and it showed as the season rapidly became a slog.
When Richard Jackson signed three days after the deadline he instantly became the experienced head of the new arrivals. Bruno N'Gotty's arrival three weeks later, at the age of 37, meant he could have been the father of half the squad. He also has more experience than the other eleven signings combined.
Until's Sunday's capitulation things had been looking up with that addition of experience. A series of narrow defeats were merely missing a spark, but the performances were often encouraging in their determination not to concede. We've injected the experience into the defensive unit, what we need right now is a wily veteran striker. A Dougie Freedman, a Peter Thorne.
I wonder if Steve White fancies a game.
