It’s time for another League One round-up after all this nonsense about books and signings has died down.
I’ve found these articles to be really popular, which surprised me. I shall endeavour to do at least one a week, more if needed, as we move through the season.
My plan is to do a bit more with the site next season, got some ideas brewing and will run them by you before I commit to them, but for now you’ll hopefully be content to just have a nose at what the other teams in our division are doing.
Niall Mason signs for Posh
This isn’t a popular move. Peterborough have signed former Aston Villa and Doncaster defender Niall Mason. He’s a good player, there isn’t a doubt about that, but he was sacked by Doncaster last season after being found guilty of sexual assault.
Their fans are not entirely happy but football is football. Mason has been convicted and punished for his crime, in my humble opinion he should be allowed to return to football; it’s his living. However, the nature of his offence means he’s a public relations risk.
At the bottom of it all he’s a good footballer and in this mercenary world of promotions, money and success-starved clubs like Posh, it’s a risk worth taking.
Darren Ferguson has backed Mason, telling the club website: “This could be viewed as a controversial signing given what happened to him earlier this year. Obviously, the boy has made a massive mistake but I do believe he deserves another chance. He has admitted he has made a mistake. He had poor advice from his legal team, which is something he is aware of, but clearly as a club, we feel we can move on from it.”
Jamal Lowe subject of Championship bids
You’ll all have heard of Jamal Lowe I expect, the quick Portsmouth attacker with 15 goals last season who was surprisingly left out of their semi-final with Sunderland, a game they needed goals in and went on to draw 0-0.
Lowe is hot property and so he should be. Wigan Athletic and Millwall have been sniffing around and there is a figure of £1.5m being mentioned, but Pompey want £3m.
This could have an impact on the Imps; Pompey are one of the sides thought to be after Bruno Andrade. If they get a cash injection for Lowe, they’re likely to want to spend some of that on our wide man to replace him.
I’ve followed Lowe since his days at Hemel Hempstead, he’s a top player with enough quality to survive in the second-tier. I’d expect him to be moving to bigger clubs than the two mentioned.
Will Nightingale wants to achieve things with Wimbledon
AFC Wimbledon are not one of the big hitters in the division, but 23-year-old Will Nightingale has revealed he signed a new deal to achieve things with the Wombles, not struggle.
They’re a new face on the Imps league fixture list next season, having previously only met us in their current guise in the FA Cup in 2017. It could be said they’re the ‘real’ Wimbledon, but unlike the Crazy Gang their rise has been capped at League One level.
They’ve done well to rise from nowhere to what is effectively the third division, but Nightingale feels he can help drive them beyond survival, something they achieved on the final day of the season.
“I turned down higher offers elsewhere – I don’t feel like I have achieved what I wanted to achieve at Wimbledon,” he told the South London Press.
“It was brilliant how we finished the season off, but if that had been offered to me before the season then I wouldn’t have taken it. I’m not here to be in a team down near the bottom – I want to have some success.”
Next Page – a former Imp could be set for Grimsby and Southend eye a big loan deal