I know we only bring in players who will benefit the squad immensely, make us better and be involved, but all around us other sides are taking gambles and risks. I wrote about Gold Omoyato yesterday, a risk over at Bury, they’re maybe relying on him but we wouldn’t be relying on Shaw. We’ve got John Akinde, Matt Green and the big man in the squad, so we could take time to develop Lee Shaw. I’ve been an advocate of his for a while and I really believe we could benefit, even if he goes back out on loan. If he’s going to end up in he National League anyway, what do we lose by becoming a middleman for six months? If he goes off and scores twenty in six months for Boston, we’ve struck gold. If he struggles to adapt, he’s another year experienced and we release him after a season, or loan him to a level lower. There will always be someone willing to cover average wages for a player with his record. That is alternative bravery, but bravery all the same.

When you need four to five players, the option of hedging your bets is there, being brave in one area and not in another. Let’s say we brought in Toby Edser, the undoubtedly talented Forest lad, and Shaw, plus maybe the left-sided centre back. That would still leave two squad places, potentially three if we loaned Shaw back out. Two places to be brave with, two to sort out now and get integrated into our squad. With a player like Edser, if we came up short in the attacking midfield area he could cover and Andrade, a sure-fire fan favourite this season, could play up front. Options, by not only being brave, but also being coy.

We’ve seen both sides of the coin at Lincoln, for every brave move on a Simon Yeo or Gary Taylor-Fletcher, there’s a Rory May or David Ridings. Much depends on the manager, how he develops players, how the squad help in progressing these uncut diamonds. Look at Sam Clucas, Peter Jackson took apunt, a gamble and Chris Sutton cut his losses before Clucas had been given a chance. How does that decision look now?

I have no problem with us playing the waiting game until deadline day for some positions, last year it brought us Ryan Allsop who pushed us on to Wembley, Scott Wharton who was outstanding and Tom Pett who will have a big impact. We did play our other cards early though, we took opportunities when they arose such as Michael Bostwick, Lee Frecklington and Harry Anderson.

I just hope, with one eye on the future as he always has, Danny takes a punt on the boy from Grantham

Between now and Northampton we expected one or two permanent signings, a centre back and another forward perhaps. When Danny says ‘four or five players, three or four loans’ I believe that is what he alludes to. He will, 100%, look for a centre half permanently. He will if possible add another striker permanently, or take one on loan. The squad will then be peppered with ambitious young players from the likes of Forest or Bournemouth to round off a strong-looking group of players.

I just hope, with one eye on the future as he always has, he takes a punt on the boy from Grantham, a roll of the dice with fewer financial implications than most that could bring us riches in twelve months time. I keep using the case of Eisa, but right there is a shining example of what a player can become if someone takes a punt. Lyle Taylor is another, Jamie Vardy another. Why not Lee Shaw?

Be brave Danny, be brave!