Optimism abounds as we’re inside 48 hours of the start of a new beginning – the Blades beckon on Friday – is it genuine, or merely masked by the miasma caused by a hot summer lull? The currency of jobs, reputations, and livelihoods will be staked to ensure a satisfactory rebate of football happiness and contentment. Will all the effort and culture change that occurred over the summer interval, in the public view or behind the scenes, manifest itself on the pitch? It’s the main query as we forge forward…

The squad shaping that we hoped to be done with by this time continues:

In For Sure: Leroy Lita is on board – a fairly quick bit of business after talks w/ Sheffield Utd stalled

Rumoured: a duo of forwards from Olympique de Marseille – Mamadou Samassa and Elliot Grandin – the former a potential centre forward option that’s desperately required, and the latter an additional candidate to spring assaults from his preferred position on the right side of attack; Henri Camara, bequeathed ‘The Rabbit With The Rifle’ in his native Senegal…the striker is available on a free after release from Wigan

Stationary, For Now: Tuncay will be unwrapped for the Championship public to see – no takers yet for the charismatic captain of Turkey…if he’s still around come the end of the transfer window it could prove to be the best ‘signing’ of the off-season

Connecting Through AMS: Afonso Alves, wherever the fuck he goes…France and Qatar are the probable destinations per the latest tattle

Friday will be here shortly, especially if spending the interim steaming drunk. We’ll be cautiously confident of one of these will be on offer whilst at work…