Perhaps I’m the only one a little nervous about this. Gooch was truly terrible during his loan spell at Newcastle United and, as the dramatic end to the season in Belgium showed, hasn’t stopped making silly mistakes. This report says that Mick McCarthy’s passed on signing him. Somebody suggested to me that he’d be the perfect replacement for Hangeland should the worst happen this summer. I told him he should go into stand-up comedy as he’d be a natural. Perhaps I’m being a bit harsh – money wouldn’t really be an issue as Onyewu is available on a Bosman – but I think we should be setting our sights a bit higher.