A new Smith at the Manor

United today confirmed the appointment of Firoz Kassam's former bank manager Bill Smith as a two-day a week associate director. Smith, 55, is a United supporter with an impressive background in financial services and, most importantly, he will have the power to sign cheques without having to refer back to Kassam, although his judgement is possibly suspect as he claimed “I confidently believe that we will escape relegation”. The good news is that the new Smith appears very keen and is aware of the possibilities, as well as the limitations, facing United.

Shopping spree

Joe Kinnear has stated on Radio Oxford that Firoz Kassam has released the funds necessary for him to buy three new players, in addition to yesterday's arrival of Garry Monk. Kinnear said that he is confident that a new defender will be signed tomorrow, followed swiftly by a midfielder and a centre forward. Kinnear also stated that he is confident that United can still stay up, due to the poor form of the teams immediately above United, combined with the fact that, unlike Oxford now, they don't have any money to spend on new players. He also stated his desire for Monk to stay at the Manor until the end of the season. There are rumours on Beesotted that United have bid, for a combined fee of less than £200,000, for Paul Gibbs, Andy Scott and Robert Quinn, although Brentford have denied this. Meanwhile Mark Watson has signed for United! Unfortunately that's DC United from Washington, USofA, according to this report. If you're interested read what DC supporters think of his arrival here – they are less than ecstatic.