Eddie Bishop, creative midfielder?

I thought I'd woken up in a parallel universe when I saw the front cover of the Daily Post on Friday. Was that really Eddie Bishop, the snarling, tough tackling, slightly unhinged, cult hero of Tranmere's midfield in the late 1980s? And you're trying to tell me he's now an artist?

Everyone loved Eddie, but back in his heyday, the idea of him ending up working in anything cultural was about as likely as him presenting Newsnight.

He was one of a handful of local, gritty players in Johnny King's late 80s squad. Along with Mark McCarrick, Dave Higgins and others, he was one of the nasties who created the freedom for the likes of Jimmy Harvey, John Morrissey and Ian Muir to play.

And the system worked. Eddie and the rest kickstarted the most successful period in Tranmere's history, peaking in play-off appearances that took us to within a whisker of the top flight.

What's interesting though is Eddie's career before he joined us. He had previously played for Northwich Vics, Winsford, Runcorn and Altrincham. We picked up McCarrick from Runcorn too, while manager Johnny King brought Higgins with him from, wait for it, the mighty Caernarfon Town.

I think we need a bit more of that now. We've always had a good youth policy but Tranmere's 'bargain hunting' these days (looking for players who can slot straight into the first team) mainly includes dodgy overseas imports and loan deals with Championship clubs. I don't see much evidence of us looking for hungry players ready to take a step up, rather than a step down.

The club lost its way somewhere. I'm not a great supporter of Les Parry but I was pleased to hear him say he planned to stop this reliance on loan deals and build a squad of players who actually have contracts and feel something for the club.