The Ben Davies saga finally ended as he – surprisingly -  joined League Two rivals Notts County, writes Shrewsbury Town blogger James Pugh.

I feel in joining a team which is in the same league, but not as good,  as Shrewsbury Town, he has let the fans and team down.

I would have wished him well if he had ‘bettered’ himself by joining a League One or Championship side, which was his reason for not signing a new contract at Town.

It is no coincidence that Notts County are about to be taken over by a Middle Eastern Consortium with plenty of money and there is no doubt that Davies left because they offered more money that Town did – he even had the gumption to admit it and said he would have stayed if we had matched it.

Notts County may well climb the league ladder in the next few years, but by then Davies will be way past his best, and who is to say that the takeover will succeed?

I wonder if Davies will soon regret his move. It will also be interesting to see what sort of welcome he will get from Town fans next season.

However, it would be wrong of me not to thank him for his contribution to the side over the last few years. He has been one of our better and more creative players.

Another player who looks set to leave is Chris Humphrey, who has gone down the same route as Davies in not signing a new contract; he too is waiting for a better deal. Simpson made the right choice in leaving him at home while the rest of the squad went to their training camp abroad.

If I was Simpson, I would get rid of any player who isn’t 100% committed to the team.

On a more positive note, our goalkeeping shortage was put right with two signings: Andreas Arestidou signed on a one-year deal following his release by Blackburn, while 23 year-old Chris Neal was brought in from Preston.

I must admit they weren’t on my list of possible goalkeepers we might sign, but Simpson knows them well and hasn’t made too many bad signings in his time at the club. My only concern with them is that they lack first team experience, especially in League Two, but then again so did Daniels and he was very impressive last season.

Without seeing them in the pre-season friendlies it’s too early to guess who Simpson has lined up to be our number one.

Another player who was brought in was out-of-contract Carlisle winger Lewis Neal. I know a couple of Stoke City fans, his old team, who think he will do a really good job for us and is more than capable of playing at a higher level. Also, I wonder if he was brought in as a replacement for Davies or Humphrey.

Do fans think that is the end of Simpson transfer business or will we start to look at loan signings? I still think we are a short of a goalscorer and a creative midfielder.

A comment from Mike B on my last blog asked me to look into whether Town will receive money if Hart makes a competitive start for England this season while on loan at Birmingham. It is my understanding we will – and in my opinion that’s money which is long overdue.