The January Door Shuts

So there is a collective Bluenose sigh of relief, (if you get what I mean!) The January window has shut and we didn’t get the mass exodus predicted by the “know it all” media. I am pleased with that, there is no doubt that things could have been a lot worse, especially as the “vibes” coming out of the club were that everyone was for sale. (Not sure how much of that is true mind!)

Our only exit is Jack Butland, however due to the nature of the deal, he remains with us until the summer on loan. I find that a bit odd, but am happy with the arrangement.

There has been a mixture of opinion on the forum with some gutted that we have sold a hot prospect and have only bought in a reasonably unknown loan player – to those who are pleased that we have only sold 1 player. I fall in the latter camp and here are a few thoughts why.

Jack is no doubt a terrific prospect, but he is still very young. As with any footballer there is no guarantee that he will become “top flight.” As with any young keeper, (or actually ANY keeper), he is still prone to mistakes and uncertainty. Keepers don’t mature until they are into their 20s and being offered 3-4 million for a young keeper at a time we need the money, is a no brainer in my opinion. The even better news, is we get to keep him for the rest of the summer. “Win win.” We have decent cover for Championship level for Jack, something that we can’t necessarily say for the likes of Davies.

So over all, I think a positive transfer window considering what COULD have happened. I know many will disagree, but they are my thoughts.

Kev

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12 Comments on The January Door Shuts

  1. Agree entirely. If we did need the money to stay afloat (as the doom merchants have it,) then sound business. If Clark was running the transfers while Pannu in HK, he should be applauded.

  2. Totally agree we have come out of the transfer window with an extra player in the short term. Why Pannu went on about all players being available is absurd, all that did was frighten the fans, unsettle the manager and players and lead to a month of unfounded speculation. I cannot wait to see the back of him.

  3. May be that’s not what he meant John.

    May be he meant that every player is available, but at the right price. I guess that is true of any team.

  4. Couldn’t agree more, Kev. And, good grief, we dodged a bullet this window. Very sorry to see Jack go but this can hardly be a surprise. £3.5M seems fair business under current conditions – I feared it would be worse at the last minute – and is probably the only reason we escaped without a full-scale firesale. Keeping him at St. Andrews for the rest of the season to help avert the freefall was the main surprise for me and seemed like a bit of creative thinking on someone’s part. Keeping the rest of the team intact gives Clark at least a cat in hell’s chance of holding the fort while we try and find the elusive answer to our issues at executive level. Keeping the faith!

  5. Great comments for which i totally agree with. and because of the mass exodus that didnt happen i now believe that we will now stay in this division. The player that we have signed on loan looks a good prospect and can only be good for us.

  6. The fact that no one actually left the club,is a boost in confidence to the players and fans alike. Hopefully we can push on now and get up to a mid table position at least. Evidently, a £4.9million parachute payment yesterday (on some facebook sites) helped the financial position,so that might keep the administrators away, as well. KRO

  7. We’ve been played here.

    1. Pannu says we’ll have to sell loads of players or we’ll go bust. No figures available – we have to take his word for it.
    2. We only sell one player; collective sigh of relief. Things aren’t as bad as PP said they were.

    Politicians do this sort of thing all the time. Managing expectations. Nothing we can do about it but we don’t have to fall for it.

  8. Sorry to add a different perspective but for all the hype where has the clean sheets been. We have had a loyal servant in Doyle for many years and now he will once again be bench sitting behind Butland

    I know many will disagree and quote the quality of the defence as reasons for the lack of clean sheets but I cannot help but wonder if he really is the real deal or if we should have just moved on to Doyle.

  9. I too rate Doyle, but Butland has received praise at international level, so he isn’t just Clark’s lovechild. I think Butland being willing to stay is an excellent message to the fans. If it was bad in the dressing room, he’d have gone to Chelsea, or insisted Stoke took him now, seemingly we needed his sale money, so wouldn’t have argued. A great window, once you accept we haven’t funds available for big signings. Pannu may have exaggerated our plight, but Yeung still has no funds so the fact is, we could have sold even more and didn’t. Keep Right On. Great article Kev.

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