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So that’s all folks. Done and dusted for another… week. That’s when it all starts again.

31st January 2008 By Rick Waghorn Leave a Comment

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OK, so there's a couple of minutes to go. Something might still happen before the window slams shut for another, er… week.

At which point, the Canaries can dive straight back into the 'emergency loan' market again and scour the Premiership again for further fresh blood; players that have finally got the point that the gaffer's not going to give them another game this season – not after they signed Johnny X half an hour before the window shut.

So, when anyone says: 'That's it, folks!' that's not wholly true. 'That's it, for now…' would be more accurate. And to borrow from the Governor of California, 'I'll be back…' could be the next words to cross Glenn Roeder's lips.

I guess the biggest question to come out of the last 36 hours is the 'Tiny' one; where did Martin Taylor get to in amidst all today's frantic loan action?

The answer, I suspect, lies with Blues boss Alex McLeish who battened down the hatches as soon as Gary Cahill opted for the Reebok ahead of St Andrew's. The fact that the Blues board had already funded James McFadden's arrival to the tune of ?5 million and were chasing the Villa centre-half with a further ?4.5 million cheque before Gary Megson ruined everyone's best-laid plans suggested that, when push came to relegation shove, the Golds and Sullivans of this world had more cash to spend than many suspected. McLeish included.

Hence he didn't need to sell Martin Taylor to keep his employers in readies. Ms Brady might have been willing to deal – and that included both Ipswich Town and Coventry City of late – but McLeish didn't have to budge.

Particularly once Cahill went AWOL.

That's why Taylor was still firmly in his plans this morning when he spoke to the Birmingham Evening Mail.

“The Cahill one, sure, was a major disappointment,” said McLeish. “But we still have Radhi Jaidi to come back from the Africa Cup of Nations and then there's Martin Taylor. And I've said all along that as long as he's here and working hard, which he is, then he's not out of the picture.”

Martin Paterson merely brought City back into contact with the same Scunthorpe chairman that led a clutch a clubs a merry dance over Billy Sharp's signature this summer – that clearly pointed to the Canaries chasing additional firepower. Particularly when they were then working on the basis that Ched Evans might be off back to Eastlands before too long.

The fact that his was the last signature to arrive late this afternoon left Roeder scanning the market intently for a fall-back position. How widespread the knowledge was that Grzegorz Rasiak was up for grabs at St Mary's is an interesting point. On the evidence of Tuesday night and the way he shuddered the City woodwork, his name might have raised an eye-brow at Colney before Bolton again stepped in to steal the show.

The silver lining was the late call from Sven – one helped by his own move for Benjani at Portsmouth. That, in turn, was only allowed by Jermain Defoe's switch from Spurs.

 
Of the four additional loan signings – Matthew Bates, Kieran Gibbs, Alex Pearce and James Henry – I'd plump for Henry as the one to watch.

Word was from London tonight that at some stage in the last 72 hours, Spurs tried to muscle in on that action only for Steve Coppell to decide that Henry and Pearce only came as a pair – just as they did at Bournemouth – and that under Roeder's charge, Henry was likely to be rather more than the bit-part role he would get down the Lane.

So, no, he was going to Norfolk where his footballing education would step up a gear again with three months in the Championship following last year's stint in the Football League's lower reaches with the Cherries.

There is something very Coppell about the double loan move – it's very planned, very structured, very much about getting the two teenagers 'on stream' and ready to make the next step up again come the summer.

 
Henry has another interesting string to his bow. He's tall. At 6ft 1in, he is the classic, modern day, footballing athlete. And he plays wide on the right. Which will keep our Lee firmly on his toes; drops his guard and the kid's in.

Where Gibbs fits in will be interesting. Described as a central midfield player by some, his preferred position would appear to be wide left. Suddenly that's the most popular position in town with Ryan Bertrand, Matty Pattison and a certain Darren Huckerby all eyeing up that slot.

Bertrand could, of course, carry on where he finished at St Mary's – at left-back. That will then give Roeder the option of either Huckerby or Gibbs ahead of the Chelsea starlet. Goes with the latter and City will be blessed with an all-England Under-19 left side.

Pearce seems a solid enough lad; again this will be a big step up for him. Can he walk the walk at Championship level?

Bates is a punt. On his rebuilt knee more than anything. As far as anyone can tell he's had 60 minutes of 'competitive' action in 14 months. And that's in a Premier Reserve League stuffed with kids.

So Norwich get to put him through his paces; to see just what he's lost in that year on the sidelines. Is it still there? Can he get back to the stage where he will partner David Wheater again in the heart of a Boro' defence? Or has his long-time pal now left him trailing?

That's the gauntlet that lies at his feet. Picks it up and runs with it and Norwich are likely to be the big winners.

As for the exits, Simon Lappin's make sense. With the rest of Peter Grant's tattered 'Tartan Army' long gone, as decent a lad as Lappin always was the influx of left-sided youngsters made his hopes of ever featuring nigh-on impossible. A return north of the border with reputation still reasonably intact is probably the best way forward.

As for Ryan Jarvis, well, another opportunity now knocks. He started his loan spell at Leyton Orient last season on fire only to cough and splutter out – first at Brisbane Road towards the back end of last season and then again at Kilmarnock for the first part of this where he scored just once.

Whether he can make an impression on anyone at Notts County over the next four months is likely to be the biggest challenge in the 21-year-old's life. Time is running out. He's long ceased to be a prospect. Ched Evans is a bright prospect. And he's here for the rest of the season.

Overall, and at this level, the January window gets worse and worse. Value in the transfer market is non-existent – certainly not in the Championship where hyper-inflation reigns. How tongue-in-cheek Steve Wharton's ?5 million demand for Paterson was is a moot point, but you half suspect someone might have been tempted.

David Norris is a good Championship player, but Jim Magilton was forced to go back in there at least three times before the signature was his – and all for ?2 million. A lot of money.

Which is probably why Roeder kept much of his powder dry for the summer. And don't forget, 'loans' don't come for nothing – the crumbs from underneath a rich man's table come with a price tag attached. And an agent involved. No-one does anything for nothing.

The one that just eluded everyone was our old friend Stephen 'Sunny' Sunday. As of last weekend, his name was still firmly in the frame. Thereafter, however, the managerial crisis at the Mestella and last night's Copa Del Rey quarter-final clash with Atletico seemed to conspire against a move. And there was little sign that the 19-year-old had moved on anywhere else – be it to Malaga, Toulouse, AEK or that 'other English club' of Spanish newspaper reports.

One for another day, perhaps.


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Filed Under: Column, Rick Waghorn

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