Ferret

It might just be worth keeping one eye on The Emirates tomorrow. Probably on the Blues bench, but then you never know…

Because chat to the boys on the beat over in Brum and old Ferret has pretty good authority that our Tiny could be coming in from the cold tomorrow against the Gunners.

That all of a sudden, he's not such a spare part after all; that with Radhi Jaidi off with Tunisia in the African Cup of Nations and the on-loan Brazilian Rafael Schmitz still …

Here's a little teaser for you. As the door suddenly slammed shut on the St James' Park reign of Sam Allardyce, what was his last act as Toon boss?

It was not, apparently, to tell City boss Glenn Roeder to look elsewhere for a striker; that Shola Ameobi was not going off to Norfolk on loan…

No – something far more interesting, if the Newcastle Evening Chronicle is to be believed.

Roeder was on the phone to Big Sam trying to buy a new keeper …

As ever in transfer window month, one of the tricks is to watch what's going on elsewhere to work out what might be going on closer to home.

That's why old Ferret's eyes were drawn to West London today and the sight of Matthew Connolly signing on the dotted line as all that Formula One money of the new owners – Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore, backed by the Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal – starts to flood through the Rs.

In comes the …

It is one of those situations where the world and his wife can't help but speculate. Might not always be helpful, but sometimes it's just the nature of the beast – to wonder out loud…

It was just the same as when Paul Stephenson was putting out the bibs and cones at Bloomfield Road – something was clearly afoot, even if the one-time Hartlepool youth coach hadn't actually officially been unveiled as Norwich's new first team coach. He was there though – right in …

To borrow badly from the song, 'It's now or never…' today as far as Martin Taylor is concerned.

For whether he'll be mine tonight, largely depends on another feverish round of negotiations between Carrow Road, St Andrew's and the player.

Why tonight? Well old Ferret's understanding is that the paperwork for a concurrent loan deal – ie, one that is just an extension of the first and not a wholly new one – has five days to reach the various …

Worth rolling the clock back to a week or so back; to when the gaffer was still hoping to bring in his fifth loan signing before the 'emergency' window shut till the New Year.

?I'm waiting on a phone call today that I'm hoping is his permission to sign another player,? said Glenn, fresh from bagging Matty Pattison and Mo Camara.

He then added a few more details to a deal that never, quite, happened.

?That'll be a young-ish player,? said …

This is quite interesting. Dig around up north and there's old Sven dropping a big, big hint that Master Evans might be available for the rest of the season.

That's the way that od Ferret reads the Swedes comments on the official Manchester City website this morning – that he'll be looking to see how the 18-year-old does between now and when “the preparations start for next season”.

In other words, he's not planning on hauling the kid back once the …

Fair play to the new gaffer, he certainly likes to keep us all in guessing games.

He was at it again this morning as he sat Matty down beside him.

Quizzed as to whether the Press boys would be doing this all again next week as he bolted on another two or three more loan faces after Tiny Taylor's arrival and now that of Pattison, Glenn was having everyone running for their Rothman's come the end of this morning's session.

?I feel I've got one …

As soon as the gaffer dropped the clue that his intended loan target – the one he had got ?very close? to signing yesterday – had a one-in-three scoring record in the Premiership, it was always going to be a case of rushing back to the old Soccerbase.com and seeing who has done what recently.

Or rather who hasn't done what recently if, as Glenn suggested, he's not rated by the manager and is kicking his heels somewhere, not getting a game

Which is why it didn't …

Bit by bit, the possible identity of 'The Third Man' was slipping out today.

?We're just waiting on the club to agree to release the coach,? said Roeder yesterday, about to drop the biggest clue yet as to who he had in mind as City's new first team coach and reserve boss following Lee Clark's arrival at his side last week.

Clark, of course, comes in as the new gaffer's No2. High time to come in No3…

But clues-wise there were still no …

And so on to find the next two pieces in the jig-saw – who may yet form 'Team Glenn' ahead of the derby game on Sunday.

The new gaffer was giving no clues – other than to say that he had already ear-marked a No2 and a coach; that both were young; both currently in work; but both would view a switch to Norfolk as ?a promotion?.

The obvious one was Nigel Pearson, but that seemed to be a no-no.

So ferret around Roeder's previous clubs – be it Newcastle …

A quick call to pals in the Potteries was in order this morning – that and a quick glance at the back page of the Sentinel.

Where Tony Pulis' little pal Mark O'Connor appeared to be doing his best to dampen down all the 'Tony's on his way…' talk.

The Potters boss himself – a bit like Dowie at Coventry City – has opted to stay tight-lipped and gob shut as one man and his wife continue to suggest that Rusty's old manager is Norfolk-bound.
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Bit by bit, name by name those lining up for an interview start to emerge.

Simon Grayson's name popped up today; he fits certain bills – in that he's bright, young and hungry for success.

And he has a promotion to his name.

Geraint Williams doesn't have a promotion to his name, but he has a tenth place finish in his first season in charge at Layer Road and the Us already look a fair bet for another season of mid-table safety – not something that you …

For now – and events may yet change again in the next ten days – keep your eyes on events at the Reebok.

Because according to my pal oop north, Norwich and Bolton could “both be fishing in the same pond…”

Sure enough there's Paul Jewell's name is pretty near the top of the bookies' list given that he's about eight miles away on the back-end of Wigan and sat twiddling his thumbs; and there's Chris Coleman. Ooh, and there's Steve Bruce.
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OK, here's an interesting one.

Let's suppose that the Norwich board are sat there today, locked on the horns of a dilemma.

Do they go all Micky Adams and go for the complete Championship street-fighter?

Or do they go all Pierre Littbarski and go wholly foreign and wholly unknown, albeit in the German's case with the very well-known quantity of Ian Crook at his side?

Both types – and there's half a dozen from each side of the …

Get your head to the ground Ferret-style and there's only one thing that most people agree on – a date.

More on that in a minute. After that and this weekend, I hear, is the one where wheat and chaff go their seperate ways.

That the traditional list of hopefuls is replaced by a slimmed down list of genuine contenders among whom, you strongly suspect, will be names that no-one has either thought of or suspected. One of which may pop up later tonight.

So …

As ever at times like this, it is worth stepping out of your old supporters' shoes and joining Ferret in trying to see it through the eyes of Mr 10 Per Cent.

What's Mr Davies' man thinking right now as he follows his client on a three-stop tour of the Championship – to Hull City on Tuesday night, to Norwich yesterday and all, of course, with a chat to Southampton squeezed in between.

Well, much like Billy Sharp's man as he hawked his boy to Norwich, to …

It always was one of those quotes that stood out; one that almost suggested that conversations were being had. It didn't, after all, seem to appear anywhere else apart from this neck of the woods.

They can be easily missed, in fairness.

It was, of course, the one from Middlesbrough chairman Steve Gibson that reportedly went along the lines of ?If you can only afford to shop at Tesco's, don't try and shop at Harrod's…?

Well, according to my pal …

Don't look now, but it's going to be all change again at the back next Monday after The Doc's groin finally gave up the good fight tonight.

That was the word from Granty afterwards – that the 27-year-old now faces ?two to three weeks? out after aggravating the same groin he tweaked away at Manchester City the other night.

The manager admitted then that he should have come off at the break at Eastlands, but the player himself opted to push on for the full 90 …

If I was Granty, the biggest date in my diary right now would be Saturday, October 20.

That's the one you pencil in with big, fat red marker pen on the office calendar. At home to Bristol City. Saturday, October 20.

Get there and I'd be breathing a big, big sigh of relief.

Because at certain stages in any manager's life, you've got to try and second guess the board's intentions and look at the world through their eyes.

And given …