All Quiet on the Transfer Front

I’ve had a lot of messages recently from fans wanting to know what is happening at the club, what the rumours are and who might be coming in, or out. Sadly, I’m in the same boat as all of you. I’m none the wiser as to who our targets are or who is on the cusp of joining the Cowley revolution. I do know one thing though, if any of them were watching on Tuesday they’d be in a hurry to find a pen.

I don’t think this lull in activity is anything to be concerned about. Last night I did my round-up of League Two and I think there was one confirmed transfer in there, perhaps two. That is for all 24 clubs in our league, so the period of inactivity isn’t confined to us. This is a notoriously quiet time for any activity, the lull before the deadline day storm. I know, given the Akinola farce in the summer, that fans will be eager to avoid deadline day madness. Unfortunately, it isn’t that easy.

Last season, in the period between January 21st and January 29th, League Two clubs were involved in just SEVEN completed deals. In case one doubts me, check yourself on the BBC transfer pages for that period of time. In full, On January 21st, Nathan Delfouneso (Swindon – Blackpool) and Gerry McDonagh (Nottingham Forest – Cambridge loan) moved whilst the following day Ryan Bird (Eastleigh – Newport, undisclosed fee) and our old friend Charlie Clough (Forest Green – Barnet, also undisclosed fee) made it a busy two days. There was no activity on January 24th and on this day one year ago the only move that featured teams in League Two was Kyle Wootton  leaving Scunthorpe for Cheltenham on loan. The following day two unattached players made moves to Crawley and Plymouth (Josh Lelan and Antoni Sarcevic respectively). On a relatively busy January 27th, the same day Danny Rowe joined Ipswich from Macclesfield, the only League Two deal was Luke Maxwell signing for the Cods on a free. On the 28th and 29th, no deals took place. That is just eight deals in eights days.

The 30th and 31st, the final two days of the window, saw a massive spike, somewhere in the region of 45 deals. Deadline day itself was manic with a League Two deal taking place every 30 minutes or so. One of those moves was our own deceptive striker Ollie Palmer (pictured top), the six-foot four striker who can’t head a ball, but who always finds the right place to be with five minutes left. This week, it was holding the ball up ahead of Cameron’s goal, against Rochdale it was four yards out with the ball at his feet. Whether you love to see him unravelling from his tracksuit or groan whenever you see his gangly frame unfold from the bench, he’s bloody effective. He left Orient for Luton last season, on loan, on deadline day. He won’t be going anywhere this time around as he’s an asset to Lincoln City, one way or another.

Sadly, the pattern from last season means that we are now very unlikely to see a deal done before the final two days. The only factor that may work in our favour is not having a game this weekend, although guarantee you rather than sat at a service station chatting to players, Danny will be at one game and Nicky another. The 28th and 29th were a weekend in 2017, hence the lack of movement. It wasn’t a bad weekend either, City beat Brighton 3-1 in the FA Cup! A day later, Chris Hughton loaned Chuba Akpom from Arsenal and before the week was out, Phil Brown took Theo Robinson to Roots Hall. It goes to show, there’s plenty of action still to take place, one way or another. Incidentally, Akpon didn’t score for Brighton in 10 appearances whilst Theo hasn’t settled at Roots Hall. Is there a lesson there?

No, I’m afraid my sixth City sense tells me we’ll have to wait now until those frantic final 48 hours to hear of any movements, in or out. It’s getting to the final minutes of the staring contest that is a transfer window. Who will blink first? Will Barry Fry drop his £200k valuation of Ricky Miller? Will a shifty agent side swipe our manager with excessive demands, or will Danny’s resolve pay off once more. It does seem strange that Simeon Akinola hasn’t even been mentioned, again, yet he’s clearly surplus at Barnet and also highly rated at Lincoln. Will we pull an Ollie Hawkins out of the bag, but this time one who doesn’t have his head turned by Portsmouth at last-minute? Can we hold on to our own crown jewels, it’s alright going out looking to rob from other teams, but someone needs to make sure our own assets are safely locked up to.

Deadline day is where the Football League, so stoic and steeped in tradition and bureaucracy, descends into something out of the wild west, where managers ride into other clubs on horseback grabbing what they can before scampering away post-haste. The media love it, I’ve booked a day off from my busy schedule of tramadol and back pain to be sat by my computer, bringing you the news slightly after everyone else tries to on social media. Will Danny be pointing his Mercedes at London Road, eager to do a drive-by snatching of Mr Miller, or is there a ram-raid coming up on the Hive? Will Nathan Jones be planning an assault on Sincil Bank, loading up his six-shooter with an Alex Woodyard-shaped swag-bag on his back? It’s both a burden and an occasion, exciting and scary, profitable and detrimental. However, it is going to happen and this calmness is simply setting the scene before one almighty storm breaks out over League Two. When the rain has washed away, will we be left happy with our survival or surveying what is left?