The Striker Conundrum

Keith was always chasing a striker, and this window was no exception. Firstly, it seemed Evans had stolen our book of contacts because both clubs targeted a move for former Watford striker Jason Norville, who was 21 at the time. Neither we nor the Pilgrims bagged the striker—he moved to Barnet but had an injury-plagued career, scoring just three goals in 2005/06 and one more over the next couple of seasons.

While he might not have been a big name, City were linked with some serious firepower, but every one fell flat.

Had Keith got his way, Brennan Johnson’s dad David might have been an Imp. “David Johnson was on my list,” he said of the then-Forest striker. “When the figure of £10,000 a week in ages came up, my interest waned quite quickly.” Johnson had just dropped into League One with Forest and played just 17 games for them in 2005/06, scoring three league goals.

Gregg Blundell was a big name, but Keith was quoted £100,000 for the Doncaster striker. “We haven’t got that kind of money,” said Keith of a player who had played for him at Northwich. Chester certainly had money, and they spent it on Blundell and Kevin Ellison. For their six figures, Chester got 12 goals in 52 matches. Blundell went on to be a physio at Liverpool.

Dyer was a veteran striker, like Norville he’d been released by Watford. At 30 years old he still had something left in the tank, but he started throwing numbers like £3,000 per week around, and Keith stepped aside. He joined Stoke but also played for Sheffield United, Millwall, Doncaster, Bradford, Rotherham, Chesterfield, and York before his career finished in 2009. He only scored four league goals across all those stints.

Four lucky escapes? Perhaps, but who did we sign?

24-year-old Danny Bacon was convinced he was the man to fire us to League One. “I’m a winner and that’s my biggest strength,” he said in the Echo. “I’m coming to a club that wants success and I’m confident I can make my mark.” Sadly, Bacon had a horrid 2005/06 season, appearing just twice from the bench.

The big money players might not have impressed, but Gary Burch did. He was in and out of Keith’s side, but still ended up in double figures. Burch was a typical Keith signing – big and strong, loved winning a flick on and could hold the ball up.

On joining, he said, “The stadium is superb, and the training facilities are supposed to be great as well….” Yeah. Okay.

One player who would not be joining was Dene Cropper. It had been reported the Imps had offered him a week to week deal, but Keith was having none of it.

Finally, right at the end of June, it was suggested we were chasing a trio of players – Paul Mayo from Watford, and both Scott Kerr and Colin Cryan from Scarborough. They’d been key as the Seadogs had met Chelsea in the FA Cup, but as we trundled towards July, there hadn’t been any solid movement.

We were also left disappointed as a big-money move for Jack Hobbs fell through. City wanted around £100,000 up front, plus a sell-on fee, which the Gunners were not prepared to accept. On June 29th the board were due to meet to discuss the sell-on clause, which ultimately made the deal collapse,

It meant Liverpool, Bolton, and Spurs were now free to assess their options, all having eyed the young defender.

Elsewhere, Gareth McAuley was also in the news. He made his debut for Northern Ireland against Germany in June 2005, becoming the first Imps to represent a home nation since David Felgate in the early 1980s.

All of this transfer speculation and a lack of signings meant City slipped to 12/1 in the betting, dropping from second favourites within 30 days. Boston, unable to pull off their ambitious signings, were 33/1.

As the calendar turned over from June 30th to July 1st fans expected signings. What happened on July the first is probably unprecedented in Imps history – Keith unveiled 11 new faces!