John Marquis
Like Rogers, Marquis came in the short term. Technically, it wasn’t a loan; we signed him on a six-month deal, and he felt like the player we needed to spark a revival. In fact, when people look back on this campaign, they often cite his arrival as the turning point. Again, I’ve fallen into the trap of including him and not Whittaker.
Marquis scored five goals for us in that time – two in defeats, and three in two wins (he got a brace against Sheffield Wednesday). His actual input was negligible; his goals technically only helped us to four extra points, and we avoided relegation by 12. We also paid decent wages for him, and he wasn’t one we signed for the future.
However, he did give the club a lift, and those first few matches he looked the real deal. Sadly, after we beat Wednesday 3-1, he did very little.