Itâs always frustrating in the closed season as, with no football to watch, all we can do is wait to hear about new players coming in. The longer is takes and the more nervous and fidgety we all get. What has really occurred to me in the last few days is what a difficult process it is to try and recruit players that are good enough to build a promotion chasing squad. I have seen Danny Graham linked with Swansea at £3.5m, Steve Morison linked with Norwich for £2.8m along with Craig Mackail Smith for another big fee. Thatâs quite a lot of money being offered for players who are not proven in the Premier League. I do not really want to debate the relative merits of these players, but it just illustrates how clubs who may have been behind us in the pecking order can suddenly spend relatively big money on players whose quality is not without debate. If you look at players we might be interested in: Naughton, Yakubu, Kamara, Mee, PVA and Bruma. They are all probably waiting to see what Premier League offers come in before committing themselves to a Championship club. The subjective measure of how big a club may be is really only a discussion amongst fans and we have to accept that Swansea, Wigan and Blackburn etc. will all be more attractive propositions for any of our playing targets. I am not really surprised and am even encouraged, that we have not rushed into the transfer market. We were all witness to what Martin Allen achieved in his very productive recruitment drive in a pre-season. Players who are available and moving now, may really not have too many other options and we may have to be patient if we want the best. I fully expect our squad to be incomplete at the start of next season. Itâs quite probable that we will miss out on some of the quality players that we need and we may have to see what is available in the loan market to plug the gaps. We wonât know what high quality loans are available until Premier League teams name their squads for next season. It might hurt a bit, but we may have to grit our teeth, realise our place in the food chain and be patient.
None of other teams are buying players either. Millwall have lost Steve Morison while Peterborough will lose Mackail-Smith. Snodgrass might leave Leeds and clubs are interested in Max Gradel. West Ham will lose Parker, Ba, Upson, Cole. Birmingham have lost Larsson and might lose Foster, Johnson, Dann, Jerome. And Blackpool will lose Charlie Adam. So teams are getting weaker and we will will make our move when the times right, Yes i want to see movement but i want to see the right players coming in at the right price.