Saturday 2nd February 2007
Dear Diary
Rotherham’s January transfer window was, in my opinion a success.
Which comes as a fucking relief, as our 2-0 away win over Bradford was our first win in five games, a period of matches in which I think we’ve dropped the ball.
The Miller’s current form, whilst not ideal, has become a backdrop over the news of Michael Essien arriving at the club for £8.5m from Bastia, a massive capture for the club.
Essien is also followed by a couple of other signings who could really change the face of this football club, especially as we strive for consistency and look to push on in the hope of our unlikely pursuit of European football.
Even though we know he has a future at the club, there was a few quid to be made from Curtis David going out on loan ti Wimbledon, which allowed him to fulfill his ambition of proper first team football week in week out.
As such, it allowed us to justify the purchase of defenders Liam Rosenior (£7.5m) from Bolton, and Gary Naysmith (£7m) from Celtic.
With Rosenior offering pace and game-reading intelligence at the back – either in the centre or on the right flank – and Naysmith offering an upgrade on Leighton Baines at left back (who’ll still stay with the club), our defense looks like it just received a decent upgrade.
Our left signed was not only reinforced with Naysmith, but also with the arrival of former Chelsea youth product Jon Harley, a left sided midfielder who has the pace to beat his man, as well as the ability to put in a shift in up and down the flank.
Jamie Vardy went out on loan to Crystal Palace despite his skepticism, which means he’ll definitely see more first team football than he would at Rotherham, which will aid his development in the long run.
Overall, I’m happy with the business we did.
David Batty left the club (we just couldn’t fulfill his first team requirements), whilst we also let a couple of other fringe players leave the club, including Matty Fryatt and Stephen Murray.
Now it’s time to focus on correcting our form in the league.
The 4-1 away defeat to Manchester United was a rough one to take, although the dropped points at home to Wolverhampton is the result I’m the most annoyed with. The lads need to realize that results like that are the ones that affect and define our season.
Still; after our 2-0 away win and quality recruitment during the January transfer window, I could have wished for a better birthday.
Time for a couple down the local with the lads for a bit of team bonding before we crack on with the rest of the season.
