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Have the players brought in during the 2005/06 season cut the mustard? Or is KJ with money something to fear rather than cheer? Let’s have a look…..
Goodfellow – 5/10. Looked good pre-season, flattered to deceive after that. Probably too lightweight and his failure here (and subsequent inability to hold down a first team place at Grimsby) probably justifies KJ’s refusal to fork out £40,000 for him at the arse end of last season. Disappointing.
Akinfenwa – 7.5/10. An excellent start to the season, a solid finish, but a miserable, injury-blighted middle three months has cost both him and the team. Despite that, Bayo has more than covered his own transfer fee with a spree of goals in the LDV. Fifteen goals and nine assists represent a good return for a support striker, and hopefully he will be even more influential next season, fitness permitting of course. The added bonus is that he and Fallon are excellent competition for each other, and together they give us real options up front.
Tudur-Jones – 7/10. Another who saw a bright start ended by a stint on the treatment table, the £5,000 we paid Bangor is the steal of the season. OTJ showed signs of getting back to where he was during the playoff final, he has a good head on young shoulders and is a much more incisive passer than Keef gives him credit for. Will hopefully develop even more next year.
Knight – 8/10. Many have slated him at times this season, a viewpoint I simply could not agree with. Whenever he played, he scored goals. Ten of them in just thirteen starts in the league, thirteen overall since January. Yes, he’s a cocky, chopsy little sod, but his undoubted high class in front of goal could well fire us to promotion next season. The battle for the #1 striker spot between him and LT10 promises to be a belter.
Williams – 6/10. Probably not played as often as he should have, and blotted his copybook with a needless red card at Ashton Gate, but I like him. He’s an excellent crosser of the ball, a solid tackler and a more than useful member of the squad IMO.
Fallon – 7/10. Few players in recent memory have taken as much stick from the stands in such a short space of time after their debut as Rory, and very little of it was justified. A sticky start led to ever increasing pressure on him to hit the net, but his work rate was outstanding and his performances improved and improved as time went on, and eventually his first goal at Wrexham led to the almost clichéd flurry of them afterwards. Mobile targetmen with skills on the floor as well as in the air are hard to come by, and in Rory I think we’ve got a cracker.
Way – 5/10. Probably the January signing I was most excited about, injury has denied Darren much of a chance to add the barnstorming midfield presence he brings to the side. His quality can’t really be denied by anybody sensible, so we must hope that a full pre-season will enable him to get fit and firing. He will be a massive asset to us if it can.
Watt – 5/10. Much like Darren Way, Steve Watt came to us with a big reputation and has been denied the chance to show us why. Comparisons with John Terry at a similar age are sort of building up the hype a little, but a central defensive partnership of Iriekpen and Watt next season may well help add more steel to our back line. Be interesting to see just how good he is.
So overall about half of KJ’s signings in the last twelve months have shown themselves to be well worth acquiring, a couple have been unable to have much of an impact due to injury, one is a worthy member of the squad, and one has failed to do much of anything at all really. Whether they were exactly what we needed at the time is another matter, but individually the players themselves have largely come good. Kenny now needs to look very carefully at the defence, and invest in that as wisely as he has in our forward line. If he can do that, then this time next year the travelling Jacks should be planning their trips to Sunderland, Birmingham et al.
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