Today was met with the news that Steven Pressley intimated during the last fans forum. Coventry City have signed Stuart Urquart…Urqhart…Urquart…Urquhart. He’s a left-footed Scottish central defender and I can barely spell or pronounce his name, the Scottish Edjenguele perhaps.
The main developments in the past few weeks have largely been the emphasis on retaining the current squad rather than adding to it. The rumour is that Blackburn pulled out last minute of a deal which would have seen their Portuguese left-winger Fabio Nunes sign for Coventry. As soon as the loan window re-opened we attempted to sign him on loan but chose not to as a deal would have been dependent on him playing, which would have disrupted the first XI.
Pressley now has been stating to the press that he would prefer to keep the squad as it is rather than follow the typical Football League formula of signing any player on loan which many other clubs seem to do. Fabio Nunes as a permanent signing would have added a missing dimension to the team, an orthodox winger with some skill and pace. He would have been initially another option on the bench as at the moment we only have two players (Manset and Daniels) who seem to be able to make an impact from the bench, with Barton and Willis used to rest other similar players when needs be. However with Blackburn demanding a loan deal tied to Nunes playing there would have been pressure for him to start and as an unknown quantity would be a risk given our financial situation as well as the form of the team.
Mr Urquhart has been signed as a prospect and I would imagine as 4th choice centre-back or 2nd choice left-sided centre-back if that’s how Pressley sees the nature of centre-backs nowadays. A captain at under-18 level for Scotland maybe hints at being a player with potential but it is difficult to truly judge a player’s potential ability so it will be a case of seeing how well and quickly he can adapt to our style and whether he can make use of any opportunities that come his way.
In other news, there have been 2 new contracts handed out. The first was to Jordan Willis who will be hoping to establish himself in the first XI by the end of his 2 year contract as he doesn’t quite look ready for regular first-team football. The second was to my favourite player in the squad, for reasons that can be read here, Jordan Clarke was also given a new 2 year contract after successfully transforming from unwanted right-back to first-choice centre-back.
How this has affected our balance in regards to our special agreement with the Football League (75% of the value of leaving players’ previous contracts) is hard to tell given that we don’t really know how much those who left were paid and how much was spent on Urquhart and the 2 new deals. I presume that there is still space for at least 2 new players, depending on how much they’re paid, and also room to offer Callum Wilson and one or two others a new contract.
Sideways Sammy 