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Name: Gavin Williams From: West Ham Price: 300k
Verdict: Injured of late but his loan spell before the purchase proved that the Welsh international is an excellent acquisition to our squad, providing the attacking pace that the midfield area was craving. Makes an excellent bridge between the midfield and attack and alongside Darren Currie, gives us another player who can play out on the wing to stop the much failed attempt at playing Magilton in "the Beckham role" - oh please! Very importantly for me was that he came to Suffolk to play "the Ipswich way"; he loves to get the ball on the floor and spray it about. Would have been labelled "cut price bargain" if sold on the high street. The 25 year old is likely to be an integral part of our future midfield; still young enough to grow with the team but his international background provides valuable experience to pass on to others.
Name: Vemund Brekke-Skard From: Brumunddal Cost: Free
Verdict: The jury is still out, after his progress has been blighted by a hernia operation that has only restricted him to a handful of reserve team fixtures in his quest to push for the first-team. Royle tells us that he’s a player with tremendous fitness levels much like Westy and can play a bit too (which I feel helps!). Anything that is free is worth a go and Vemund has got a big build-up from the Town coaches after having to give up his teacher training degree in Norway to concentrate on his football. Lets hope he learns quickly at this level!
Name: Adam Proudlock From: Sheffield Wednesday Cost: Free
Verdict: We all know of Adam’s past problems but he realises that Portman Road is his ‘last chance saloon’ and I think that it’s this mentality that Royle thinks will see the player give his all. He’s been blighted by niggling injuries since arriving on loan and is still yet to prove himself but from what we’ve seen he does look a physical presence and has the versatility to be able to play wide right as well as leading the line. He also seems to have a bit of flair about him when on the ball (which we lack, McDonald aside) but worryingly has never managed more than a meagre 8 goals in one campaign and has been much travelled. I don’t think Adam will be a big success at Ipswich but having another striker chomping at the bit is good for the club and I believe he can play a bit part should the injury curse continue to haunt us in the forward line. Definitely down the pecking order though when others are available.
Name: Alan Lee From: Cardiff Cost: £100k (Maybe rising to £150K)
Verdict: Our new Shefki!? Possibly the most shrewd bit of transfer activity seen in the January window across the country, perhaps…Rotting in the Cardiff Reserves, Royle decided to speak to former employers Rotherham, where he got glowing references. The problem with our team before Alan’s arrival was nicely put that when we got the ball out of midfield "it wasn’t sticking" - and so Mr Lee proved to be every bit as good as a pritt stick! An old fashioned striker with plenty of strength and good in the air he is also displaying deceptive pace but it’s his work rate and determination that are already endearing him to the Portman Road faithful. Add to that 3 goals in 6 games and the £100k has already been repaid a few times over. The only problem now is keeping the 27 year old injury free and the Ipswich striker curse seems to have already taken its grip - help! The Republic of Ireland international was ridiculed on our message board by Cardiff fans but I’ve got a very, very sneaky suspicion that we’re going to have the last laugh! Ha Ha…
News has just come through today that a deal is 90% done to bring Ricardo Fuller to the club on a months loan from St Mary’s, as cover for Alan Lee’s hamstring injury. He’s another typical Royle signing, in that he is a player currently out-of-sorts who once seemed destined for big things. In 2004 the Jamican international moved from Preston to Pompey in a £1million move, but only scored 1 goal at Fratton Park before a cut-price £90k moved him to bitter rivals Southampton. He has failed to make much of an impact there either, so lets hope that with Ricardo it’s a case of "I don’t like to be beside the seaside" and he re-discovers the form that earnt him a move to the Premiership. He should go straight into the squad for Wolves and with Lee, Forster and Parkin all out, boy do we need him!
As I said in my first column on this site, Royle is a manger that continually seems to pluck diamonds out of the rough and sometimes this gets overlooked. We all regard Shefki as a class act now but when Royle opted to bring him to Portman Road, he was very much a footballer that had lost his way, as he was struggled to get a place in the Sheffield Wednesday reserve side. With Royle’s reputation for bringing on players though it often seems strange that he has so many failed attempts to bring in high profile Premiership loans. I just could not understand why Fowler turned us down!? I mean Newmarket is only up the road!…….
P.S. Parkin’s poor start to his Portman Road career is all a big hoax. As just demonstrated Royle loves to re-ignite fledging careers and when Parkin returns from injury, this can now be staged in the most superb fashion on Big Joe’s CV, with Parkin firing in goal after goal to take us into the play-offs in a run that will wipe Crystal Palace off the history board! Royle has revealed that a letter from an angry fan in the summer brought about these rather peculiar instructions for the season. All Joe would reveal of the letter was that the disgruntled fan wanted the side to resemble Burley’s pre-premiership campaigns. After studying the history and videos Royle was a bit bemused but wanted to give the Public what they wanted…..que relegation candidates at Christmas and play-off contenders by March (fingers very much crossed!)