Blues work in the transfer window this summer has been decisive and, on the face of it, impressive.
It’s a far cry from recent seasons when lack of money, embargoes, ownership and general craziness meant there was more risk than reward when it came to signings.
At Forever Blues we take a trip to memory lane to bring you the hits and misses of the club’s summer transfer window incomings since dropping out of the Premier League.
It’s fascinating stuff, and a good measure of where Blues have come from, up to this point.
2011/12
Ins:
Chris Burke, Marlon King, Morgaro Gomis, Steven Caldwell, Jonathan Spector, Adam Rooney, Wade Elliott, Jack Deaman, Pablo Ibanez
Loans:
Boaz Myhill, Chris Wood, Guirane N’Daw
A summer of upheaval and change. Blues had been relegated, Alex McLeish legged it for, of all places, Aston Villa and Carson Yeung got nicked in Hong Kong on money laundering charges.
McLeish had actually brought in Chris Burke, Marlon King and identified Morgaro Gomis, before sending a resignation email to acting chairman Peter Pannu. Ironically, Pannu’s Blackberry pinged with the message when he was in Amsterdam trying to seal a deal for another target, Danny Koevermans, of PSV Eindhoven. Unsurprisingly, Koevermans then said ‘thanks, but no thanks’.
Things got messy as a furious Pannu bitterly battled Villa for compensation.
Chris Hughton replaced McLeish as manager and stepped into this minefield on June 21 – eight days before Yeung was arrested and had his assets frozen. The club’s parent company, BIHL, had trading in their shares suspended by the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Blues had to generate money and sell who they could. Players wanted out. The Carling Cup winning squad was obliterated. Those who were sold over summer were: Craig Gardner, Roger Johnson, Michel, Barry Ferguson; Scott Dann and Cameron Jerome were transferred on deadline day. Lee Bowyer’s contract expired, Ben Foster was loaned out.
Hughton continued to assemble a squad utilising free transfers, players for nominal fees and loans.
They had to be capable of competing for promotion and coping with the demands of the Europa League, which they did.
Infuriatingly – and controversially – Blues were squeezed out in the group stage of the Europa League, despite totting up 10 points. And they fell short in the Championship play-off semi-finals against Blackpool.
King scored 18 times; Wood was on fire in the first part of the season. The experience and reliability of Caldwell, Spector and Elliott were key. Blues were a no frills, efficient and well drilled side.
Burke was outstanding on the wing for Blues. One match short of appearing in all 62 games that season, he scored 14 times and racked up 19 assists.
Pablo fared less successfully. Signed from West Bromwich Albion, injury limited his availability, and he had the misfortune to get knocked out in Bruges, resulting in the 10 minutes added-time – and all we know what happened then.
Hit: Chris Burke
Miss: Pablo Ibanez
2012/13
Ins:
Peter Lovenkrands, David Lucas, Hayden Mullins, Darren Ambrose
Loans:
Ravel Morrison, Paul Caddis, Ben Gordon, Leroy Lita (added in loan window, September).
Lee Clark replaced Chris Hughton as manager, after he upped for Norwich City.
Blues were in financial turmoil and had also been hit with a transfer embargo. Vultures were circling around prized young assets Jack Butland – who actually made his Blues debut in the opening match, three days after his England bow – and Nathan Redmond. Jordon Mutch was sold to Cardiff City and Ben Foster’s loan to West Bromwich Albion was made permanent.
Clark opted to go for proven pedigree in Peter Lovenkrands, Hayden Mullins, on frees, and Darren Ambrose once the transfer embargo was lifted. None were what you would call roaring successes, and loanee from Chelsea, Ben Gordon, was hardly seen.
Clark conjured a tune out of the mercurial Ravel Morrison, who seemed to enjoy his football at Blues on loan.
And the piece of business that brought Paul Caddis in, on loan initially from Swindon Town, with Adam Rooney going the other way, proved to be a very productive as time went by.
Paul Robinson’s addition, on a free transfer in September – initially on a month to cover because of injuries – was shrewd, considering the veteran’s contributions in the seasons thereafter.
Blues had to sell Butland to Stoke City in January for around £3.3 million (they had rejected a £6 million Southampton bid in the summer) and he was loaned back. The money helped pave the way for Wes Thomas to join from Bournemouth on loan.
As Blues continued to chug along in the league, the next month was notable for Clark’s astonishing rant at Nikole Zigic for producing “possibly the worst training session in terms of a professional footballer I have ever come across”.
Blues finished 12th that season, seven points from the play-offs and seven points above the drop zone.
Hit: Paul Caddis
Miss: Darren Ambrose
2013/14
Ins:
Tom Adeyemi, Neal Eardley, Lee Novak, Darren Randolph, Andrew Shinnie, Matt Green, Paul Caddis
Loans:
Kyle Bartley, Dan Burn, Scott Allan, Shane Ferguson, Jesse Lingard (added in loan window, September)
Blues were still having to manage their finances carefully, despite selling Curtis Davies and Nathan Redmond to Premier League clubs in the summer. There was no change in the circumstances of the ownership, and Carson Yeung’s trial to answer charges of money laundering began in Hong Kong (he was found guilty in March).
Stephen Carr also retired, leaving Nikola Zigic as the final link to the Carling Cup Final winners.
Lee Clark utilised a familiar market – out of contract players.
Of those, goalkeeper Darren Randolph proved himself to be of calibre, following the move down from Motherwell, and Tom Adeyemi was named the club’s Young Player of the Season at the awards do in May.
Lee Novak, who served Clark so well at Huddersfield Town, was also brought in as the attacking options were remodelled. He ended top-scorer with 11 goals. Playmaker Andrew Shinnie, a talent at Inverness Caledonian Thistle, headed south and Conference leading scorer Matt Green came from Mansfield Town. Paul Caddis returned from Swindon Town, on a permanent basis, as Blues used money saved on terminating Marlon King’s contract towards a £150,000 transfer.
Remarkably since Premier League relegation, of the 43 players previously brought into Blues only three had been cash signings: Wade Elliott, Pablo Ibanez and Darren Ambrose.
Loanees Kyle Bartley (Swansea City) and Dan Burn (Fulham) proved major positives and grew in stature. But once they and Jesse Lingard (Manchester United, who was drafted in when the loan window opened) were recalled in January, things began to go south for Blues.
Clark continued to bring in loan players, to lesser degrees of success in the main.
It the end, it all boiled down to that dramatic final day at Bolton Wanderers when a leap and a nod by Caddis into added-time went down in folklore.
Hit: Darren Randolph
Miss: Scott Allan
2014/15
Ins:
Jonathan Grounds, Stephen Gleeson, Wes Thomas, David Edgar, Gavin Gunning, Mark Duffy, David Cotterill, Clayton Donaldson, Denny Johnstone, David Davis, Nikola Zigic (brought back on a free in December)
Loans:
Grant Hall, Brek Shea (added in loan window, September), Michael Morrison (added in loan window, October)
Lee Clark was sacked in October after a poor start to the season, but the players he recruited in that summer window went on to provide a solid foundation for Gary Rowett’s Blues.
Jonathan Grounds proved to be a steady, consistent and underrated performer at left-back. Stephen Gleeson and David Davis complemented one another as the deep-lying midfielders. David Cotterill’s wing play and delivery was excellent and then there was Clayton Donaldson, spirited away from Brentford, who led the line with aplomb.
Rowett brought structure and a balance to the Blues side and, no longer dysfunctional, they went on to finish 10th.
Donaldson was a hit, scoring 16 times, and the addition of Michael Morrison in the winter consolidated the backline.
The signing that simply did not work was striker Denny Johnstone, bought for a compensation fee from Celtic. He made just two substitute appearances before being packed off to loan at Macclesfield Town, Cheltenham Town and then Burton Albion.
Blues were not out of the woods financially, however, as turmoil continued to swirl off the field.
Chief executive Peter Pannu resigned as a director in December after the club had to come out and refute allegations made on Daniel Ivery’s Often Partisan website about tax affairs and funding status. There was in-fighting within BIHL and in February the board voluntarily appointed receivers from accountants Ernst & Young to take over management of the company, to calm Football League concerns.
Hit: Clayton Donaldson
Miss: Denny Johnstone
2015/16
Ins:
Alex Jones, Jacques Maghoma, Adam Legzdins, Tomasz Kuszczak, Maikel Kieftenbeld, Nicolai Brock-Madsen
Loans:
Jon Toral, James Vaughan and Greg Halford (in November loan window)
Nikola Zigic finally left Blues in the summer, on the expiry of his contract, and Darren Randolph joined West Ham United on a free transfer.
Gary Rowett brought in two goalkeepers, Tomasz Kuszczak (Wolves) and former youth product Adam Legzdins (Leyton Orient), on frees, as well as winger Jacques Maghoma, from Sheffield Wednesday, who went on to become a fine servant.
A fee of around £200,000 was paid for Groningen’s Dutch Cup winning captain Maikel Kieftenbeld and Danish forward Nicolai Brock-Madsen was also bought. The pair had contrasting fortunes at Blues, however, as Brock-Madsen made just three starts.
Jonathan Spector and Paul Robinson earned new contracts and there were extensions for other key players.
Blues had a good feel and look about them under Rowett, who provided a masterstroke with his one summer loan addition.
One of the best temporary signings for Blues in modern times, Jon Toral, was drafted in from Arsenal to play off Donaldson in the number 10 role and was excellent all campaign. He swept the board at the club’s end of season awards in May.
In January, Demarai Gray joined Leicester City as the Foxes were thought to have met a reputed £3.7 million release clause in the new contract he was awarded in the close season. But Blues now had money to spend themselves and signed former loanee Diego Fabbrini for £1.5 million from Watford – the very fact Blues splashed the cash like this caused delight considering the frugality hitherto, post-relegation.
Hit: Jon Toral
Miss: Nicolai Brock-Madsen
