Rotherham’s chances of staying in the Sky Bet Championship
this season are not only affected by what they did in the January transfer window, but also what their rivals did.
The window also gave the chance for Bolton, Charlton,
Bristol City and Fulham the chance to strengthen and that’s what most of them
did, some more impressively than others.
Here’s a look at the business Rotherham’s relegation rivals
did last month.
Bolton
Ins: N/A
Outs: Lawrie Wilson (Peterborough,
loan), Francesco Pisano (U.S. Avellino 1912, loan), Prince-Desire
Gouano (Gaziantepspor, loan).
Facing a financial meltdown and battling High Court rulings
meant that Neil Lennon was unable to recruit and that could prove fatal for the
bottom club. However, they were boosted by being able to hold on to both Mark Davies
and Zach Clough, their best two players, while only losing squad men. Still,
you’d think that might not be enough for Wanderers.
Rating: 3/10
Bristol City
Ins: Scott Golbourne (Wolves, undisclosed), Lee Tomlin
(Bournemouth, loan), Ben Gladwin (QPR, loan), Alex Pearce (Derby,
loan), Richard O'Donnell (Wigan, undisclosed).
Outs: N/A
On paper it looks a stunning month for the Robins, who
despite being managerless recruited top quality players right through the spine
of the team. Richard O’Donnell was the best goalkeeper in League One last
season, Derby’s Alex Pearce is a rock solid Championship defender, Ben Gladwin is
a talented central midfielder and Lee Tomlin was a key player in Middlesbrough’s
promotion bid last season which ended one game short at Wembley. Scott
Golbourne is a talent at left-back and they also fended off interest in ex-Miller
Kieran Agard. If all those signings gel, City should pull away.
Rating: 8/10
Charlton
Ins: Rhys Williams (Middlesbrough, loan), Jorge
Teixeira (Standard Liege, undisclosed), Roger Johnson
(Unattached), Diego Poyet (West Ham, loan), Rod Fanni (Al-Arabi SC, loan),
Yaya Sanogo (Arsenal, loan).
Outs: Joe Pigott (Luton, loan), Karlan
Ahearne-Grant (Cambridge, loan), Oliver Muldoon (Dagenham & Redbridge,
loan), Tony Watt (Blackburn, loan becoming permanent at end of
season), Ricardo Vaz Te (released), Franck Moussa (released).
A couple of weeks can be a long time in football. Looking
dead and buried after shipping 11 goals in two away games, Charlton have taken
four points from two games, including Saturday’s whipping of Rotherham, and now
added fresh bodies to their squad. However, how much of an impact those
signings will make remains to be seen as Jorge Teixeira was shaky against the
Millers while Rod Fanni is a 34-year-old who has been playing in Qatar and Yaya
Sanogo, though of Arsenal pedigree, has no Championship experience and even
fewer goals to his name. Charlton still should be a side the Millers hope to
finish above.
Rating: 5/10
MK Dons
Ins: Jonny Williams (Crystal Palace, loan), Jake
Forster-Caskey (Brighton, loan), Alex Revell (Cardiff, free), Jay
Emmanuel-Thomas (QPR, loan).
Outs: Harry Hickford (Dagenham & Redbridge,
loan), Mark Randall (Barnet, free), Simon Church (Aberdeen, loan), Dale
Jennings, released), Lee Hodson (Kilmarnock, loan).
Nobody has scored less goals than MK Dons this season
(scarily almost 1/6 of their total goals came in the season-opener at
Rotherham) and boss Karl Robinson has done something to address that with the
deadline-day swoop of Alex Revell and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas. Millers fans need no
introduction to Revell of course, while Emmanuel-Thomas is an undoubted talent
equally capable of being rubbish or brilliant. Jonny Williams and Jake
Forster-Caskey will add presence to the Dons’ midfield and Robinson will think
his squad is in a better position than at the start of the month. He might be
right.
Rating: 6/10
Fulham
Ins: Michael Madl (Sturm Graz, loan), Rohan Ince
(Brighton, loan), Zakaria Labyad (Sporting Lisbon, loan).
Outs: Adam Taggart (Perth Glory,
undisclosed), Sean Kavanagh (Mansfield, loan), Jack Grimmer
(Shrewsbury, loan), Nikolay Bodurov (FC Midtjylland, loan).
It’s been too easy to say that Fulham’s quality will see
them pull away from the relegation zone, but make no mistake they are in the
mix having won less games than the Millers. The majority of that quality in
their squad has been provided by Ross McCormack and the best news for the
Cottagers is that they managed to keep hold of him, despite him wanting to
leave. Recruitment has been mixed, with unknown foreigners Michael Madl and Zakaria
Labyad coming in. Madl is an Austria youth international and Labyad a Morocco
international so both clearly have talent but they will undoubtedly need time
to adjust to the rigours of the Championship, though that will be tempered by
the arrival of experienced Rohan Ince. It’s hard to say how much impact their arrivals will
make, so all eyes will be on McCormack.
Rating: 6/10
