So Far So Good

The Last Word by Brendan White

(first published in the July 2009 Ipswich Town friendly programme)

The transfer window has opened just opened and already Blues fans will be delighted with how Stephen Henderson has gone about strengthening his Blues squad. The weeks leading up to the opening of the window led to Blues fans debating who they believed would be the ideal signing as they aim for promotion. What players should we sign? What positions we needed to fill? How many players would we be able to sign?

Dave Warren has been a Blues fans’ favourite since first coming to United in 2007 and the news that he was not one of the players to re-sign at the start of the season was met with disappointment. The surprising news to follow was that nobody had snapped him up. A loss to other possible teams has turned out to be a huge gain for the Blues, as the extremely talented midfielder has returned to the RSC.

After returning home to Cork from Wrexham, Dave signed for Cork City, but found first team opportunities hard to come by and went on loan to Cobh. Shortly afterwards he signed with Cobh and famously scored a double hat-trick in an 8-1 demolition of Monaghan United. Dave first signed for Waterford in 2007. Initially used in a wide position in midfield, he soon settled back into to his preferred central midfield role. Strong, tough in the tackle and with an eye for goal, Dave’s return to help the Blues’ push for promotion this season will be invaluable.

Further news of the re-signing of Stephen Grant has left Blues fans thinking that these signings might prove to be decisive come the end of the season. Grant, like Warren, returns for his second spell with Waterford, having first played with the Blues from 2004 to 2006. After leaving United, Grant signed with Kilkenny but re-joined local club Tramore for the 2008/2009 season and helped them secure the Waterford Premier Division title, after a play-off win against Carrick United. In that game Stephen showed his ability to get forward and support the front two from his midfield position.

A versatile player, who can play anywhere across the midfield, Grant finds himself most at home in the middle of the pitch. During his last spell with the club, he received a late call-up to Don Givens’ Ireland U-21 side for the Madeira Tournament in February 2006. He played in all three games, and scored the first goal in the 2-1 win in the final match against Portugal as Ireland went on to win the tournament.

With Warren and Grant joining Paul McCarthy and John Kearney, competition is now fierce to decide who gets those two central midfield positions. With more names being mentioned as possible signings, only time will tell to see whether more players can be brought in, but if they are half as good as the players signed already, we could be in for a very good second half to the season.