After the disappointment of the first Old Firm derby in nearly three years had passed, there appeared to be a new dawn appearing for Scottish football. A positive one. And it came from the unlikeliest of sources: the January transfer window.
A cold February afternoon and evening in Scottish football reverberated with the sound of speculation, comings and goings, transfer fees, shock moves, derisory bids, hands off warnings. It had it all. Except Jim White and his posse of dullards from Sky Sports News. Thankfully.
There hadn’t been such excitement to the end of a transfer window in Scotland since the infamous window of 2006. Eager fans, especially those of a Heart of Midlothian persuasion, were transfixed by a radio show, ‘Through the Window’. After all Twitter was more than five months from being founded. The Jam Tarts ended up bringing in a whole new team that month with a number of late additions.
This year was a more inclusive window with at least eight clubs involved in big deals, some which went through before the window SLAMMED SHUT, others which saw obdurate clubs survive the advances of any unwanted buyers.
With Billy McKay venturing south to the desolation of lower-league English football prior to Monday, Inverness Caledonian Thistle were clearly in the market for a striker, while Ross County, St Mirren and Motherwell were expected to be busy in hope of finding a player good enough, and desperate enough, to join them and save them from the mire of the bottom of the premiership table.
It was expected that the rest, Dundee United more than most, would be turning off the phone, taking the landline out the socket and locking themselves in a dark room with the Jurassic Park trilogy waiting for those pesky but relentless predators to get fed up and give up until the next time.
Then, out of the blue, Kenny McLean turned up at Aberdeen; the gasoline on a barely visible flame to ignite the afternoon’s events. St Mirren, with Gary Teale in place to the summer, had been on the up. James Dayton had arrived and the team had a settled and structured appearance to it with McLean the talisman, the stardust, at the point of the midfield. The expectation would have been for him to stay, lead the club to safety and depart for England in the summer.
It is a move that is seen as a positive in the eyes of most Scottish football fans, those that follow the fortunes of St Mirren aside. Their fans’ disappointment quickly affected their senses with claims that he was just as good, if not better, than Stuart Armstrong, a player we will soon get to.
For Aberdeen it is a tremendous acquisition and refreshing to see a club outside Celtic pay for a player and keep a player of his quality in the league. McLean chose not to get lost in the maze of English lower league football, where promising talent morphs into unfulfilled promise before they complete the final stage of the voyage to fully-fledged journeyman, the final entries on their Wikipedia page, a sentence on their spells at Burton Albion and Aldershot. At Aberdeen he will compete for European football, progress under a demanding manager in a steady team with the potential of a move to the Premier League or Europe in the future.
For Aberdeen it is a player with sell-on potential and one which will instantly enrich a squad which is not blessed with quality in depth. It is easy to picture McLean seamlessly fitting into the style and system which McInnes has created this season.
If Aberdeen still have serious considerations about challenging for the title they were dealt a blow when Celtic secured the services of Stuart Armstrong and brought in Gary Mackay-Steven six months earlier than expected. I will happily put my hands up and say that in years gone by such a move would have prompted cries of derision, ‘what ambition are they showing moving to Celtic?’. But is not a lateral move for either. Similar to McLean they could have easily went for the Championship but Celtic is in essence a further stepping stone straight to the Premier League.
They will be playing with better players where demands are significantly increased and will taste European football on a regular basis. The current squad situation will see the players likely take up ‘rotation’ status. Out of the two Armstrong has the strongest case for immediate game time. His multifaceted qualities will stand him in good stead, fitting into a range of systems. Whether it is playing a narrow three behind the striker as Celtic do, or perhaps in a deeper midfield position, especially in league games where Celtic dominate team and look for penetration from deep.
It must have been a gut-wrenching day for United fans, who will have had the enthusiasm of reaching a national cup final wiped away in two fell swoops with the departure of the duo. United understood the feeling of exasperation from their fans, issuing a statement explaining their decision. While, they still have a strong squad with the likes of Charlie Telfer and Aidan Connolly ready to take on more responsibility, it would have felt like the club had little ambition to bring silverware back to Tannadice. Unsurprisingly money spoke louder than ambition.
It wasn’t all doom and gloom as United saved Robbie Muirhead from Allan Johnston and Kilmarnock. The youngster, seen as arguably the most promising to breakthrough the academy in recent years, was brought in for a low six-figure fee. A fine move for the forward who will see his qualities enhanced in a more proactive environment.
One player United failed to get was Hibernian dynamo Scott Allan. The Edinburgh club made it clear they were not for selling but it did not stop United from playing the transfer villain and offering paltry money for their former player, increasing their bid by a pound each time.
Hamilton Academical could arguably top united in terms of the importance of the players departing. Yet, £1million from Norwch City for Tony Andreu is fantastic business, even is he is the league’s top goal scorer. They are safe from relegation so it is more than acceptable to take that substantial fee – more than they received for James McArthur. More perplexing is the case of Mickael Antoine-Curier, released from his contract with little explanation. An important cog in the Accies’ rise to the upper echelons of the league.
Elsewhere in the Premiership Partick Thistle welcomed back Lyle Taylor who is an instant upgrade on Nathan Eccelston or is it Eccelstone? He had such an affect that no one knows what the correct spelling his name is – even the well-informed and fastidious folks at the STV who produced this succinct round-up. John Hughes’ contingency plan for McKay leaving failed but there is more than enough attacking threat to keep them ticking over. Ross County didn’t sign anyone. Nope. Not one player on the transfer window day. Instead two players left, leaving them with just the squad of 37 to choose from. St Mirren are undoubtedly weaker than when they started the day with a couple of punts on Emmanuel Sonupe and Michael Brewster. No, me neither. They were even outdone by Motherwell who added four players that no one has heard of. Not even the fans of the teams the players came from. Okay, that’s being disingenuous. Motherwell needed players but you can’t shake the feeling that they will likely feature in ‘where are they now?’ when it is brought back in 10 years with no one having a clue as to what the answer is.
Down in the Championship all three of the top teams strengthened. There was much mockery over the arrival of five Newcastle loanees at Ibrox but three, Haris Vuckic, Shane Ferguson and Gael Bigirimana, have all experienced Premiership football with the Magpies and will definitely improve a, lets be generous here, functional Rangers side.
Hearts added to their midfield arsenal with Scottish-Dutchman Kenny Anderson, while Fraser Fyvie was saved from the English lower league carousel, Wigan Athletic, Yeovil Town and Shrewsbury Town before the age of 22, by Hibernian. They will look to stimulate the precociousness which earned him his move down south, similar to what they have done with Allan.
A whirlwind 24 hours in Scottish football. Excitement, intrigue and contention, even if it was away from the field it should still be celebrated. The country’s national game is definitely on the up. Don’t be scared to shout about it, just not too loud.
WRITTEN BY JOEL SKED
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