I’m about a week late posting about the January transfer deadline and what transactions happened the final day. As mentioned, Nurnberg and Newcastle picked up some useful players earlier in the transfer window, but Oxford United were pretty quiet as far as acquisitions go. That fortunately changed on the last day with two signings. While each deal only goes through the end of the season and is not long term, it will at least give the Yellows that push for promotion.
The first signing was a loan deal for Scott Rendell, a 25 year-old striker from the Wycombe Wanderers. He’ll probably start right away adding another much needed option in attack. The other striker they did sign earlier in January, Oli Johnson, looks to be more of a back up player. According to Wikipedia and Oxford United’s website, Rendell has traveled around the lower English leagues quite a bit, but he seems to have put up a decent tally of goals anywhere he’s been.
Oxford’s second signing was for Mark Wilson, a midfielder, who was a free agent. Again, according to Wikipedia and Oxford United’s website, Wilson started his career with Manchester United and has fallen down through the English leagues since then. At 32, he’s heading towards the later years of his career, but he adds some veteran experience to the midfield. That can’t be bad for a lower league team trying to move up.
Switching over to injuries, Oxford couldn’t have gotten those last mentioned transfers at a better time. Striker Alfie Potter – who started and scored in Oxford’s last match – is out for the season after breaking his ankle in training. Luckily, Scott Rendel and Oli Johnson should fill his place.
Switching teams on the injury front, Newcastle updated the injury status of Ryan Taylor and Leon Best on their website. As was reported after the match, Taylor’s lower leg injury was negative for any fractures and is indeed just tissue damage. They’re not saying how long he’ll be out, but I’m guessing he won’t be starting next week’s match. Hopefully it won’t be much more than that though. Manager Alan Pardew estimated that Leon Best would be out six weeks with his damaged knee ligament, but other tests will confirm.
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