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Barrett spent all last season with Brighton but he could hardly be called a prolific striker, a goal in a 4-2 home defeat against Sheffield United in October was his first and last in thirty appearances.
Coventry aren’t going to stop there and a third striker Dele Adebola is expected to sign on the dotted line this week as they look to complete their summer signings early.
Another club hoping to do all their transfer business as early as possible is Cardiff. Lennie Lawrence has apparently in the region of £10 million to spend and is being urged to spend it as quickly as possible by Chairman Sam Hammam. They are hoping to bring in more Welsh players and are already believed to have contacted Burnley target Danny Coyne.
Another of the promoted clubs, Wigan, will have a similar amount to spend but as yet Paul Jewell cannot make any moves. He is still waiting for interfering chairman Dave Whelan to tell him who he has to buy.
There are not too many other rumours but Bradford are still hoping to sign Alan Combe the goalkeeper who made stunning saves from Paul Gascoigne on his Burnley debut, Sheffield United’s Dean Windass has made a come and get me plea to Hull despite a new offer from the Blades and Norwich are playing down rumours regarding Claus Jorgensen despite Bradford telling the world that he is signing for them.
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Ipswich came out of administration this week and once cleared by the Football League should be able to start making signings again. They have paid their creditors 5p in the £1. Burnley Chief Executive Andrew Watson has long told the shareholders and fans at Turf Moor that Ipswich are the sort of club we should be looking to emulate. It is a relief that we didn’t follow his preferred route.
Joe Royle was hoping to make Carl Fletcher his first signing but this won’t happen. We are not sure which Carl Fletcher but one has this week signed a new contract at Bournemouth whilst the other has committed to a new deal with Harchester Rovers for next season.
Hopefully though Royle will be kept some distance away from Driss Diallo when their transfer embargo is lifted on Wednesday.
Crystal Palace are feeling the pinch now they are the only club at Selhurst Park in years. It was the 1980s (before Charlton played there) that there has only been one club to use the ground and chairman Simon Jordan is looking for a deal to retain the rent money. He has made it clear that the Premiership nomads Fulham, the club with the Egyptian chairman who wants his money back, would be more than welcome to enter into a ground share with Palace.
If nothing comes of it then Jordan has said that the training ground could be sold to raise much needed money. Having supported the Franchise move it is good to hear that he is now missing out financially.
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Preston have come up with a new idea, they are having an online surgery where fans can question chairman Derek Shaw and manager Craig Brown. It will be a short surgery with most fans expected to be asleep within fifteen minutes as Brown answers his second question.
I thought I had misread the results of the play offs when I looked at the targets Reading have set themselves. After a meeting between Chairman John Madejski and manager Alan Pardew they claimed their target was to qualify for the Champions League.
Obviously the European rules must be changing to allow a team to qualify for its number one competition without actually playing in the top league in its own country. I have checked and double checked but I still am of the opinion that Wolves did beat them in the play off semi-final.
Pardew did say that he is looking to strengthen the squad although admitted that they will not be good enough to win the First Division although he is looking for promotion. He added that following the departures of Luke Chadwick and Glen Little they would need to bring in a right sided midfield player. He later suggested that neither Chadwick nor Little were on his shopping list.
It’s all out war again at the Priestfield Stadium this week between Chairman Paul Scally and the supporters and it is all because of a shirt. Gillingham have revealed their new shirt for next season and the fans don’t like it. Scally has decided to change the colour from their traditional blue to white.
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On a different note the Gills chairman has had a bad week with his nine-week old son Elliott having vital hear surgery. We are pleased to report that the baby is recovering well.
Also recovering is West Ham Boss Glenn Roeder and the Sinister One is hoping to be back at work soon. He has made it clear that he has not had heart problems and has not had a stroke. He has recently returned to hospital to have a non-malignant tumour removed from his brain.
Meanwhile Trevor Brooking remains in charge with his club slapping a £6 million price on Frederick Kanoute this week as Spurs came in. There has been some good news from West Ham, their directors have all accepted 50% pay cuts. This board are amongst the most unpopular in English football but they carried through some changes this week with ease despite the supporters campaigns.
All the news from Millwall has been from the boardroom with news that they hope to raise £3.9 million from a rights issue, £2.4 million underwritten, to make a push for the Premiership.
They will continue to fund their academy and in the last season eight of their academy players have made first team debuts whilst nine of them have represented their countries at various levels.
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Much of the praise here can go to the genuine Millwall fans who have worked tirelessly to improve the image of their club. They have worked long and hard at ensuring the ban was lifted. Well done to them.
More clubs have put their season tickets on sale, with many again having a price freeze. Forest’s don’t go on sale until this week.
Just down the road from Forest the manager debate continues at Derby. John Gregory lost his appeal and it is fair to say will not manage Derby County again. He has now launched an appeal for unfair dismissal in the High Court so at least we should get to know what it was all about.
Derby have made no decision as yet as to whether George Burley will remain in charge but it looks as though he is now favourite.
Ferdinand and York are set for Sunderland as Mick McCarthy looks to build a promotion squad. Not just who you think though. The Duke of York will be officially opening the multi million pound Academy of Light whilst McCarthy is keen to sign Ferdinand Coly.
It’s good to know that we are visiting the Isle of Man this year whilst other clubs have to make do with continental tours. Stoke have this week announced a pre-season tour to Holland with a home match against Athletico Bilbao arranged on their return. Palace have also lined up a prestigious home game against PSV Eindhoven.
We won’t be jealous of course, we are playing in an international tournament against the likes of Blackpool and Wrexham.
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With the south Yorkshire area having had a lot of rain the groundsman at Millmoor has this week revealed that following re-seeding of the pitch the grass is already beginning to come through. It really is too much to take at the beginning of June.
Finally, and sadly, we have to report that Franchise FC have finally found a club prepared to play them in a pre-season friendly despite that club’s own supporters asking them to call it off. Charlton, Spurs and Luton all snubbed the franchised outfit from Milton Keynes but this week Aylesbury Town said they would go ahead as scheduled with their game.
Not as though they are totally happy and the Ducks issued the following statement:
"In common with virtually all of the footballing world this club deplored the decision of the Commission appointed by the FA to make the final decision on Wimbledon's re-location to Milton Keynes.
"Apart from the principles involved we were not happy with a senior club moving into our area very close to our patch. This also had probably adverse consequences for our Football in the Community and our junior development programmes.
"As a result Bill Carroll actively canvassed the FA to have the decision of the Commission challenged. But, the terms of that Commission made the decision final and unable to be challenged although there were several members of the FA and indeed of the Premier League very unhappy with the decision.
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"In the circumstances the Directors have decided that it can only be in the club's best interests to co-operate with Wimbledon FC and to make the best of this new situation.
"A further aspect is that on a personal level good relations exist between the team management and coaching staff at Wimbledon and personnel at Aylesbury and we are grateful for Wimbledon's co-operation in loaning Lee Worgan to the club for long spells last season.
"We are currently holding exploratory discussions with Wimbledon on how we can co-exist as near neighbours without causing conflict over such matters as junior development, football in the community etc. We trust that this response explains the reasoning behind the decision to host a pre-season friendly against our new neighbours."
Well done to the supporters of the Ducks for fighting the decision to play this game and although we disagree with their decision to play the game it is refreshing to hear another club come out and say they deplore the decision to allow the move.
That’s it for this week and unless Gary McAllister goes on another shopping spree it could be another quiet week in store around one.