In the Championship – Window closes

Last updated : 01 September 2006 By Tony Scholes
Stanislav Varga during his first spell with Sunderland
Only three days earlier Sunderland's new boss Roy Keane had said it wouldn't be a problem if they didn't sign anyone but by yesterday morning he was being linked with no fewer than eleven players. He was successful in taking six of them to the Stadium of Light, all six of them players he has played alongside at either club or international level.

His first signing was that of former Manchester United team mate Dwight Yorke, the striker cost £200,000 from Sydney Olympic, and he was quickly followed by another former Old Trafford team mate Liam Miller and two players from Celtic Ross Wallace and Stanislav Varga.

Later in the day, Sunderland sent almost £2 million Wigan's way to add midfielder Graham Kavanagh and striker David Connolly who have both been capped by the Republic of Ireland.

The two biggest transfers of the day saw strikers on the move and the fees really took some believing. Coventry paid Norwich no less than £1 million for Leon McKenzie. That represents a healthy profit for the Canaries who signed the player from Peterborough just before Christmas 2003 for £325,000. In almost three years at Carrow Road he has scored 20 goals in 79 league games, 32 of those games from the subs bench.

That wasn't the biggest deal for a Championship club, that came so late the news didn't break until today and this one really did take some believing. It's no surprise to see the Legend want a striker in the style of Shefki Kuqi but paying £2.5 million of Fake Tan's money to take him from Blackburn to Selhurst Park is incredible.

He was one of two signings for Palace, the other was Stuart Green from Hull and he cost somewhat less at £75,000. Green hasn't featured in the Hull side under new boss Parkinson and his sale coincided with the Tigers bringing in two new strikers, Michael Bridges and Nicky Forster.

Bridges resurrected his career last season in League Two with Carlisle but he's been looking to get away since the summer and he's now back in the Championship with Hull. The former Sunderland and Leeds striker cost £350,000 and for another quarter of a million they raided Ipswich for Nicky Forster. He struggled with injuries last season at Portman Road but will be hoping to form a successful partnership with Bridges.

Jonathan Macken - joined Ipswich on loan
Ipswich moved quickly to replace Forster with Jonathan Macken, who has signed on loan from Palace until January. It is over four and a half years since Kevin Keegan paid £5 million for the striker but he's had a wretched time, and has started just 41 league games since then.

Joining him at Portman Road is French midfielder Sylvain Legwinski who was one of Jean Tigana's signings for Fulham after they clinched promotion to the Premiership in 2001. He's not been involved with the first team at Craven Cottage since January and has joined the Tractor Boys on a three year deal.

Leeds are always complaining they don't have enough players, so it was no surprise to see them add a couple of new players to the squad. Having forced out Eirik Bakke by refusing to play him again they brought in midfielder Jonathan Douglas from Blackburn. He'd been with them last season on loan and has now joined on a permanent basis. They also added a goalkeeper on loan, Stephan Andersen signing from Charlton Athletic.

Ian Holloway added two new players to his Plymouth squad but both had been training with them in the hope of winning deals. The first of them is striker Cherno Samba from Cadiz, and when he was a teenager he was being billed as one of the most promising youngsters in England.

He looked all set to sign for Liverpool but because of a disagreement they had with Millwall he ended up at the Den, and despite representing England at every level up to Under-20 his career nosedived and he was released. After a year in Spain he's back in England and as signed a two year deal with Plymouth.

He's been joined by Dutch defender Marcel Seip who is a more experienced player after spending the last three seasons with Herenveen for whom he played in the UEFA Cup. He has signed a contract until the next transfer window in January.

George Burley has been back to Derby to sign Spanish midfielder Inigo Idiakez for £250,000. Derby described the deal as good business but I can't see this being good business for anyone but Southampton. With Gareth Bale in the side as well, Southampton will be a side you won't want to concede too many free kicks to within striking distance of your own goal.

Inigo Idiakez - followed Tommy Smith out of Derby
Derby can put a brave face on it but they also lost Tommy Smith this week, he returned to former club Watford, and I think they have lost their two best players in a matter of days.

Southampton made room for Idiakez by selling our friend Ricardo Fuller to Stoke – he cost £100,000 and has signed for three years at the Windy City. That's hell of a deal for a player with his injury record.

That's it for transfer deadline day but there was one other deal earlier in the week with Preston signing Neil Mellor from Liverpool. He's joined North End for three years and will be looking really to start his career at the age of 23. To date he's started just 18 games.

That's it now until January, although I suspect it won't be too long before some of the clubs are bringing in players on loan.

As for us, a lot of fans sat and waited for news yesterday of a signing, but it was never going to come with Steve Cotterill having already said there would be no new signings.