Tigers legend Dean Windass on how Hull City manager Steve Bruce is going about strengthening his squad as transfer deadline day approaches.
TRANSFER deadline day in fast approaching and Sky Sports' Jim White is working on his excitement levels. It's a strange time for footballers as they may be moved on to another club as part of a deal to bring a player in.
I was almost involved in a deadline day transfer when Wigan wanted to sign me from Bradford. I turned it down to stay at Bradford and I have no regrets about that because my career may not have ended up at Hull City and I probably wouldn't be writing this column every week.
I got the call 24 hours before the transfer window shut. I had played for Bradford's reserves against Rochdale. We won 5-0 and I scored four of the goals. I think I had completed my hat-trick within 25 minutes. Wigan chairman Dave Whelan watched the game and, needing a striker, he enquired about me. I told boss Colin Todd I wanted to play regular football and to do that I would stay at Bradford where I signed a new two-year deal.
It must be weird for players doing all their pre-season with one club only to get shipped out to another team so soon after the start of the season. Steve Bruce may need to move players out before he can bring some in and I'm sure his search to find new players was increased by Tuesday night's 1-0 win at Leyton Orient.
By what Bruce said afterwards, only Steve Harper and Paul McShane did enough to make Bruce consider them for future games in the Premier League. It's great to hear a manager be honest about things. Bruce was also honest about Nick Proschwitz's future at the club after struggling to settle to life in England following his £2.6m transfer.
Nicklas Bendtner is a name being linked to City and Bruce will know about him from his time at Birmingham. He's an experienced player who can score goals but his wages may be a bit too rich for City. Bruce will only buy players he trusts and who he feels will strengthen his squad to keep them in the Premier League.
It's going to be a tough season no matter what happens between now and the closing of the window at 11pm on Monday. Getting that first win last week against Norwich was very important as those are the type of games the Tigers need to be winning.
Manchester City will be a tough game but the players cannot afford to show them the respect they did against Chelsea. They need to play the way they did against Norwich but keep 11 players on the pitch.
