I was dismissive at the prospect of signing Kelechi Iheanacho (now 29) when the move was mooted in September. The player’s contract was terminated by Sevilla, following an unproductive six-month loan at Middlesborough. Injury has blighted his time since, but when fit, he has shown enough to demonstrate he is clearly the best striker at the club.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (32) was a regular for Besiktas last season, spent until November alone, before training with former club Arsenal. He has won all major English trophies this decade and has a Champions League winners’ medal from 2019, when he was an unused Liverpool sub opposite Victor Wanyama on the Tottenham bench.
Victor was a year older than Alex when the former signed for Dunfermline in 2025. That experiment did not end well, as our former idol was a ghost of his former self.
The spectrum of outcomes between Kelechi’s clear ability and Victor’s ineffectiveness are all possible for a player who has been out of the game for a few months. Martin O’Neill has taken scouting updates from Arsenal and has clearly heard enough to convince him to move. Let’s hope he is well informed.
320 Comments- Pages:
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- »
Has the Ox ticked the box?
Happy Friday.
Oxtail Chambermaid for me!
Tontine Tim on 6th February 2026 12:01 pm
Sionnaigh on 6th February 2026 1:59 am
God bless the Auld Alliance, get it right up the Free Staters!
*Take it down from the mast, Irish traitors, its the flag we Republicans claim, it can never belong to Free Staters, you have brought on it nothing but shame.
love that song, when I first arrived out here many moons ago just when the roof was blowing oof the black north, my brother grhs had it on an album,
I also wonder if KT was able to get some inside information as well.
Oxtail indeed Tex!
And we had to rely on Brendan’s black book to get Iheanacho after the window had closed on our disastrous strategy
The Affiliation has left The Collective
That we are looking at a free agent at this time, would suggest our recruitment model is not working particularly well.
There are loads of players who were on the up who have perhaps moved to the wrong club. ( think kyogo and Kuhn who have scored twice in over 50 games between them). Attacking players will shine in dominant attacking teams as Adami and Mvuka did for Salzburg and bodo. Moving to mid or lower table teams in better leagues doesn’t always work.
We seemed to have dipped into this market in our January window and I have high hopes that we may have unearthed a few gems. Besides MON MK1 did alright rescuing Sutton and Hartson. Here’s hoping.
Well, having spoken about how 12 months of recruitment work had left him unconvinced, Martin had little alternative but to take some risk with recruitment.
Chamberlain being a free agent had the added benefit of simplifying negotiations for an executive which tends to lag behind footballing urgency.
It’s to the board’s credit that they turned down the Engels offer (well done whoever identified and developed that talent) but imagine just how angry Martin would have been had Engels been sold and he was left rummaging around the free agent list for his replacement…
An Dún on 6th February 2026 11:55 am
Chairbhoy on 6th February 2026 9:32 am
It is indeed significant that Martin said the recruitment didn’t convince him and then immediately followed this up with a comment about our ambition.
If he had of spoke with a north Antrim accent and not that soft Derry accent, you’d be forgiven for thinking it was a Brendan impersonation.
But we were told our policy was spot on and the failings were all down to one man’s desire for self preservation…Did Martin not get the memo ?
———-
Indeed AnDun. As if this blog’s Paul/Saul has had something of a Damascus Rd conversion.
Experienced pros – to balance out the club’s dayta punts – was pretty much what BR was lobbying for. Moves over which he’s been summarily vilified from the big shareholder to his meeja lackeys.
———
Wonder if any o’ the soup-takers will recount our very own Ox tale in seasons to come ?
Been shouting for a ball-carrying MF so have to be happy with this signing. Ideally it would have been someone younger and with more recent game time, but then we have only had four years since Rogic left to unearth one.
If only we were this bad at finding “wingers” who aren’t wingers…..
An interesting perspective from VVD;
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c3wzw6we5l4o
Now that everybody except Paul67 accepts the business model needs changing we are for the second time this season taking a punt on a free transfer outwith the window.
I am surprised you can sleep at night Paul.
I do agree with you that it can go one way or the other which is why we wont see big celebrations at his arrival.
He is worth a gamble though and if MON sees enough we need to go with that
A big win tomorrow is on the cards
The Iheanacho Wanyama Spectrum – saw them in the old Burns Howff.
Whatever happened to Dontbratbakk in anger? He had a sharp wit.
Soup Takers V Pot Stirrers.
The Affiliation has left The Collective
—
Worst episode of Star Trek – The New Generation. ever.
Tim Malone – Ole DBBIA still going strong, like a lot of the old guard maybe more lurking than posting
VG
Is the Ox confirmed then ?
If so, I’m OK with it.
Not thrilled, just OK.
If he delivers one goal, one assist, and 2 points more than we would otherwise reach ?
Mission accomplished.
Also, IMHO, entirely sensible NOT to include him in the EL squad.
He hasn’t played a game in 6 months.
We have only two guaranteed fixtures remaining in the Europa League.
One in less than 2 weeks time, the other a week later.
Unrealistic to assume he’ll be sharp enough to make a difference (at THAT level) in that time
slow news day.
AOC’s biggest asset, again IMHO, was his explosive pace.
After so many injuries, it remains to be seen how much of that pace remains.
He’s got loads of experience at a very high level so I’m hopeful.
(That awkward moment when the son of a footballer you remember clearly? … is now a veteran)
I must admit I like the ‘Try before you buy’ factor with loan signings.
It’s like getting a car where you just pay for the usual running costs and then after 6 months, you say ‘Nah – not for me’ without forking out any other dosh.
Plus, if the player does well, his transfer value should be inflated by the time it comes to shell out the original amount agreed.
LADTH,
brilliant!
A previous manager was slated on these pages, for deviating from ‘the model’
Good to see this approach had softened somewhat, though I note the hypocrisy
Agree that the try before you buy is a very sensible approach. Difficult to believe some of the complaints about “loan signings”, particularly when Jota and CCV were recruited the same way. Any excuse to complain without thinking.
i could provide a list of loanees who went on to be main-stays and valuable contributors.
but i cant be bothered,
If he can remain fit he’ll be the best player in the league. In the current context it’s a no-brainer.
Surprised there was no mention of Brian Wilson’s short but important interview from last night. Hopefully a first step towards a pulling together.
BACK TO BASICS – GLASS HALF FULL on 6TH FEBRUARY 2026 1:20 PM
From Transfermarkt it looks like most of his football has been played at centre or defensive midfield in the last few seasons, so hopefully pace isnt as much of an issue, but unless he’s replacing Calmac he does need to get up and down the pitch so mobility will still be an issue.
For me our biggest challenge over the last year has been our midfield and how we deal with a well organized press. Hopefully he can be the change we need, and hes strong enough to be able to deal with the Cammy Devlins in the SPL that will be waiting to sort him out.
Fitness will be key, I reckon. Stay fit and we might have someone who can be the difference in winning the league.
GLENOWEN on 6TH FEBRUARY 2026 1:26 PM
Needs must. It’s a short term fix for a problem that was created by exactly what some of us criticized Brendan for, but dont be under any misunderstanding that we won’t be returning to a sensible development model when we have a new permanent manager in.
It’s our only hope
The loan Arrangers
Schmeichel
Sinisalo
Doohan
AJ (injured)
Araujo ( loan )
Ralston
Donovan
Trusty
Scales
Murray
Arthur ( loan )
CCV (injured)
KT
Saracchi (injured ) (loan )
Montgomery (injured)
McGregor
Engels
Nygren
Hatate
Bernardo
McCowan
AOC ( free agent )
Holm (medical condition )
Yang
Forrest
Mvuka
Maeda
Tounekti
Balikwisha
Jota (injured)
Iheanacho ( free agent )
Cvancara ( loan )
Adamu ( loan )
Osmand (injured)
Out On loan
Welsh, Kenny, Palma, Nawrocki, Inamura and Yamada
What a pickle 🥒
BSR – Cheers.
One minor point about the swapping in and out for the Europa League squad.
None of our January signings is Scottish .. so we can’t swap a Scot out of the current squad.
Kenny is gone so his removal is obvious.
I’m guessing Balikwisha will get dropped.
No idea on the 3rd victim
I’m not sure if Callum Wilson was listed with the other pups in the B List
Callum Osmand
(Wishful thinking perhaps)
BACK TO BASICS – GLASS HALF FULL
Think we’re maxed out AOC doesn’t get in don’t think
Was thinking the revolving door will be off its hinges this summer.
MON confirms The Ox is signing
BSR – yip.
Multiple layers. Will certainly be interesting
The numbers game first
– Which permies will go?
– Will we want the loanees?
– Will they want us?
– What about those we have out on loan?
Then the quality thingybobber
Then the reintroduction of a recruitment strategy that EVERYONE signs up to
Including the new manager
And for good measure … finding 8 credible Scots for the European squad
… and a pathway for young players.
All on a budget and across 90 days.
Nae bother !!!
O’Neill told reporters today that he has added Julian Araujo, Tomas Cvancara and Junior Adamu into his line-up.
That means Joel Mvuka and Benjamin Arthur miss out on EL squad