Dawdling deadline day leaves Hull and West Brom in drop danger
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The day started out with Hull and West Brom holding high hopes of saving their seasons through the transfer market, but ended with the pair ruing what might have been as deals slipped through their fingers at regular intervals.
Steve Bruce had at least two targets in mind for deadline day, Spurs’ Aaron Lennon and Lokomotiv Moscow striker Dame N’Doye.
Had he snared the duo, there would have been a far sunnier feel around the KC Stadium during the chill of February but the Lilywhites winger’s decision to head to Everton on loan instead of Humberside seriously dents the club’s survival ambitions, rated a 4/6 chance by Ladbrokes.
Now, instead of an experienced top-flight wideman to provide a bit of verve down the right hand side, Bruce has a 29-year-old Senegalese striker unproven in the division to rely on.
N’Doye had a reasonable goals-to-games ratio at his previous two clubs, scoring 59 times in 104 outings for Copenhagen and 27 in 68 for Moscow, but cannot be backed confidently to fire with the regularity the Tigers need him to.
It was a similar situation for Tony Pulis at West Brom. Darren Fletcher ended as the lone signing for the cap-wearers first deadline day as Baggies boss, with deals for Martin Olsson and Carlton Cole both falling through in the final stages of the night.
Cleary Pulis identified the left-back and target-man positions as two that needed strengthening and a failure to land reinforcements for either, along with a rejection from Etienne Capoue, leaves the former Crystal Palace boss needing to work even greater miracles than he’s managed in the past at odds of 2/9.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
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