On This Day (1 August 2006) New striker target as Quinn seeks to build stable team

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Niall Quinn – newly appointed to the Sunderland manager’s role – was desperately attempting to strengthen his squad as the days counted down to the season kicking off away at Coventry in just five days’ time.

So far, only veteran defender Kenny Cunningham and ex Newcastle left back Robbie Elliott had come through the doors since Quinn’s Drumaville Consortium eventually got control of the club from Bob Murray. Quinn, after failing to secure Martin O’Neill or Sam Allardyce as manager, had stepped into

the vacant managerial breach and was making moves to beef up his squad.

Travelling for talks on this day 19 years ago was Geoff Horsfield. The 32-year-old Yorkshireman, who had a steady if not spectacular goalscoring record for the likes of Fulham, Birmingham and West Brom, was seen by Quinn as a striker who could add a spot of experience to the forward line.

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Horsfield – tackled here by Carl Robinson – never scored against Sunderland!

Horsfield had been on loan at Sheffield United the previous campaign and had completed a permanent £1.25m move in the summer. However, a bust-up with Neil Warnock had left him banished to the reserves and available for transfer.

The striker had held talks with another of his former clubs, West Brom, over the previous weekend; however, Baggies boss Bryan Robson was focused on signing John Hartson instead, leaving Horsfield to pursue a move to the Stadium of Light. Horsfield was keen, and the expectation was that he would be in Sunderland’s team at the Ricoh Arena.

Horsfield, for whatever reason, didn’t end up signing for Quinn – he spent the season instead at Leeds, and was part of the team that Roy Keane’s team would beat 3-0 at Elland Road a month or so later. Paul Butler and Matt Kilgallon were also playing for Leeds that night.

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Heading out of the club was Kevin Kyle. Seen by Peter Reid at one stage as Quinn’s natural successor, it seemed as if everyone had agreed it’d be best for the Scottish international to move on. After a pretty decent couple of seasons in the Championship under Mick McCarthy, Kyle had missed much of the Premier League campaign with injury and had naturally struggled when he came back severely short of fitness. Despite signing a new one-year contract only weeks earlier, Coventry were his rumoured destination, and it was thought he could be lining up in Sky Blue against Sunderland in a matter of days.

Horsfield wasn’t Quinn’s only target, however. A move for Kevin Phillips was looking like it would happen, although Aston Villa being in the middle of takeover talks had seen that particular move stall a little, while Andy Reid of Tottenham Hotspur was also a target.

Spurs manager Martin Jol was prepared to let the Irishman leave, however. Reid had been offered by Jol to Wigan, as well as Danny Murphy and £3.5m in exchange for Pascal Chimbonda – Paul Jewell had turned that deal down flat.

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Andy Reid celebrates after scoring for Spurs

Jewell had also rejected Sunderland’s attempts to land 34-year-old keeper Mike Pollitt – once on Sunderland’s books under Peter Reid – as back up to Ben Alnwick. An injury to Wigan’s Australian keeper John Filan had scuppered that deal, and Quinn would end up bringing in Darren Ward a couple of days later.

Andy Reid wasn’t the only White Hart Lane player Quinn was interested in. He’d tabled a double bid for Reid and Callum Davenport. Both players would go on to represent Sunderland – but not right now. Quinn’s offer of £2m for the pair – after Spurs had paid £3m for Davenport and £4.5m for Reid – seemed audacious and, unsurprisingly, failed.

Also leaving the club was Frenchman Christian Bassila, who exercised a clause in his contract to leave the club for free. He completed a move to the Greek side Larisa, after playing 14 games for the lads.

With just a handful of days left until the real action kicked off, it was concerning to see the playing side of things in such an uncertain shape.

There was plenty more transfer activity just around the corner, though...

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