Steve Riches: Kirk will no doubt score freely for Yeovil
The cat is out of the bag today, Andy Kirk is off to Yeovil.
It's a good move for him, he was one of the last of our high-earners, some of whom were, at my guess, on 2,000 to 3,000 a week.
Those days have gone, and his contract expired in the summer.
There'll be criticism that we get no fee, but it frees up a wage position and I'm sure Stuart Gray is about to sign another striker, although whether it'll be someone of the proven quality that fans are demanding remains to be seen.
I was a fan of Kirk, but there are things he is not; as a wide man he simply does not take on defenders at this level and beat them with footwork and pace on a regular basis.
If he is fed killer ball close in, he can be deadly, but he's had precious little of that.
He'll no doubt do what happens with most of our ex-strikers, and score freely for Yeovil.
The club told me this morning that there is no clause to prevent him playing against us when the two sides meet on February 12th.
Do you think it's good business for Cobblers to get Kirk off the wage bill? Which players would you like to see signed before the transfer deadline closes? Post your opinion by registering below (it's quick and easy) or click here to email the Chron
Don't get carried away with hotel newsBefore we get elated by reports of a hotel deal bringing in around 1 million, we need to understand that the trade-off is the permanent loss of that area of land for any future use by the Cobblers.
The alternative would be to keep that land as part of the 150-year lease, try later to get planning permission to build a self-funded hotel, and attempt to make a profit from it.
Given that building costs could be 25m to 40m, it would be a risky business for a club whose core activity is football and whose recent balance sheet shows accumulated losses of around 7m.
The council own the freehold, the club owns the leasehold, and the club's current lease agreement needs changes to be made by the council before any potential developer will bite on a deal.
For instance, buildings on site must allow community use and no hotel owner would fancy that!
The deal is not yet done, but the club and the council seem to be in a new era of co-operation and if the changes go through then the sum of money going to the club – reputed to be around 1 million – would greatly ease the day-to-day running costs.
The budget is leaner than ever and we move closer to breaking even. The deal would buy more time.
While you see financial troubles at places like Bournemouth and Luton, the buying of time means keeping our club alive.
A hotel was already discussed when the land was leased to the club, which is why it may be able to go ahead in isolation, but the wider issue of Sixfields development is something else.
At the end of this month a statement is expected from the Joint Planning Unit (consisting of South Northants, Daventry District, and Northampton Borough councils) on what is happening with the 'core strategy' for west Northants.
Many readers will already have filled in consultation forms last year.
The 'preferred options' on what goes where will be the next step, and this involves ALL of west Northants and will not be about specifics for Sixfields.
I have been told not to expect speedy progress on this step, but before you point at the much-maligned NBC, bear in mind that there are two other councils in the JPU who also need to pull their fingers out and they are not inspiring confidence.
Then, after all that has meandered its maddening course, we shall come back to deciding NBC's own 'Area action plan' which first involves what will happen to the town centre, but, hooray at last, could also tie-in some action for Sixfields.
The system may be frustratingly complicated, but the pedantic machinations of our local politicians of all hues have made it worse than it need be for years.
Working with similar rules and regulations, other councils in the country have been much quicker.
Should all this make you yearn for a benevolent dictator, bear in mind the heavy criticism aimed by many readers of this paper at the unelected West Northants Development Corporation.
Both ends of the stick are messy!
Lack of experience shows for Cobblers
After Saturday's depressing 1-1 at home to Hartlepool, the shoot-from-the-hip merchants are back in business: 'Cardozas out', 'Sack Stuart Gray', yet there's no reasoned argument on how this would help us.
Much of it seems to depend on a benefactor suddenly appearing who will inject millions of pounds into the club. Dream on!
If these moaners were asked for a few thousand quid from their own bank accounts, they'd run a mile.
Sniping from the sidelines is easy, but reasoned argument is rare.
Here's an offer to the moaners: I'll report logical solutions, send them to me at cobblersteve@hotmail.com
For the first 15 minutes we looked superior to the visitors, we kept the ball to feet, fought well in midfield, and took the lead from a corner where Andy Kirk shielded the ball for Liam Dolman to score his first senior goal for the club.
Then it all went wrong.
Instead of pressing forward we went introspective, and ended up lumping high ball to a grateful Hartlepool defence.
Just before half-time the visitors made it 1-1 and we spent the rest of the game trying to keep it that way.
Ian Henderson (on for Kirk) had the easiest of chances to win it for us which he put over the bar, but we could have gone behind soon after with a miss nearly as silly at the other end.
Two of our new loanees, Jonathan Hayes and Mark Little, showed up well in patches, but two others, Daniel Jones and Dean Bowditch, were below par.
Giles Coke was rusty after a long lay-off, we missed Chris Doig and Poul Hubertz, but in the end you can't keep making excuses.
I've no idea why Brett Johnson was preferred over Mark Hughes – many of us were surmising that Hughes had annoyed Gray or was subject to a transfer enquiry – but the former Everton man got on eventually for Dolman who had taken an injury while scoring.
There's no experience in the side, and it shows.
We face Gillingham away on Saturday. They're three places above, but we have the relegation pack yapping at our heels so we need to go for it.
Their midfielder Adam Miller has had last Saturday's red card rescinded so he'll face us while we have no fresh injury problems.
Sixfields Travel are on Northampton 706401, Trust Travel are Northampton 499534, and the Independents with an early start are on Northampton 702741.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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