Cobblers will stick to the same transfer strategy that's brought success in recent summers
Cobblers will stick to the same strategy that has brought them success in recent summer transfer windows as they once again look to go toe-to-toe with the big clubs and lavish spenders of England’s third tier.
Patience and shrewdness in the transfer market have both played important roles in Town’s ability to build squads that are capable of surviving in League One over the last two seasons, and that will again have to be the case this summer.
Whilst Birmingham and Wrexham are no longer in the division, Northampton’s budget this summer will be dwarfed by many clubs in the third tier, namely the likes of Luton Town, Cardiff City, Blackpool, Bolton Wanderers, Barnsley, Rotherham United, Stockport County and Huddersfield Town, among others.
Chairman Kelvin Thomas said: "There's often a panic and as soon as the season finishes it's all about who we're going to sign and when we're going to sign them, but I think we've learned, as a club, and the fans have learned, that patience is required.”
And that’s especially true when it comes to loan players, a market which Cobblers will again look to exploit this summer, with Thomas adding: “It’s certainly the case in the loan market, which has given us some of our better players in the last few years, and that often picks up much later in the summer.
"I don't think many people have gone away from the club and spoken badly about us and that's very important when you're dealing with other clubs and loan players. I write to every club that we loan a player from at the end of the season to thank them because it's not an easy decision who to send your players to. There has to be a level of trust and we're lucky to be trusted.
"We have benefitted from it. There's always an argument around how many loan players you should have but we are now in a market where loans can have a big impact, especially in the last couple of years.
"Gone are the days where you get cheap loan players because you have to pay market value, but they do tend to be a bit less and sometimes you can get a better players, which we've seen for ourselves here. It's a commitment from myself, David (Bower) and Nigel (Le Quesne) and the board in terms of what we did in January with Terry (Taylor) and Liam (Shaw), and then Dara (Costelloe) and Ben (Perry) as well.
"We've now got to find a way to get these kind of players on a permanent.”