Thomas admits to potential error Cobblers made in January transfer window
Kelvin Thomas accepts it is fair to criticise the club’s January transfer window after admitting they ‘probably waited too long’ following Ethan Wheatley’s recall by Man United.
Cobblers looked short in attacking areas even before Wheatley departed, something Thomas has acknowledged himself, but they missed out on various targets and in the end only brought in one forward player – 17-year-old Jake Evans from Leicester.
For some, that failure to strengthen the squad in January was the main reason behind the team’s dramatic downturn in form in the final three months of the season, culminating in a club record 12 successive defeats to end the campaign.
"It was a terrible run and I think the confidence got dragged out of everyone,” reflected Thomas. “We were relatively competitive in most games but we couldn’t find a way to pick up a result. We didn't have strength in the group and we didn't have an authority.
"We needed to make some decisions that we didn't make in January. Maybe the position in the table masked it a little bit. I don't think the work we did in the summer was awful but we became awful after Christmas and there's no hiding from that.
"We added Elliott (Moore), which was a big signing, but we accept we were probably light up front before Ethan went and we probably waited too long for a couple of players that we thought would really help us.
"James (Whiting) and the team were negotiating quite hard for a player but we lost him at the last minute and that was just because he went for way more money and we didn't think it would get to that level. That was an eye opener.
"We will take that criticism because we didn't get a player or two over the line when we should have.”
Looking ahead to the summer, Thomas confirmed Town’s transfer budget will be around the same level it was when the club were last in League Two in relative terms.
"Our budget will be more compared to last time in terms of money but it'll be similar in terms of positionally in the league,” he said. “The gap from the bottom of League One and the top of League One is much bigger than the gap between the top and bottom in League Two and that's what makes League One more challenging for us.”