Marcel Gecov

Supposedly signed.  You can see his Transfermarkt profile here.

Defensive midfielder, young, Czech (and ginger – he and Sidwell could be a splendid combo).  Much to like here, although clearly he’s going to be down the pecking order to begin with.

I’ve always liked Czech football.  Hade and I were in Prague years ago to watch Slavia, and I enjoyed the players’ touch on the ball and overall technical ability. They weren’t especially physical, but were good to watch.  Danny Murphy has that Czech thing about him, smallish, slightly built, good touch; this is what I’m expecting from Gecov.  Time will tell but it’s an intrgiguing signing.

The other thing is that he’s young. Roy Hodgson did like older, dependable players, but this left us almost nothing from re-sale (see Greening). We need to start building the team for the future, and younger reserve players (who will then step up as required) is one way to start this.