Delaney in to boost defence
KEITH Hill made his first swoop into the January transfer window this week with the signing of Burton defender Ryan Delaney – and he’s hoping to follow it up with more new arrivals.
The chief drafted in the 21-year-old, who can play as a left-sided centre half or left-back, to bolster his defence.
The youngster spent last season on loan at League of Ireland side Cork City, making 49 appearances at the heart of the defence and helping them to a league and cup double.
Delaney’s arrival was announced on Tuesday, hours before Dale were knocked out of the EFL Trophy with a 1-0 home defeat against Lincoln City.
Delaney is expected to be part of the matchday squad for today’s trip to Gillingham in League One.
“Ryan wants to learn, he wants to listen, he wants to ask. He’s not the end product, we are trying to make him the end product. We feel as though we have got a player with great character and real ambition to improve in the game, that’s why he has come to us,” Hill told the club’s official website.
“We needed to jump the queue, because if he’d started playing over here in the manner he’d been performing in Ireland, then I don’t think we’d have got anywhere near him.
“So we’ve signed him and he’s all in – he’s the type of character that I want to work with, someone I know will improve underneath us.
“He doesn’t have to come in and make an immediate impact, but we are expecting him to. He has signed for right here, right now, for this year and for next year and the year after.
“As a football club we have to do good business and I feel that this is great business for us in the long term – but he will also be involved in the short term.”
And Hill is hoping to bring in other players with similar qualities.
“I do have irons in the fire. I have a good board and room to manouvre, but I am an honest manager and I treat the club’s money like my own and I don’t overspend, I don’t spend on a credit card that I can’t afford to pay back and I certainly don’t go bankrupt, so I wouldn’t expect the club to either,” he said.
“I am probably less pushy than I ever was when it comes to using the club’s hard-earned cash but if it’s there to use in the right manner as it was with Ryan, we will definitely use it.”