Johnson joins as boss trims squad
COUNTY boss Dave Challinor continued the restructuring of his Hatters squad this week, with a new face through the door at Edgeley Park after four outgoings.
Defender Zeki Fryers, who joined his hometown club under former manager Simon Rusk in the autumn, departed after a four-month spell with The Hatters which was plagued largely by injury.
Young loanees Will Fish and Arjan Raikhy returned to parent clubs Manchester United and Aston Villa respectively, with both struggling for minutes under both Rusk and Challinor after joining on season-long loan deals in the summer.
On Thursday, highlyrated youngster Ethan Pye was allowed to join National League North side Spennymoor Town on a three-month loan deal - with Port Vale defender Ryan Johnson signing on at Edgeley Park hours later.
Johnson played an integral role in Hartlepool United’s promotion to the EFL via the National League play-offs last season, making 39 appearances and scoring five times – including one against The Hatters – under Challinor at Victoria Park.
That stellar season attracted the interest of Port Vale, who moved to sign the former Kidderminster Harriers defender on a two-year deal.
It is believed that Challinor identified the leftsided centre-half early on in his time at the club, with County struggling to replace James Jennings on the left-hand side of a back three, following Jennings’ enforced retirement through injury in the summer.
Wing-back Mark Kitching has been deputising in that role, but County are understood to have been in the market to strengthen in that area leading to Johnson’s arrival on an initial eighteen-month deal, after County paid a nominal fee to the Valiants.
“I’m absolutely delighted to get Ryan in the building. He’s someone I’ve worked with previously, so we know each other and I’m really looking forward to working with him again,” said Challinor.
“I know what he can add, and he knows my expectations and how I work.
“I feel he developed as a player in the last stint with me, and I really think there’s plenty of scope for more improvement.
“He’s a powerful, naturally left-sided defender who will undoubtedly add to the quality we already have in the group.
“Most importantly, he knows the level, knows what it takes to be successful, has been promoted from this division and can move forward with the club on our journey.”
Since his arrival to replace former manager Simon Rusk in November, Challinor has repeatedly mentioned his desire to trim and reshuffle the squad at Edgeley Park, after inheriting a relatively large group following his decision to leave Hartlepool in early November.
Young Manchester United defender Fish only started one league game for County in his time at the club, with that coming on the opening day in a resounding 1-3 home defeat by Dagenham & Redbridge.
Fish found himself exposed up against the experienced Paul McCallum that day, and – aside from a late cameo in a 0-2 away win at struggling Maidenhead – did not feature for County in National League action again.
The United U23 captain had signed to much fanfare in the summer on what was intended to be a season-long loan deal – but, ultimately, with neither Rusk nor Challinor seeing fit to select the youngster at the back, the Premier League giants activated a recall clause in the loan this week.
It is understood that County would have returned Fish to United this month regardless of whether the Red Devils opted to recall the defender early or not – as The Hatters did with Aston Villa loanee Raikhy.
Raikhy signed in much the same circumstances as Fish, with a seasonlong loan also arranged for the midfielder from Villa Park in the summer.
Raikhy had been impressing at his parent club, even featuring for the Villans in their FA Cup third round clash with Liverpool last season – and, unlike Fish, the boxto-box midfielder seemed to settle in well to the County side early in the National League season.
A start on the opening day was followed by Man of the Match displays against Southend United and Grimsby Town in the opening quarter of the season – but, as pressure on manager Rusk began to build for a poor start to the season, another heavy defeat appeared to see Raikhy ostracised from the matchday squad.
The youngster had been named in the starting line-up for the visit of Yeovil Town to Edgeley Park in mid-September, but with just five minutes until kick-off, talk of a late change to the line-up began to do the rounds, with Raikhy reportedly unwell and to be replaced.
However, as the teams emerged for kick-off, Raikhy took his place in the eleven as planned – only for a dismal thirty-minute spell to be ended when Rusk replaced his loanee midfielder with Tom Walker after 32 minutes.
Yeovil went on to breeze to a 0-3 win, and Rusk would survive as the beleaguered County boss for six more weeks before being dismissed. In Rusk’s remaining time in charge after the Yeovil defeat, Raikhy would not feature in National League action again.
Rumours around the County camp at the time surfaced that Raikhy’s reputation had taken a hit with Rusk not for being unwell, but for insisting he could play in the Yeovil fixture when quizzed by the manager in the minutes leading up to kick-off, only to be replaced early in the afternoon.
Following Challinor’s arrival, the former Fylde boss was keen to stress that all at the club would be given a “clean slate” – and, whilst neither Fish nor Raikhy
would feature much more, Raikhy did make a number of cameo appearances, including an impressive spell in the memorable 5-3 win over Bolton Wanderers in the televised FA Cup first round.
Ultimately, it’s believed that whilst the duo could not force their way into County’s strongest National League side, The Hatters do think highly of the pair and reflected in a statement that the club would “look forward to following their future careers”.
Fish, who has one Premier League appearance to his name in a 1-2 win at
Wolves, may be set for a loan move elsewhere in the pyramid, whilst Raikhy has already been pictured in first-team training at Villa Park under the tutelage of new manager Steven Gerrard.
For County and Challinor, the rebuild looks set to continue into January, with a host of names still being linked with moves to and from Edgeley Park.
On the pitch, The Hatters were due to travel to neighbours Altrincham on Tuesday evening as the Express went to print, for County’s first taste of action since the New Year began.
This coming Saturday, Challinor’s side will host Larkhall Athletic in FA Trophy action – the lowest side left in the competition.