Hoganson the hot topic as Town prepare for Derby

Tonight the Cobblers welcome back to Sixfields a man who came all the way through the ranks, earned two Player of the Year awards and moved on this summer to higher ground in the Championship. Michael Jacobs makes his quick return to the club after signing for Derby County a few weeks ago and he should get a good welcome from the fans that watched him mature into a player fit for the big step up.

Had it not been for another man who had left the club in the last week then we would all be talking about Cracker’s return. But Michael Hoganson, the left sided player who shone in the friendly at Cogenhoe and who was subsequently offered a deal to sign on a one year deal with Town, may well be in the visitor’s dressing room rather than the home one after turning out for the Rams in their 1-0 win over Burton at the weekend (Jacobs netted the only goal in that one).

It’s fair enough that Hoganson is a free agent and can talk to any club he wants to about his future but the gripe that many have is that he played for another club whilst our offer was there, essentially taking part in a trial for County. It’ll be interesting to see how things work out this evening with the potential there that Hoganson could be in either squad!

There are three friendlies and two weeks to go until the season starts now and preparation needs to step up a notch as we close in on the big kick off. Still illusive are a at least one centre back (preferably with a bit of pace) and a goalkeeper, though Conor Roberts may get another shot at earning a short term deal this evening.

I’ll be starting to upload my League Two Preview articles in the next week or so, so come back for those…hopefully will be sticking the first lot up on Monday 6^th August with four teams previewed per day!

Jacobs finalises move to Derby

Jacobs…signs for Derby

So it’s all final and Crackers is no longer a Cobbler with Derby making their expected swoop to finalise the deal. It’s another one from the undisclosed fee bracket but it’s sounding likely to be somewhere around the £400,000-£500,000 mark which would be a reasonable return for a player who graduated from the youth system and who follows in the footsteps of Mark Bunn and Bradley Johnson who have left Sixfields for higher ground in the past few years.

It’s a farewell that’s in a similar mould to those two as well…young lads who want to test themselves at higher levels and want to take their careers to the next steps. We can’t stand in Jacob’s way, particularly with his contract expiring and though Aidy Boothroyd would love to hold onto him for another year it’s almost inevitable that he moved on.

Timing wise, it’s good for us and gives us the time to try and bring in firstly a replacement and then maybe even a player for another position if the funds are allowed to be brought back to squad building. There’s a good month and a half before the big kick off and I would imagine Aidy has options in mind having known about Jacobs’ decision for a few weeks now.

It’s a shame to lose a talented player but hopefully there’s some sort of sell on clause included in the deal so that any future move would give us a nice little earner. He will be back at Sixfields for a pre-season friendly with his new side on July 31st.

Good luck Crackers!