Burnley’s confirmation of midfielder Michael Kightly’s release may well be of interest to Blues boss Mick McCarthy, who confirmed last month that he had shown interest in his former Wolves player last summer, as TWTD revealed at the time.

The Clarets formally announced the end of Kightly’s four-year spell at Turf Moor this morning, a move which had been widely expected with the 31-year-old having ended the season on loan at Burton after making only a handful of appearances for his parent club prior to his January switch.

Ahead of Town’s Easter game against the Brewers at the Pirelli Stadium, McCarthy cited Kightly as one of the signings of his career, having recruited him from then-Conference side Grays Athletic when manager of Wolves in November 2006, initially on loan before the deal was made permanent the following January.

The former England U21 international winger, who we understand was keen to join the Blues at the time of the interest last August, became an integral part of the Wolves side which carried off the Championship title in 2008/09 and won promotion to the Premier League.

“Kights, he’s a standout candidate for signing of a career I would say - £25,000 from Grays,” McCarthy reflected when speaking in April.

“He was outstanding, he really was. The two wingers we had at Wolves the time were brilliant, Matt Jarvis, who, of course, is at Norwich now, was sold for about 12 million quid and Kights was for a lot of money as well.

“Michael Kightly, the first day he came in and trained two or three lads said ‘Who the hell is that!’. He lit the place up.

“I’m glad to see he’s back playing [at Burton], he’s been missing a lot. I tried to sign him here for a while but it didn’t work and actually we took Tom Lawrence as well, so that’s been no hardship. But he’s been desperate to go out and play and he’s doing well now he is.”

Photo: Action Images

Pencilpete added 16:40 - May 23 I'm so hot for us signing another 31 year old has been I can barely contain myself !
5

Premierbluez added 16:42 - May 23 Looked good at Burton. Definitely someone we should sign.
0

12th_Man added 16:54 - May 23 Won't happen move on
1

prebsa added 16:56 - May 23 Another free, past it pro looking for a retirement home. Micks great at picking up those types of players. Let's hope he can fill big shoes left behind by Douglas! Mick will be forever lost without the skuglas duo bossing the midfield this year. Mick out
8

blueblood66 added 17:24 - May 23 Fits nicely into the 5 point plan. NOT
3

jas0999 added 17:52 - May 23 We should be building a team for the future. Not injury prone frees.
3

poldark added 18:03 - May 23 Come on McCarthy lovers next stop Div 1 and oblivion sign all the old freebies you know it makes sense super Mick just look what super Dougie did.
2

Surco72 added 18:45 - May 23 If that's MM s best signing after 20 years of management it shows how bang average MM is. No more old mates getting wages thanks would rather play and give experience ti our youth . See Nouble has been released again , can see why MM took so long to work out how bad he was , will be the same with Moore
3

midastouch added 19:49 - May 23 Whatever happened to the 5 point plan? More like the 5 point scam!
2

jabberjackson added 20:11 - May 23 I think he would be a brilliant signing, you miserable lot Anyone who remembers the impact Steve Whitton had on John Lyall's team, might give a favourable nod to this one
-1

wayway added 20:38 - May 23 He wouldn't come here anyway, not for £7.50 an hour
1

midastouch added 20:53 - May 23 I was never a huge fan of Steve Whitton as he only scored 15 goals in 88 matches between 91 and 94, so only just slightly better than 1 goal ever 6 games which isn't anything to write home about for anybody up top.
-1

sereneblue added 21:12 - May 23 I bet McCarthy's rubbings his hands with the thought of his first freebee signing!!!!!!!
1

Suffolk_n_Good added 21:13 - May 23 FFS, like we need another 30-something player looking for a final pay day don't we.....
1

Keanos_Barmy added 21:38 - May 23 midastouch, Lyall didn't play Whitton up top, he played him out wide and to great effect.
3

Cakeman added 22:22 - May 23 No thank you, not the answer. Five years too late. Now need to start afresh with youngsters even if it does mean making a step or two backwards before we start an upward climb.
3

midastouch added 22:24 - May 23 I was only born 75 so you've probably got a better memory of Whitton than myself Keano. I think I remember him scoring a cracker against Cambridge perhaps in a Cup match (I can't remember very well), but I haven't got that many memories of Whitton. I thought he played as a joint striker sometimes but I'm happy to concede on this point to those who haven't got such a foggy memory. Some of my early town memories included ringing up premium rates numbers to get 5 minutes of commentary so I didn't see that many matches as I was growing up. But when I did get to see Whitton he didn't seriously impress me like some of the other players did such as Dalian Atkinson. I remember him scoring a screamer (it might of been against Bournemouth) and we won 3 nil and I was blown away. That was in the days when Chelsea were in the 2nd division too and they had Dave Peasant in goal! Anyway, fair play to those that remember more about Whitton than I do, you prob got to see a lot more of him in the flesh than me so I stand corrected.

1

midastouch added 22:24 - May 23 The screamer I'm talking about was Atkinson and not Whitton.
1

tractorboybig added 06:16 - May 24 looks the perfect fit in our present arrangement?
1

Michael11 added 12:12 - May 24 If he can stay fit then he's a good player. I'd still prefer to get a younger version of him though. The last thing we need is paying more players wages who aren't going to be fit every week. We need young, fit and quick players.
0

midastouch added 17:46 - May 24 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Whitton "Stephen Paul "Steve" Whitton (born 4 December 1960) is an English former footballer who played as a striker. He was born in East Ham, London." Did he not ever player striker for Ipswich then? I'm sure I can remember him playing up front sometimes or was he only ever a winger for us like Keanos_Barmy recalls? I didn't remember him as being that pacey but as I said, my memory isn't that great so I'm more than happy to be corrected! Maybe Lyall decided he fancied him more as a winger rather than a striker a bit like McCarthy has for Sears! As for Lyall, he got us promoted so no complaints there (even if things weren't great in the Prem once we did go up, despite a very promising start) which is a lot more than I can ever see Mick doing for us! When we went up it was all looking so promising till after we beat Leeds I think 4-2 at home, then we crashed and burned and only stayed up by the skin of our teeth I think. Again my memory is hazy but I do seem to remember we looked very good until after Leeds who I think were the Champions the previous season. Again I stand to be corrected on any of this as my memory is far from sharp!

1

Seasider added 18:56 - May 24 I don't think you need worry midastouch,as I think your last post pretty well summed it up correctly. As days go by with nothing from the 'Invisible Man' I get more despondent as it appears that the' Arrogant Man' is here to stay unfortunately. This makes it highly likely that Kightly will sign,because the 'Dino' was raving about him recently;as well as usual bigging himself up for a transfer that happened yonks ago. He is one of his few former players left now from his Wolves days who hasn't retired or playing at a lower level. He doesn't happen to be Irish does he,as this would put the 'tin hat' on it?

2

Currie10 added 08:28 - May 25 Definitely worth taking for a year on the right wages - will be hungry after personal issues and not having played too much for a few years. Well worth a go.
0

Bergholtblue added 13:38 - May 25 Just because he was a good signing for McCarthy once does mean he will be again. Past it!
1

Blogs 295 bloggers

Ipswich Town Polls