Boss Roy Keane has confirmed that QPR midfielder Shaun Derry was close to joining the Blues in the summer. TWTD was first to reveal that Town were targeting the 32-year-old then-Crystal Palace captain when he was about to become a free agent back in May.
Keane revealed that Derry was at Portman Road and the move was all but done, a scenario he alluded to earlier in the season. The Blues boss says Derry is the sort of player you need in the Championship: "He was here, we wanted to sign him, he wanted to sign, but we never did the deal.
"They are the type of players that I think you need to try and get out of this league, even though our younger players are doing well. The John Eustaces, the Lee Carsleys, you need them.
"I’m not surprised when I see where QPR are with people like Shaun Derry in their team. He knows I’m a fan of his anyway. I had a good chat with him in the summer and I was disappointed we didn’t get the deal done. He’s knows the Championship very well, he knows the game.”
Derry’s not the greatest passer of the ball but Keane says he does a lot of the hard midfield graft and knows the ins and outs of the division: "The Championship isn’t necessarily about passing, it’s about being streetwise with your team-mates, the opposition, with the officials. Shaun’s good like that.
"But you miss out sometimes and there’s no point in crying over spilt milk. He wasn’t the only one we missed out on, he wasn’t the only one who wanted to sign. The club weren’t prepared to do a deal but, as they say, that’s life.”
The Town manager says he’s not too upset by the failure to add experienced players in the close season: "I’m not frustrated. There was a decision made over the summer that we wouldn’t be bringing in these experienced boys and again we’re a little bit dependent on the loan market with Jack coming in, Jake, Andros and Darren O’Dea. They’re all good players and we should be grateful we’ve got them into the club.
"There’s always that little bit of doubt when you lack players who are streetwise and know the Championship inside out.
"Frustration would be too strong. I was disappointed at the time when we missed out on Shaun, but I think any manager is when you’ve missed out on a player you think you’re getting who will help the club, whether it’s a Derry or a Carsley or a Kilbane, whoever it might be.”
Keane says the squad also lacks a bit of know-how due to the number of summer departures: "For Steady we got a decent offer and the club accepted it. I was fine with that, but we lost a bit of experience.
"Having said that, we brought in Márton Fülöp and Mark Kennedy, although obviously Sparky’s injured so we’ve not had that run of games with him.
"It’s not just about their footballing talent but their experience. Even the likes of Garvs and Alex Bruce, as much as you can say it was good business for the club, we’re missing players who have played 200 or 300 games.
"Jon Walters, David and Richard Wright too, even though ultimately we didn’t want to hold onto them. We got good offers and some of their contracts were up and we wanted to change the dynamics of the squad, but I wouldn’t have predicted that we’d have lost that many players.
"However, I’d still make the same changes tomorrow, but we didn’t get the one or two experienced players we were after in the summer for one reason or another.”
The Town manager is pleased with his youngsters but says that the volume of games can take its toll: "The likes of young Luke Hyam have done well over the last few weeks but I keep saying that these young boys will have to be taken out.
"Not due to the physical side, they can run all day, but the mental side of playing Saturday-Tuesday, Saturday-Tuesday. It’s difficult for top players, let alone young boys learning their trade.”
Keane was pleased with another of his youngsters at Watford in midweek: "Ronan Murray did well the other night but that was as a substitute. We can’t start young Ronan up against two big, strong centre-halves for Forest who have played a lot of games.
"You saw Murray when we played Tottenham down here and he’s got the heart the size of a lion, but at this moment in time he’s more of a substitute, physically he still has to do a bit more.
"That said, the other night he looked more likely to score than anybody and credit to the boy for that. Same when he came on at Exeter. We can talk about what he lacks, but he gets in the right areas and he’s tenacious.”
Keane, who says he hopes owner Marcus Evans and chief executive Simon Clegg understand why he wanted players such as Derry, believes all bosses appreciate what these seasoned campaigners can bring to the table: "Every manager would like one or two experienced players, not necessarily for what they do on the pitch but in a dressing room situation before a game or at half-time.
"We’re depending on one or two of the younger players but that’s the way it’s panned out and maybe our role here is to help these younger boys become better players. Whether that can get us out of this league is a big ask.
"Saying that, the kids might surprise us. The kids are capable of bouncing back after the disappointment of the last few games. People like Luke, who has been given a rest in the last week, Tom Eastman’s played four games for us and done reasonably well, young Troy, Murray, Wickham, Reggie.
"We might look back and say this has been the making of them, even with the disappointments. As I keep saying, as much as we had a decent start, there will be blips along the way and it’s how you deal with the blips.”