Mick McCarthy is confident that he and assistant Terry Connor can make a player out of new signing Frank Nouble. The Blues boss says he and Connor were the men responsible for taking Nouble, who joined Town from Wolves on an 18-month deal on Tuesday, to Molineux in the first place.
McCarthy said: "I wanted to take him to Wolves. Terry and I discussed it and Terry effectively took him when I left, I think Ståle [Solbakken] had come in, but Terry recommended him.
"He worked with him for four months and we just think he’s got real potential. He’s a big, young fella, I think he’s still developing and given the right environment, the right encouragement and support we can get a player out of him.”
The 21-year-old, who started his career with Chelsea's academy before moving on to West Ham, has been out on loan at West Brom, Swindon, Swansea, Barnsley (twice), Charlton and Gillingham with only the switch to the Gills yielding more than a single goal, the Londoner having netted five times in 13 matches while at the Priestfield Stadium.
McCarthy says these moves haven’t always done much for his development: "They see this big, powerful kid and take him on loan and they take a chance on him and then he goes on loan and he doesn’t do it, they don’t work with him and they send him back. Nobody’s really explained to him why.
"How can he improve? Can we do this with you? Can we do that with you? I know TC worked with him at Wolves and he just saw a whole load of improvement in him, and there still is [more to come].
"There’s such a willing lad in there. So, for the deal we’ve done, it’s such a good deal for us to take him, and we’ll get the best out of him, no question.”
Nouble was the third striker to join Town in a week, Aaron Mclean and David McGoldrick having signed on loan last week.
McCarthy says McGoldrick is well capable of matching his League One form with Coventry — 17 goals in 26 games — in the Championship: "He’s got a good goalscoring record.
"There’s no doubting his ability and I think having been pushed out to Coventry, he’s proved to everybody what a good goalscorer he is. I know it was a level below, but he’s a good Championship player, David.”
But despite those signings, with the likes of Nathan Ellington and Jason Scotland set to move on and Ronan Murray having gone on loan to Plymouth, McCarthy reiterated that he is still after former loanee DJ Campbell.
"He’s been our top scorer, so why wouldn’t I want him?” said McCarthy, who we understand will face strong competition from Crystal Palace in particular for the 31-year-old’s signature, even if QPR are willing to sell him.
The Blues manager hopes the new additions will keep the more established members of his squad on their toes: "I’ve said before, a little bit of insecurity can make you work harder. They know their positions are under threat.”
The Town boss confirmed that Michael Chopra will be in the squad for Saturday’s game against his old club and says the striker’s British Horseracing Authority hearing and his statement on the subject haven’t come into his thoughts regarding his selection: "I saw his statement but I’m not really bothered about that, to be perfectly honest. He’s trained well this week.”
As for the number of further signings he might make before the window closes, McCarthy was keeping his cards close to his chest: "That is a question that I learnt never to answer. And since I’ve come here I don’t think I’ve got any dafter.”
Photo: ITFC