Town are set to offer a short-term deal to former Wolves striker Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, according to reports this morning. The 27-year-old, constantly linked with the Blues since his former boss Mick McCarthy took over at Portman Road, is a free agent having left Wolves at the end of last season.

The former Manchester United and Plymouth frontman is close to a return to fitness having suffered a broken leg and ankle ligament damage during Wolves’ 3-2 victory at Birmingham in April.

Town are said to be ready to offer the Cambridge-born striker a contract until January, presumably to give him time to prove his fitness.

Speaking about Ebanks-Blake in June, McCarthy said he expected him to join a Premier League club: “Sylvan I bought from Plymouth and he was fantastic, but I think he might have offers from the Premier League on a free transfer. He ought to have, to be honest.”

Ebanks-Blake’s former Plymouth manager Ian Holloway is believed to have been interested in taking him to Crystal Palace, but with Premier League clubs having recently named their 25-man squads for the first half of the season, the striker would now not be able to play for a top flight side until January.

The 5ft 8in tall former England U21 international was Wolves’ top scorer with 15 goals last season and in total netted 64 goals in 133 starts and 60 sub appearances while at Molineux — top scoring in the Championship twice - having been signed from the Pilgrims for £1.5 million in January 2008.

Photo: Action Images

pennblue added 11:35 - Sep 25 Sign him up if we are taking him. Loan, if he does well, he will just move to Premier our higher championship side, just like matey boy did last season...
0

Michael11 added 11:41 - Sep 25 I think this would be a quality signing if he can get fully fit. Can't believe he's only 27, he's been around for years. He's a striker that's always likely to get goals if given the service which is what we're missing at the moment. Maybe take him on a pay as you play deal then offer him a proper contract if he does well?
0

thereuser30 added 11:52 - Sep 25 Experience, goals, another option. If there's scope to add him to the wage bill, give him a go. What do we have to lose really?
0

youidiots added 12:01 - Sep 25 This is our 20 goal a season man! Short term deal followed by 2 years only if he proves himself. 5 goals between now and Jan should be his aim
0

ernie added 12:07 - Sep 25 somebody mentioned this as a sure thing on the message board last week. Anyone remember who it was?
0

TractorCam added 12:20 - Sep 25 Yes! This would be brilliant
0

kalypso added 12:20 - Sep 25 looks like taylor can pack his bags
0

BillBlue added 12:26 - Sep 25 If he comes he probably will score a few much needed goals for us but stop and think. In January we have got him fit then in comes Holloway, or some other Premier Manager, and we are right back where we started. I m sorry but I think we need to invest in our own players particularly young players like Marriott. May take some guts but for goodness sake we have been standing still for years and years so don't, please, let us go down the road of short term loan players again.

0

freezer82 added 12:27 - Sep 25 Nothing to lose, short contract provides him with chance to prove fitness and get career back on track, from local (ish) area. Proven scorer at this level. Does a good job hand him a longer deal, if not go separate ways. Can see him doing a good job for us, though take him a few months to get up to speed but we defiantly need another goal scorer.
0

AbujaBlue added 12:33 - Sep 25 Comparing Reo Coker with a player such as Scotland is also ridiculous.
0

runningout added 12:40 - Sep 25 Calm down a bit people....!
0

bluefeast added 12:48 - Sep 25 good
0

mparkyn added 13:02 - Sep 25 So let's assume he get's fit and does really well. Then come January he's off to Palace or similar and we are back to square one (and at least one striker will have be sitting until then as many have pointed out). Better to persevere with what we have unless it's done with the long term in view. Maybe even we could be scouting for a decent striker ourselves (overseas maybe) rather than looking at more ex. Wolves - they were relegated in two consecutive seasons remember (not down to MM I add)

0

muccletonjoe added 13:05 - Sep 25 File under Lisbie , Elloington, Chopra etc etc etc will we ever learn ?
0

IvorFeeling added 13:07 - Sep 25 I think he could be the missing link up front and he is certainly proven. Getting him until Jan and I know this is only TWTD speculation would be a bad mistake - sign him up until May 2014. That way he will either blow out or he will be great and a real asset. If he is signed up only to Jan and scores goals he will get a better offer from the Prem or worse still one of our championship rivals. The cost of signing him up until May therefore is an extra 13 weeks (from 1st week Feb) - assuming he is on a top whack of £15k per week that is an extra £195k which when reviewing commercially is a risk worth taking.

0

ArnieM added 13:17 - Sep 25 Whilst he would undoubtedly give our fragile attack some much needed clout , it is basically ( as far as I can see anyway), all about him using ITFC to get fit again after a long lay off , and then get in that shop window all set for a move onto another Club. Not ideal in my book, sorry. Had it been EB-B was signing for Town on a 2-3 yr contract , THEN id be up for it.
0

JWM added 13:19 - Sep 25 A real statement of intent would have been to sign Nahki Wells in the Summer but we are in desperate need of a proven striker now! I agree with all those that say that Evans is to blame entirely for the mess we find ourselves in. He has lost all interest in Town apart from the interest he is charging us! Fed up with the short termism and fed up with the complete lack of ambition. Why bother recruiting a class manager and then decide not to back him? It makes no sense whatsoever but this is par of the course with Evans! I will be thrilled to get in SEB and will enjoy him playing for us albeit until January!

0

bluemikey100 added 13:20 - Sep 25 oh yes a younger faster more prolific version of D J awesome on a free lol
0

ArnieM added 13:31 - Sep 25 except he's probably less fit that Taylor right now!
0

ArnieM added 13:41 - Sep 25 The reason I personally am questioning it is ... 1. He's not match fit ......so will have limited time on the pitch assuming he gets the nod ahead of Murphy or Taylor 2. He's quite clearly NOT staying at this Club Why are we not attempting to sign him on a permanent contract for 2-3 years? If hes THAT good why havent we done this ??
0

TractorBoy666 added 13:53 - Sep 25 Never knew he was only 27! Thought he was older if I'm honest. At last though we may have that striker we've been crying out for. Maybe Micks decided we needed another striker after sundays group of misses!
0

northernblues added 13:54 - Sep 25 Liastro, you said he only scored 15 last season with Wolves who were relegated, just remind me who and how many our top striker scored, oh yes it was 10!
0

Alwaysablue added 14:13 - Sep 25 People on here do make me chuckle, begging for a striker since after the first game and now a proven one comes there is a problem with him, sort yourselves out!
0

oldelsworthyfan added 14:16 - Sep 25 Let's be positive about this. MM is no fool and will have no intention of getting him fit for the benefit of another club.
0

Popeye added 14:57 - Sep 25 Is the reason for the closed doors game against West Ham on friday due to the fact that SEB is fit and that he will play for Town? Its just a thought there's obviously a reason for closed doors, doubt it would because of the possibility of Hunt turning out for Town.
0

Blogs 297 bloggers

Ipswich Town Polls