Those Fryatt Rumours

We’re short up top, you know it, I know it and Danny Cowley knows it. There’s no secret that we missed out on two players on deadline day, both of whom were grabbing goals this weekend. Between now and January 1st we can only bring in free agents, and there aren’t too many about who could really add value to the squad.

Plenty of people have mentioned the availability of Simon Church, the former Reading striker last seen playing for Roda JC in Netherlands. He turned down a contract at Hibernian recently and spoke in June about playing at a decent level; “Clubs know I’m a free agent now, I’m feeling fit, I know I can play at Championship level. I haven’t played in League One since I was 18 or 19 on loan a couple of times.” A move for him is highly unlikely unless you’re playing FIFA 18.

I do keep hearing rumours that former Hull City striker Matty Fryatt has been seen at Sincil Bank, and that he might be someone Danny is willing to take a punt on this season.

The 31-year-old, who was released by the Forest this summer, has been training with former club Walsall as he bids to regain his fitness, having not played since March 2015 because of Achilles problems. The summer also saw links with Burton Albion, and if he could regain fitness there is no doubt a quality footballer there.

Fryatt started out as a trainee at Walsall in 2003, and 30 goals later he had made a name for himself. He scored 63 in all competitions during five years at Leicester before securing a £1.2m move to Hull City. Fryatt was seen as a goal scorer, a fox in the box with a bit of pace but the intuition to grab a goal from nowhere. He even managed ten Premier League appearances for the Tigers, and bagged 31 goals from 72 starts before moving on a free transfer to Championship side Nottingham Forest. After scoring six times in 17 starts he was injured against Charlton Athletic and spent two years on the side lines before being released.

This weekend was the second successive sighting of Fryatt at the Bank, or at the very least someone who looked a lot like him. There would be questions to be answered though, certainly around his fitness. This isn’t a match-ready player who will make an immediate impact, any move for Fryatt would, in my opinion, be with a long-term view to getting the £1m player back to even half of his previous ability.

In August Jon Whitney, Walsall manager and former Imps full-back, said: “We all know what kind of player he can be. We don’t know yet where this is going to take us but we are working on it. Matty is working hard and doing really well. He is not out on the pitches yet, but I think we might reward him with some grass work this week rather than keeping him in the gym. We might let him out of his cage.”

There were undertones of Fryatt being in a tough place personally, perhaps expected after a couple of years on the sidelines.

“He had a couple of operations at Forest and he’s been in the wilderness for a couple of years. We don’t want to put pressure on him because that is what other managers have done. We’re looking at his biomechanics, trying to stabilise him and them push him to make him fitter, stronger and faster. We have been adamant from the start, from when I sat with Matty at his house and we had a chat, that football isn’t the issue. It’s his life that is the issue. We need to get him energized and get him enjoying life because you can get very down when you have been out injured for a long time. I know it, because I have had it.”

If Fryatt is around Sincil Bank, unable to convince League One Walsall he is worth a punt but eager to get back into the game, Sincil Bank is the place to be. Look at Neal Eardley, there is an example of what a player can achieve after being out injured for a long while. He’s been a revelation at the Bank this season, he’s clearly a great footballer with plenty still to offer, and his experiences might help Matty is he were to be around the club.

If we are looking at Fryatt, if a deal is in the offing and his rehabilitation is nearing its conclusion, it might be yet another ace from Danny’s sleeve. We know Matt Green is suffering a dry patch but we also know (or most of us do) that he needs better support and the goals will come. In Matty Fryatt we might be sniffing around a player with real star quality, much like Eardley in the path his career has taken, and if he’s anything like him once he gets back in a football shirt then we could benefit significantly.

Alternatively the guy seen at the ground twice in the last couple of weeks might just look an awful lot like him and have no connection to the club other than being a paying supporter. That’s social media for you!