Today Kilmarnock signed QPR left back Niko Hamalainen on loan for the season.
He’s a very decent prospect, 22, and with a lot of talent.
I don’t think a player like him has come to the club to sit on the bench.
That suggests to me that Greg Taylor may be on the verge of a move … and if so doesn’t it stand to reason that we’re the club he’s going to?
When Lennon said we were on the verge of doing a deal but the player might be “cup tied” for Europe, this is what he meant.
We can sign Taylor and if we get to the Groups in the Europa League he can play, but he certainly can’t play in the last qualifier.
Did people assume we meant Rosenborg’s full-back Meling? I never thought that was likely.
Taylor is a decent prospect, and had he been brought in as a cover player for Tierney I don’t think any one of us would have been terribly concerned.
It would have been a good move.
But if Taylor’s being signed now he’s being signed as our starter, as Lennon has already thrown Bolingoli under the bus, and the media and a lot of the fans have pretty much made their minds up … although I reckon that’s ludicrous and plays into the hands of those who don’t wish us well.
This means we’re replacing Kieran Tierney – for whom we got £25 million – with the full-back from Kilmarnock.
Is that really a satisfactory result here?
None of this is to degrade Taylor, who, if he signs, will need every bit of our support as he attempts to step into some massive shoes. It’s speculative at the moment, but Kilmarnock aren’t spending money on this loanee just for the sake of it, they expect some business to be done with Taylor before the window shuts.
It’s possible the deal is already mostly over the line, and this is Lawwell, at his finest, playing a little game of teasing it out until the last day.
Which under any circumstances is lunacy but will definitely not fly here with Taylor clearly the Tierney replacement and a major European game this week where we’ve signed exactly nobody to strengthen a squad that is screaming for reinforcements.