The January Sales Are On

By his own admission, Glenn Hoddle is a man on a mission. With a regular goal supply still hard to come by the Wolves manager is desperate to increase his teams firepower. Once again on Saturday his strikers squandered chance after chance to seal three points, but went home only 1 to show for their efforts.

'If we'd have taken half our chances in the first half we would have been four up.' he said after the game

'We opened Plymouth up for fun but we are going to under achieve it we can't put teams to the sword. We had enough chances to win two games in the first 20 minutes.'

A familiar tale to Wolves fans growing tired of the Groundhog Day feeling at the sound of the final whistle.

So far, the only target Wolves have a confirmed interest in is Izale Mcleod. With the price on Mcleod's head rumoured to be in the seven figure region, securing their man, deemed not good enough for Derby County, represent something of a gamble for the Black Country side . Many fans believed that there was a substantial sum available for strengthening with Hoddle having been frugal, but wise in adding to the squad since his arrival. A combination of loans and bargain signings has bolstered his backline and midfield, but with Kenny Miller turning down offers of a new contract, Carl Cort and George Ndah both injured, and Leon Clarke's form escaping him the priority is to bring in a player who can capitalise on the chances Wolves are now almost guaranteed to make.

'I've got to try and bring a striker in of the quality that will make the difference.' He told the press after the Plymouth game.

'But with around £2mil to spend including wages that is not going to be easy.' he added.

That seemingly rules out raiding the expected Premiership clear outs on wages alone. Top put it into context, his war chest might just about cover Robbie Fowler's wages for a year. Just. However, with the possibility of an early Miller exit, and Seyi Olofinjana's agent stating that he may also be ready to move on, that sum may soon be added to.

One top flight striker sparking the interest of many Wolves fans is Blackburn Rovers Matt Jansen who has torn up his contract, sacrificing around £500,000 in wages in a bid to gain first team football. But whilst he has stated his apparent willingness to earn his place in a starting line up by trialling with clubs, playing for free, he has so far restricted that offer to Premiership clubs rather than stepping down a league to prove his worth.

Whatever, or whoever the January sales bring, one thing is for certain. Glenn Hoddle's next signing could well be the most crucial of his Wolves career. Failiure to achieve promotion this year has financial implications that most would rather not think about and if anything is guaranteed to bring that about, failiure to find the net will be it.

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