City diary: Transfer window shopping a January pain for York boss Russ Wilcox

The Minstermen chief is currently being inundated by agents touting their clients’ services before the deadline for permanent signings this term is reached at the end of the month.

But Wilcox believes the current system, which rules that long-term transfers between two clubs can only be made in August and January, is unnecessarily restrictive for players and teams at Football League level.

So far, since the opening of the transfer window a fortnight ago, Wilcox has limited his activity in the market to loan deals, extending the stays of Carlton Morris, Stephane Zubar and Brad Halliday, while recruiting goalkeeper Bobby Olejnik from Peterborough after Alex Cisak was recalled by parent club Burnley.

City utlility man Dan Parslow, meanwhile has been allowed to remain at Grimsby and Ryan Jarvis has left for Aldershot.

Wilcox is also hoping Diego De Girolamo will return to North Yorkshire for a third loan spell from Sheffield United at some point this month.

Last season, Wilcox’s predecessor Nigel Worthington applied significant mid-season surgery to his squad when Russell Penn, John McCombe, Adam Reed and Shaq McDonald were brought in on permanent deals and Ashley Chambers, Craig Clay and Jamal Fyfield were offloaded during a busy January.

Keith Lowe’s loan move from Cheltenham was also formalised with a two-and-a-half year contract, while Charlton keeper Nick Pope was the only player Worthington loaned from another club.

In contrast, Wilcox was less active 12 months ago as Scunthorpe manager.

He signed attacker Gary McSheffry from Chesterfield and Doncaster midfielder David Syers, who would go on to net five goals in 22 outings, including a hat-trick during a 5-1 victory over Portsmouth.

Otherwise, Andrew Boyce and Marcus Williams’ loan spells were made permanent and ex-Minsterman Chris Iwelumo was the only player allowed to leave Glanford Park, signing for St Johnstone.

On his opposition to the transfer window structure, Wilcox said: “The phone has been pretty much glued to my ear for the last week and it’s been a relief to switch it off and get on to the training ground. January is a crazy month for that.

“You don’t get much contact with other managers. It’s mainly agents who are letting you know which of their players are available for loan and which are available for permanent moves.

“It’s an interesting time but I would prefer to see the old system introduced from the Championship down and have a free market until the end of March. The current rules can stop people from working and I’m surprised nobody has challenged that, as they did when the Bosman ruling was introduced.

“I think players should be free to come and go right up until that last six weeks of the season. That would make more sense outside the Premier League.”

THERE was welcome news from Preston North End this week when former York City loan defender Ben Davies was cleared of the spot-fixing allegations levelled against him and five other Deepdale players towards the end of his year-long spell at Bootham Crescent last season.

It will have come as no surprise to anybody who got to know the dedicated, sensible and mature teenage left-back during his time with the Minstermen and, hopefully, the declaration of his innocence will now be followed by a fulsome apology from the National Crime Agency, who unsettled a promising footballer at a vulnerable stage of his life and career.

SMART SAVE: On-loan keeper Bobby Olejnik denies Wycombe's Fred Onyedinma last week

ON-LOAN Peterborough keeper Bobby Olejnik rocketed straight to the top of The Press Player of the Month standings for January after his stunning debut at Wycombe.

Olejnik made five outstanding saves in the game and, as well as being our man of the match, was the unanimous choice in our readers’ poll.

Those joint honours earned him a maximum five points towards the contest and moved him alongside skipper Russell Penn at the head of the leaderboard.

Marvin McCoy (two points) and Keith Lowe (one) were also recognised for their efforts as our second and third-highest rated players respectively at Adams Park.

That point, meanwhile, saw Lowe move to joint- second with Michael Coulson in The Press’ Player of the Year competition. The pair lie three points behind Penn at the summit.

To be in with a chance of presenting The Press’ Player of the Month prize for January on the pitch before a fixture at Bootham Crescent, register your man-of-the-match vote for today’s home match against Stevenage by visiting thepress.co.uk or tweeting @daveflettpress.

The Press Player of the Year standings: Penn 21, Coulson 18, Lowe 18, Ilesanmi 16, McCoy 12, Summerfield 12, McCombe 11, Hyde 10, De Girolamo 9, Ingham 8, Montrose 7, Straker 7, Fletcher 6, Zubar 5, Cisak 3, Halliday 3, Jarvis 3, Olejnkik 3, Winfield 2.

The Press Player of the Month January standings: Olejnik 5, Penn 5, Coulson 2, McCoy 2, Lowe 1, McCombe 1.

Goals: Hyde 6, Lowe 5, De Girolamo 4, Fletcher 4, Coulson 3, Summerfield 2, Carson 1, Penn 1, Winfield 1, Zubar 1.

Assists: Coulson 8, Hyde 4, McCoy 3, Meikle 3, De Girolamo 2, Penn 2, Carson 1, Fletcher 1, Lowe 1, Montrose 1, Straker 1, Summerfield 1.

Bad boys: Penn one red, four yellow; McCoy three yellow; Halliday one red, one yellow; Hyde, Ilesanmi, Montrose all two yellow; Jarvis one red; Carson, Coulson, Fletcher, Lowe, McCombe, Platt, Straker, Summerfield all one yellow.