One In, One Out

Birmingham City have today confirmed the loan signing of Shane Ferguson from Newcastle United for a month, finishing on April 1. This follows the return of Robert Hall to West Ham to have a troublesome groin injury assessed.

Ferguson, a 21-year-old Northern Irish international comes to Birmingham City having made fourteen appearances for the Newcastle this season, nine of which have come in the Premier League, four of which have been starts. He is a left-sided player who can play either at full-back or on the wing and knows Clark well from the Geordie’s days as reserve team coach at Newcastle.

I will admit I’ve not seen much of Ferguson play so I can’t say if he is any good or not but I can see why he’d be looked at from his preferred positions alone; Blues have struggled against teams with wing-backs and as shown against Watford there has been a lack of proper cover in front of the full-back to help deal with the wide threat. With Ferguson being able to play as a full-back as well as a winger it should mean that he can tackle and defend as well as get forwards and one would hope that should he play on the wing he is the kind of player who can cover overlaps and double up on troublesome widemen.

Rob Hall has returned to West Ham to have his groin injury looked at. He has been off the boil in recent weeks and I’m not that surprised to see him allowed to return to his parent club; however his loan still runs out on March 16 and as yet that hasn’t changed. With the loan deadline being March 22 I suspect that should Hall not be able to return to fitness by the end of his current loan spell (and the prognosis at the moment is that he won’t) then providing Ferguson looks okay, he will have his own loan extended to the end of the season (assuming of course that Newcastle are willing) before the cut-off date. However, time will tell if this supposition becomes fact.

Tags: Robert Hall, Shane Ferguson

James says:

February 28, 2013 at 1:40 pm

Would be interested to get a Newcastle fan opinion on Ferguson but on paper looks a good signing, read on Wikipedia that hes got a couple of assists and has a good delivery which we will miss with the loss of Hall

Diouf says:

February 28, 2013 at 1:51 pm

My boss is a NUFC fan, says that Ferguson is their best youth prospect at the moment along with Haris Vuckic. IMO a good signing, should give us real balance again.

John says:

March 1, 2013 at 11:09 am

As long as Clark dosen’t play him at right back or right wing !

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Boozy Blue says:

February 28, 2013 at 1:54 pm

I asked one of my geordie mates for an opinion his verdict “in my opinion think he will end up as attacking full back good potential just needs games”

brett says:

February 28, 2013 at 1:56 pm

while only young his crosses can be inch perfect! great young player one of our brighter youngsters and hopefully can do great things for you guys. also fairly quick footed. dont break him please!

Richard Granfield says:

February 28, 2013 at 2:05 pm

I have seen Shane play and will be an asset to Blues. He has good dribbling and crossing ability and can create chances for his teammates.

ed77 says:

February 28, 2013 at 2:08 pm

Just saw his goal for northern ireland against finland ,really good strike,defo a plus that he can play left back or left wing

February 28, 2013 at 2:45 pm

Found a couple of videos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiByda-Jweo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKlcLoX6J3c – maybe ignore this one

Blueboy 88 says:

February 28, 2013 at 3:31 pm

Are you sure he is a Northern Ireland International …not French ?

TonyB says:

February 28, 2013 at 4:04 pm

I’m pleased to see we have acted quickly to replace Hall so soon after establishing he had a problem. good to see us on the ball and decisive despite the financial problems.

Not sure if that’s a pat on the back for the manager or someone else but still a positive.

chuck says:

February 28, 2013 at 4:51 pm

Kids a good winger, will provide good crosses, plus has an eye for goal, good technical skills, can take on defenders, but not IMO a great defender.
Much better winger.

Johnners says:

February 28, 2013 at 4:57 pm

Sounds like a great spot. We’ve been lacking a genuine left-side threat all season and, whilst Hancox is promising, playing this lad in front of him will give Hancox extra cover as well as boosting our attacking options down the wing. I think this is another sign of a slow but sure growing of confidence from Lee Clarke. I think it really freaked him out when he first came to Blues and he was like a rabbit in the headlights but more recently I detect a he is getting his mojo back. The showdown with Zigic may have been an important step on this road as well as surviving the transfer window and putting together his first decent run of results. Encouraging.

mark says:

February 28, 2013 at 6:04 pm

Glad like the rest of the posters that Clark has acted quickly, getting another hungry young player , and ready to rumble. Inclarkwetrust kro

February 28, 2013 at 6:09 pm

and yes he does deserve pat on his back……..good management

Paul Carter want's shooting he says:

February 28, 2013 at 8:25 pm

This is a fantastic signing by Lee

If he plays to his potential he could be a real asset

swissjonny says:

March 1, 2013 at 6:49 am

I agree.Hats off to LC for a quick decision.

Mark Y says:

March 1, 2013 at 8:33 am

I have been impressed with what I have seen and the lad looks to be a very good crosser of the ball, so I think Zigic should get some quality service from the left at last. He looks a very natural left sided player which I think has been a big problem area since we have lost the likes of Beasejour, Townsend and Murphy.

Dave Timms says:

March 1, 2013 at 1:07 pm

Knowing Clarke he’ll probably end up playing up front.

bluenoseneil says:

March 2, 2013 at 12:22 am

I can only see pluses in this signing. Hall was a dead weight of late and it appears LC has made a timely decision and brought in another hungry youngster who wants and needs game time.

Hope he starts or gets time against Hull.

KRO