It's a relief to hear Phil Brown state today that Stephen Hunt and Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink will be going nowhere in the transfer window.
Both are big earners and could command good fees if sold on this month, making a telling contribution to the £8 million reduction in wages that Adam Pearson has demanded of his manager. But ultimately Brown has to try to strike a balance between getting the books on a more even keel and maintaining a squad capable of being competitive.
Hunt is by some distance the best signing Brown has made since the end of last season. Ever present in the Premier League, he is even the club's top scorer, despite playing on the left wing. His chippy nature - he is like Craig Fagan in this respect, only with a modicum of footballing ability - winds up opponents and he also absolutely never lets his head or his effort levels drop. He has been a major plus this season.
Vennegoor of Hesselink's reported wages of £28,000 a week have raised many eyebrows but he did arrive as a free agent and so the investment in his salary can be mitigated, if not entirely justified, by the lack of real money it cost the Tigers to get his signature. And he is a proven goalscorer, unlike all the other players currently vying with him for the centre forward's role. It would be madness to let him go and rely on either unable or unproven strikers to find the required goals.
There are ample players on the periphery - and not even there - who should be shipped out in January. Maybe they won't fetch £8 million saving that the chairman needs to plot the club's future more securely, but they would be a start. We'd all prefer a solvent relegated club than a skint elevated one, but the chairman and manager need to make sure they empathise with each other's point of view. Brown's eschewing of departure rumours about Hunt and Vennegoor of Hesselink suggestS that he and his boss have come to a vital understanding over this.
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