Thommo ready to pounce?

Last updated : 13 June 2006 By Richard Brown

Upon his appointment, Thompson was adamant that forming a playing squad capable of going flat-out for promotion was very much on his agenda, claiming that he had already been in touch with a whopping twenty-five potential targets prior to his unveiling earlier today.

Butcher: Open to takers
Despite the condemnation of an already cynical fan-base, Thompson has made his intentions clear, as within a few hours of entering office, it has been leaked that he has been in touch with Oldham Athletic's Richard Butcher and free agent Carl Pettefer over possible moves, ClubCall reported late yesterday afternoon.


Butcher is reported to have been unhappy at Oldham Athletic despite becoming a regular at Boundary Park towards the end of last season, making over thirty appearances for the Latics in his first year in the north-west, scoring four times.

Whilst he is currently under contract for the next two seasons with the League One outfit, newly-appointed Oldham boss John Sheridan has already decided that he will not stand in the way of Butcher, should one of the number of interested clubs make an approach.

Butcher – who spent a month on-loan at his former club, Lincoln City last season – is said to be a target for a host of League One clubs, including Rotherham, Bournemouth and newly-promoted Leyton Orient.

Free-agent Carl Petterfer, however, may represent a slightly more realistic target following his release from Southend United – one of Thompson's former managerial hunts – after claiming successive promotions that will see the Shrimpers playing in the Championship next season.

The 25-year old winger started in each and every match of Southend's 2004/05 campaign, as the Shrimpers claimed promotion to League One.


Pettefer: Free agent

Last season for Pettefer, however, was ravaged by injury, which would eventually lead to his release from Roots Hall, thus meaning that the slight figure of ‘Petts' could well be gracing the hallowed Meadow Lane turf next season, with his agent Richard Cody claiming his client is impressed with the ambition of the newly-installed Notts chief.

Carl is a very ambitious lad and he would be interested in going to any club who has got ambition, which County appear to have,” said the media-savvy agent, to clubcall.

"The way Steve Thompson is talking he is looking for players to go there and really push the boat out. It's impressive the type of players he is talking about."

The former Portsmouth apprentice, standing at just 5”7, was restricted to just six league starts for Southend last term, with their promotion to the Championship seeing Pettefer being released, albeit reluctantly, by manager Steve Tilson.


Naturally, NCM will keep you bang up-to-date with all the transfer news throughout the summer.