Just Who Is Mick McCarthy's Best Signing?

With Steven Fletcher becoming Mick McCarthy's 38th signing since arriving in summer 2006, I decided to take a look at some of McCarthy's better signings. Each day this week, I will be taking a look at 2 players, and then on Friday you can vote for your favourite. I'm not necessarily looking just for value for money, but someone who has took the fans by surprise or drastically improved the team.

So in no particular order*..... 

Sylvan Ebanks-Blake from Plymouth, £1,500,000
Apps: 76 (15)
Goals: 39
It became obvious during Mick McCarthy's first season that we needed a goalscorer, so that summer Fredy Eastwood was summoned from Southend. He failed. Miserably. Undeterred by this, McCarthy sent out for another Championship striker, from Plymouth in January. Ebanks-Blake spent hours driving up and down the M5 in a bid to seal the deal, before making his debut against Crystal Palace, and was understandably quiet. I first saw him a couple of weeks later against Sheffield Wednesday, and although he scored, I wasn't impressed. He looked busy, but I wasn't convinced about his first touch or his weight. As it happens, I was right on both counts. But what a goalscorer he turned out to be.

Ebanks-Blake hit 12 goals in 20 games during his first half season, before scoring 25 in 39 the following season, firing us to the Championship Title.  Both times he finished as the ChampionshipGolden Boot winner.  It came of no surprise to Wolves fans when he gained England recognition by being called upto the England U-21s, or when rumours of a big money move to Everton started to surface. While the Premiership hasn't quite turned into the Promised Land as yet, there was enough there to hope that he will still come good. Performances away at Hull and Tottenham stand out in the memory, while he was very unlucky not to score on a few occasions, most notably away at Chelsea when he was denied by an outstanding Petr Cech save. There times during February and March 2009 where it felt like Ebanks-Blake was doing everything by himself, and no-one deserves a second shot at Premiership glory more than him.

Michael Kightly from Grays, £20,000
Apps: 85 (14)
Goals: 19
'Michael who?' was the reaction most Wolves fans had when it was announced we’d signed a new winger on loan in November 2006. Followers of the Football Conference may have known him as the ‘Ryan Giggs of non-League football’, having already scored 10 goals by this stage. He stepped up three divisions to score 2 goals in 5 games,forcing the club to secure him on a two and a half year contract, despite supposed late interest from Manchester United. Kightly scored a further six goals tohelp a young experienced team reach the play-offs. Over the next 2 seasons, Kightly scored 12 League goals in 59 appearances, culminating in Wolves winning the Championship. However, a broken foot sustained in a reserve match forced Kightly out of the final run in.

As a result of the injury, Kightly missed pre-season and never reached full fitness in the Premiership, indeed he only started 3 games (with a further 6 substitute appearances), and contributing just once- drawing the foul to earn a penalty inthe 1-1 home draw with Aston Villa. Kightly is a genuine winger, who is more than happy to hug the touchline, beat the fullback on the outside and cross the ball. However, if he cuts inside he is not afraid to shoot with his left foot, and can also score goals from distance, as seen early last season. He also has tremendous strength, and is not afraid of getting stuck in to his opposing fullback. When fit and in full flight, he is a wonderful player, and hopefully we can sees ome more of this over the next 12 months.

*there is actually an order. Whoever works out the order gains international recognition of being a loser