The three that got away

By 4two
September 15 2003

Akinbiyi, Harper and Quinn. Adi loves the Stoke fans, Harper chooses the Canaries, Quinn opts for the bigger club. Lee admits to the difficult time he is having.

Colin Lee has revealed he has tried to bring , Wayne Quinn and Kevin Harper to the Bescot. While Adi has gone to Stoke. 

Newcastle and Portsmouth were willing to let their players go out on loan, but Quinn and Harper chose to join West Ham and Norwich respectively. 

Harper would have been a good signing. He impressed us last time he was here, but we missed out on his signature after failing to meet Derby's asking price.

Many fans believed that had we signed him that season we would have survived . But he joined Pompey - they went on to survive and he became a regular in their side until this season - where his root to first team football has become blocked. 

Lee told the media 

"The last month has probably been the most difficult period i faced in brining players into the club". 

Meanwhile Akinbiyi has said it was his experiance at Stoke last season that made him return to the Brit.  He enjoyed working with Pullis and felt he had a good relationship with the fans. No comment from Lee on Adi yet.