Since we lost Gow and Blackman in the January transfer window our options at the sharp end of the team have been a bit limited. The arrival of Steve Jones gave us more width but Stuart McCall has made no secret of the need for another striker.
Jeffers showed such potential in years gone by that Arsène Wenger took him to Arsenal from Walter Smith’s Everton for £8m to join up with Henry, Bergkamp and Overmars but his tale turned into one of unfulfilled promise. Subsequent moves took him back to Everton with David Moyes then Charlton (for £2.6m), Rangers, Blackburn, Ipswich, Sheffield Wednesday and most recently for a short spell with Australian A-LeagueNewcastle Jets. He celebrated his thirtieth birthday a fortnight ago.
He seems to have left several clubs not on the best of terms. Squabbles with Smith and Moyes in his early days were followed in 2009 by a head butting incident when he was with Sheffield Wednesday – his alleged assault on a Port Vale player resulted on a heavy fine and a place on the transfer list.
Despite the baggage he brings, Motherwell will hope that the experience he has can benefit our young squad. He has learned from some wonderful players and it could be that he’ll be able to deliver the guile that has been missing from our strike force of late.
McCall compared the arrival of Jeffers to that of Coyne, Coyle and Falconer and hoped that he would get a "second wind" at Fir Park. If he can match the scoring exploits of Coyne (59) or even Coyle (23) then we'll have no complaints!
Welcome to Fir Park Franny – please don’t rock our wee boat!