City show their intent with Whitehead deal (From Worcester News)

City show their intent with Whitehead deal

10:30am Wednesday 25th January 2012

• Print
• Email
• Comments(14)

By Steve Carley »

ANYONE doubting the ambition of Worcester City need look no further than the transfer dealings of the past couple of weeks.

The January window may not exist in Blue Square Bet North but it hasn’t stopped manager Carl Heeley using the month to dip into the market and make a statement of intent.

The St George’s Lane boss could quite easily have left the squad alone safe in the knowlege they were more than capable of holding their own in the top half of the league.

But City have made no secret of wanting to push for the play-offs and, to paraphrase Heeley’s comments of recent weeks, the current crop weren’t cutting it — defensively at least.

So, in signing veteran centre-half Stuart Whitehead alongside the youthful prospects of left-back Ellis Deeney and versatile full-back Tyler Weir, City have made their move.

It is a calculated gamble, not least because it has come at the expense of the experienced Martyn Naylor and, surprisingly, utility player Neil Cartwright.

Both would probably have stayed in an ideal world but Worcester don’t have the resources to carry a large squad so they have been moved on.

City’s finances require a fine balancing act, underlined further by Lee Smith being loaned to Cirencester Town to accommodate striker Phil Green.

In all of this, however, it is the acquisition of Whitehead that stands out.

Attracting a player who has graced the upper echelons of the non-league pyramid with Telford United and Kidderminster Harriers appears a fine piece of business.

Securing him on an 18-month contract lays some foundation for next season as well.

At 35, Whitehead is in the twilight of his career but he only left the Blue Square Bet Premier side because of their transition to full-time status, a regime he could not commit to because of his job.

By signing for Worcester, he can strike a happy balance and would like nothing better than to lead them to promotion via the play-offs, something he achieved with Telford last season.

Whitehead, who made his debut in last Saturday’s 1-0 defeat to Colwyn Bay, said: “I know Carl and have played against him.

“I also know some of the people at Worcester who have said good things about the club so it seemed a perfect opportunity.

“Worcester are a big club in non-league and the location is brilliant for me because I only live in Redditch.

“At my age, rest and recuperation is just as important as training and playing and I was training a lot at Telford. Hopefully, having the extra rest days and less travelling will be beneficial for me.

“I know City are moving forward with the ground (at Nunnery Way) and I know the plans Carl has for the future. I can only see them going on to bigger and better things.

“It’s an exciting time to be part of Worcester City and hopefully their ambitions match mine. There’s no better feeling than getting promotion.

“We are not too far off the play-offs and it’s achieveable with the talent in the squad, but there’s a bit of catching up to do.”

Of his debut, Whitehead added: “It doesn’t matter how much experience you have got, it’s always a little bit of a daunting prospect because you don’t know your team-mates that well.”