There was breaking news this morning at Cheltenham Town FC and it would not be an understatement to say that it was a massive surprise to the supporters. The majority of fans knew that a central midfielder was high up on Mark Yates' shopping list and he himself confirmed after the game at Torquay that a signing was likely to take place on Thursday. Whilst most were trying to think of a young midfielder in need of first team games to increase their development, we were instead treated to a 28 year old midfielder who has never played outside of the top two divisions of English football. That player is Cheltenham's new number four, Darren Carter, who has signed on a six month contract for the time being.
Darren Carter started off his career at Birmingham City and made his debut for them in their 1-0 defeat to local rivals West Brom on 29 January 2002. He hit the headlines in May of the same year after scoring the winning penalty in Birmingham's victory over Norwich City and thus promoting Birmingham to the Premier League. He went on to make 45 appearances in a four year spell at Birmingham (which included a loan to Sunderland) and scored three goals for The Blues.
A move to West Brom followed in July 2005 for a fee of £1.5 million and his debut for The Baggies came in a 3-2 home defeat to Birmingham City, his former employers. His first goal for his new team was what can only be described as a stunner which defeated Arsenal 2-1 and won the club's goal of the season award.
However, things started to go downhill when, in August 2007, Carter joined Preston for £1.25 million after not being guaranteed first team football at West Brom. He went on to make 89 appearances but was transfer listed at the end of the 2009/10 season. He went on trial at Milwall and Southampton in 20010, before securing a three month loan to Milwall on August 4th. This loan was then extended until January.
Following Preston's relegation to League 1 in 2011, Darren Carter was released following the expiration of his contract. He trained at former club Birmingham and had a trial at Brighton. He also had a trial at Notts Forest and it was playing for their reserves that he picked up a groin muscle injury that required surgery. Following his return to fitness at the end of the 2011/12 season, Carter trained at Walsall and again at Birmingham before putting pen to paper on a six month deal at Cheltenham Town during the week. If he plays on Saturday against Aldershot it will be his first competitive action in over a year.
It cannot be doubted that the signing of Darren Carter is a major coup for us. He hasnt played outside of the top two divisions in his entire career and his vast experience, despite being just 28, also comes with skill to match. However I do think that the six month deal is a very risky one. As I have mentioned he hasn't played competitive football for a year so he is severely lacking in match practise. I doubt he will start against Aldershot tomorrow and it will take a good month at least for him to regain his match sharpness. Also, as he would be free to talk to clubs in January, this effectively puts him in the shop window for six months. Clubs can send scouts to watch him play games for Cheltenham and if they like what they see they can approach him and wont have to pay a fee.
The motives of why Darren Carter joined us can also be questioned. He has already said that 'what Cheltenham did for Jack Butland played a big part in me coming here'. In other words, move on to bigger and better things. I see Carter using Cheltenham Town as a stepping stone to bring his career back to where it was and canbot see him extending his deal past January. It is also surprising why he chose to join a League 2 club. No offence to my club Cheltenham Town, or all other clubs in the league, but he is much better than League 2 standard, the lowest I could see him play would be for a top three League 1 side. He certainly hasn't joined for money. Well, if he has, he has come to the wrong place! The only other reason would be that he had no other offers on the table. This again goes back to the idea that he joined Cheltenham as it was 'his only choice' in order to take his career back to where it was.
I hate putting a downer on good things, and for his skill and quality Darren Carter is a great signing for us. So lets be positive and show Carter how good a club we are and persuade him that we are his future for the time being. If we can get among the top three and go on a good cup run, not only in the FA cup but the JPT too, then we can hopefully persuade him to extend his contract and stick around for a bit longer. Fingers crossed! But for now lets turn our attentions to tomorrow and lets cheer on the boys in our away day in Aldershot. COYR!
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