Subsequent events tended to show that, this time at least, our owner was telling the truth.
Whether you chose to believe Sam Hammam or not, it was obvious that Dave Jones' rebuilding job on the team wasn't yet complete. Typically as supporters, speculation tended to centre more on who was joining us than who was leaving and the fact that City's strikeforce so far consisted of Paul Parry playing alongside Cameron Jerome with Alan Lee on the bench meant that the priority was at least one new striker.
However, the club also needed to slash it's wage bill drastically to convince financial institutions and the Council that finances were back under control and, to that end, five players agreed to take wage cuts in exchange for the security given by a longer contract. One of those players was goalkeeper Tony Warner, but, within days of signing his new deal with the club, he was off to Fulham on loan for three months - the Premiership club had a goalkeeping crisis brought on by injuries to two senior keepers and the day after City played Watford, Warner played for his new team in a goalless draw with Birmingham. Warner's deal included on option to make it a permanent one at the end of the loan period and, as the weeks went by, it became increasingly obvious that this would happen with the keeper eventually bringing his unhappy stay at Ninian Park to an end at the turn of the year in a deal worth £100,000.
City now had a week without a fixture, but Paul Parry and Martyn Margetson were both on the bench for Wales in a 0-0 draw with Slovenia with the former getting twenty minutes of action when he came off the bench to replace David Vaughan.
Jason Koumas' groin injury kept him out of the Wales game, but he was fit enough to make his first starting appearance for City at Derby the following Saturday. The home side had been in the Play Offs just three months earlier so it looked like another stiff test for the newly assembled team and much would depend on whether the City team that played Leeds or the one that took on Watford turned up on the day! Unfortunately, it was the latter and a 2-1 scoreline hardly told the real story of a game that the home team dominated throughout.
The first half in particular was very one sided as goals by Bisgaard and Idiakez (pen) scarcely reflected the true nature of the home side's superiority. The second period saw the team continue to pick up yellow cards at an alarming rate (City players were given six of the ten yellow cards referee Kettle issued in the game!), but Derby were not the threat they had been and Cameron Jerome ensured a nervy finish for the home team when he hooked home from six yards with seven minutes to go.
However, Jerome's goal couldn't disguise the fact that this new City team (and the recent signings in particular) were struggling. If the Watford match effectively saw the end of Phil Mulryne's first team contribution for the season, then the Derby game virtually did the same for Jermaine Darlington whose defensive frailties were badly exposed in the first half -Darlington was dropped after this game and, apart from a couple of substitute appearances, was not seen again in the first team until the last three matches of the season.
By all accounts, City were as bad (or even worse!) against Derby as they had been against Watford - they were now in twenty first position and all the signs were that it was going to be another long, hard season. It was little wonder that Dave Jones decided to shake things up for the League Cup tie at Colchester as Weston, Loovens, Boland and Lee came into the team for Darlington, Cox, Ardley and Parry whilst there was also a place on the bench for Andrea Ferretti.
What could have been an awkward assignment turned out to be a surprisingly comfortable one for City who won the game with two goals in three minutes around the half hour mark as Jerome caused the home defence problems - first he was brought down in the box to earn a penalty that Purse converted and then he calmly rounded the keeper to score after being impressively put through by Lee.
A 2-0 win eased some of the pressure that was already building up and, given the sort of season Colchester were to have, it now looks like a very impressive result. However, it would have counted for nothing if City continued to lose in the league, but, as it turned out, the win marked the start of an impressive unbeaten run for the team that signposted their better than expected season.
Three goals in three games for Cameron Jerome offered hope that City weren't quite as badly off in the striking department as was first thought, but the need for reinforcements was obvious and, with the transfer window due to close in a week at the end of August, something had to be done quickly - there appeared to be promising signs in that department though as City had bids accepted for a couple of Scottish strikers.
There had been speculation for some time that City were after Hibs‘ highly rated young goalscorer Derek Riordan - Riordan was coming into the last year of his contract and had made it clear that he was not interested in prolonging his stay with the Edinburgh club by signing a new deal, so City‘s bid (believed to be around £600,000) always had a chance of succeeding. However, Riordan clearly felt he was destined for better things than Cardiff City and, if he did ever talk to us, it was only to say thanks but no thanks!
The situation regarding Kilmarnock's Scottish Under 21 target man Kris Boyd was different though. City‘s bid, reported as £500,000, was accepted and the player got to the stage of agreeing terms and taking a medical before pulling out of the deal at the last moment.
Why Boyd did this was a mystery at the time, but the fact that he ended up signing for Rangers on a Bosman as soon as the transfer window reopened in January offers a clue - if news of Rangers' interest was given to him as he was about to sign for us, it‘s hardly surprising he had second thoughts!
Whatever the reason for the change of mind, it appears that City missed out on someone who could have done a great job for us - Boyd is finishing the season as the highest scorer in the Scottish Premier League by a distance (he‘s got 35 a the moment). As for Riordan, he‘s still at Hibs and, as far as I know, he is still refusing to sign a new contract - he has been capped at International level and has scored 20 goals in all competitions this season and, interestingly, it was reported in January that City were still watching him, so, perhaps, there could still be developments as far as he is concerned?
Coty's search for strikers continued then and, although I was a bit critical of Dave Jones for our lack of success in this area at the time, looking at it now that seems harsh because we were unlucky in the way things went. For example, a move for Bulgarian International Martin Kamburov was blocked by the Home Office refusing to give him a work permit (they also turned down City's subsequent appeal against their original decision) and, as late as transfer deadline day, Wycombe's Nathan Tyson was willing to sign for us and had agreed terms only for the deal to stall because City weren't prepared to meet the £500,000 valuation of the player (apparently we offered £300,000).