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<DIV class=headline>Fans count days until window closes</DIV><DIV style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px">By Simon Parker</DIV><DIV style="PADDING-RIGHT: 5px; FONT-SIZE: 10px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px; TEXT-ALIGN: right">
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</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=caption>Derby had a bid for Jermaine Johnson rejected</SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Nine days and counting. A week on Wednesday and the transfer window clunks shut for the rest of the season.
And City fans can breathe a sigh of relief if Jermaine Johnson is still at Valley Parade.
With Dean Windass gone, the flying Jamaican is the most saleable asset in the dressing room.
Derby have already tried and failed to lure him away with a £250,000 offer and another League One club made a inquiring call to Julian Rhodes but were scared off by the size of the unsuccessful Rams raid.
There have been rumours of more interest and several clubs from both Championship and League One have sent scouts to watch his progress. So far nobody else has come in with a bid on the table but it would be surprising if that were still the case this time next week.
It was inevitable that Johnson's exciting form would attract admirers and, even when he signed a new contract, there was a feeling within the club that he could be on his bike in the transfer window.<A name=mpubot></A><DIV id=midpagempu style="DISPLAY: none" align=center><DIV class=am id=midpagemputop style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10px; FLOAT: left">Advertisement</SPAN> continued...</DIV><DIV class=am id=midpagempumpu><SCRIPT language=JavaScript></SCRIPT></DIV></DIV>
By penning an extended deal to take in another year, it guaranteed City a sizeable transfer fee for a player who otherwise would be leaving for nothing, although any cash received will include a sizeable percentage due to his agent.
Derby, having had their initial offer rebuffed, were expected to come back but didn't. So instead City bit the bullet with Windass to ease the cashflow struggles they tend to experience at this time of the year.
The loss on loan of the top scorer is not an iron-cast guarantee that Johnson will remain on the books. But it does allow the club to be a little more picky, should anyone else decide to take a punt on him.
They don't have to flog a prized asset for the sake of it. The scout count was high at Prenton Park on Friday, being the only game on that night, and those who came to spy on Johnson won't have been disappointed.
Another high-octane performance from JJ was proof that his head had not been turned by any transfer speculation.
Johnson is just happy to play his own game - and leave the off-field politics to the club's top brass.
He said: "It's not in my thoughts when I'm playing. I'm just trying to give my all for Bradford.
"If something comes in and the club think it's right for me to leave, then it's up to them. But I'm here now playing for Bradford and that's all
Comment</DIV><TABLE style="BORDER-RIGHT: rgb(255,255,255) 5px solid; BORDER-TOP: rgb(255,255,255) 5px solid; BORDER-LEFT: rgb(255,255,255) 5px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: rgb(255,255,255) 5px solid" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=10 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD></TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=caption>Derby had a bid for Jermaine Johnson rejected</SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Nine days and counting. A week on Wednesday and the transfer window clunks shut for the rest of the season.
And City fans can breathe a sigh of relief if Jermaine Johnson is still at Valley Parade.
With Dean Windass gone, the flying Jamaican is the most saleable asset in the dressing room.
Derby have already tried and failed to lure him away with a £250,000 offer and another League One club made a inquiring call to Julian Rhodes but were scared off by the size of the unsuccessful Rams raid.
There have been rumours of more interest and several clubs from both Championship and League One have sent scouts to watch his progress. So far nobody else has come in with a bid on the table but it would be surprising if that were still the case this time next week.
It was inevitable that Johnson's exciting form would attract admirers and, even when he signed a new contract, there was a feeling within the club that he could be on his bike in the transfer window.<A name=mpubot></A><DIV id=midpagempu style="DISPLAY: none" align=center><DIV class=am id=midpagemputop style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10px; FLOAT: left">Advertisement</SPAN> continued...</DIV><DIV class=am id=midpagempumpu><SCRIPT language=JavaScript></SCRIPT></DIV></DIV>
By penning an extended deal to take in another year, it guaranteed City a sizeable transfer fee for a player who otherwise would be leaving for nothing, although any cash received will include a sizeable percentage due to his agent.
Derby, having had their initial offer rebuffed, were expected to come back but didn't. So instead City bit the bullet with Windass to ease the cashflow struggles they tend to experience at this time of the year.
The loss on loan of the top scorer is not an iron-cast guarantee that Johnson will remain on the books. But it does allow the club to be a little more picky, should anyone else decide to take a punt on him.
They don't have to flog a prized asset for the sake of it. The scout count was high at Prenton Park on Friday, being the only game on that night, and those who came to spy on Johnson won't have been disappointed.
Another high-octane performance from JJ was proof that his head had not been turned by any transfer speculation.
Johnson is just happy to play his own game - and leave the off-field politics to the club's top brass.
He said: "It's not in my thoughts when I'm playing. I'm just trying to give my all for Bradford.
"If something comes in and the club think it's right for me to leave, then it's up to them. But I'm here now playing for Bradford and that's all
- T.K.
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