JOHN McGINLAY: Will transfer window throw up a gem?

Like everyone else, I’ll be glued to the television all day to see what transfers get done and hoping that in among all the Premier League big guns, we get a mention somewhere.

However dull a day you are expecting, there is always a twist somewhere. A name will crop up out of the blue, or maybe someone will make an enquiry about one of your own players that you weren’t expecting.

That’s all part of the excitement, but like all Bolton fans, I’ll be hoping that Dougie Freedman can bring in a player or two just to spice things up in the last stretch of the season.

It’s a numbers game at this stage. We know there isn’t going to be a lot of money to spread around but if the right name comes up at the right price, this is the time of year where you are more inclined to give it a go. You might just find that hidden gem.

Sometimes it might only be a short-term thing – and if a player doesn’t pan out, then you let him go in the summer and no-one says a thing.

Other times, it works out. No-one had heard of Stuart Holden when he turned up here a few years ago but look what happened there.

You can’t lose really. People might look at a few of the targets that we are being mentioned with at the moment and scratch their head. They are not always familiar names.

These players have got something to prove, though, and every once in a while you might just get one that comes off.

When you buy big at this stage of the year there really is pressure. A signing is expected to come straight into the team, hit the ground running, and if he doesn’t then people say it was a waste of money. It’s a tricky business.

Lots of stuff will be going on behind the scenes and every manager has tales of signings that he wasn’t quite able to do. Sometimes it’s a case of not being able to get the money, or offer the right deal. Those names don’t always come out.

Players looking from the outside in will see a club that wants to get back into the Premier League but who haven’t shown anything like the consistency to do it.

They might well think the squad isn’t as strong as it was in the past and see an opportunity there. They could fancy their chances of getting in this team.

On the other hand, it could be a case of looking at the league table and not fancying the challenge. You never quite know how people view it.

You can plan all you want and think you have got your business done and dusted but the deadline day has a habit of throwing up the unexpected.

The exciting thing is that it only takes a phone call.

**** I’LL be rooting for Marvin Sordell this weekend because a successful trip down memory lane might just be what the kid needs at the moment.

Going back to his old club Watford in the best form he’s been in since he left Vicarage Road, you sense this could be a really big moment in his Wanderers career.

His goal at the weekend was excellent. It was great movement, a great finish at the near post, and I thought his all-round hold-up play was really encouraging.

Can he build on that now? Will he be in the team at all? Only Dougie Freedman can answer that second one, but I think there comes a time when only games will do him any good.

I know there have been issues with fitness or conditioning but there is only so much he’ll get done on the training ground or playing for the development squad.

Each time we see him, he’s been that little bit sharper. He has scored goals against two different Premier League clubs now in the cup, so the next step is to do that in the league every Saturday.

When you are scoring goals as a striker, all you want to do is get to the next game and score another. It becomes a snowball effect.

Heading back to Watford might be just what he needs too.

The club has changed a lot since he has been gone, and Gianfranco Zola has taken over. He has brought a lot of players in on loan from Udinese and a lot of the lads he will have known might not be in the picture any more.

I don’t think the reception he’ll get will be too harsh at all. Watford are doing well, and that might count in his favour.

He didn’t leave them down in the doldrums. They are a club on the up under Zola and could have gone second if they had beaten Bristol City the other night.

For that reason, I’d give him a go. If he can’t handle two games, then give him an hour. It’s all about continuity.

**** WE’RE finally getting to see what all the fuss was about with Marcos Alonso, but for how long?

It is a tough situation for club and player right now but at least his performance against Everton would suggest he isn’t letting his head go elsewhere.

Alonso is out of contract in the summer and clearly, his people have been talking to Fiorentina. He has turned an offer down from Bolton and from his point of view, he’s looking at what else is available.

From the club’s point of view, he was Owen Coyle’s signing. He hasn’t always featured – often for injury reasons – and so when Dougie Freedman came in there was always going to be that period of time that he had to weigh up what he wanted to do.

Now it appears from the outside that we might lose him for very little in the summer, and that’s really disappointing because I think we’re just about seeing what we paid all that money for.

Agents only earn well if they keep their players moving, so they will be in one ear letting him know what is going on elsewhere.

We want to bring young, hungry players to the Reebok. But there is an example of one right there.

My heart hopes we can convince him to stay because he’s a young lad I rate, but my head is telling me otherwise.

**** IT isn’t just comedy where timing is everything.

And it was definitely not a laughing matter on Saturday when David Moyes threw on a substitute thinking he was shoring up his defence, and ended up winning the game.

Johnny Heitinga had come on to protect his back four. No question.

The Everton fans knew it as well because they booed when he brought off a potential match-winner in Nikica Jelavic.

No wonder he cocked a wry smile at them when Heitinga scored in injury time.