Joe Quigley sale: 2 transfer regrets Chesterfield should have after summer window | OneFootball

Paul Cook oversaw wholesale changes to his Chesterfield squad over the summer but a late-window sale leaves the Spireites short amid injury crisis.

Chesterfield were busy throughout the summer transfer window, as Paul Cook overhauled the squad with 11 new faces as the Spireites prepared for life back in League Two after six years away.

The Spireites have benefited from Premier League loan deals, out-of-contract EFL veterans and low-risk non-league stars while saying goodbye to fans’ favourites from the club's National League tenure.

New acquisitions such as Chey Dunkley, Lewis Gordon, and Dilan Markanday have all impressed early into their Chesterfield careers, but the Spireites’ summer hasn’t been all plain sailing.

Here are two transfer decisions that could potentially put a blot on an otherwise very good window for Paul Cook’s men.

Selling Joe Quigley late on

The Spireites are currently in the middle of an injury crisis with attacking options Paddy Madden and Ryan Colclough out, while Liam Mandeville has been limited to substitute appearances since his return from a month-long issue.

Striker Joe Quigley’s sale to National League outfit Forest Green currently leaves the Spireites’ striking options at 33-year-old Will Grigg and Kane Drummond, who is yet to find his feet in Derbyshire after signing from seventh-tier Macclesfield last season.

Quigley had a tricky start to his time at Chesterfield, scoring just eight goals in his first 49 appearances spanning 18 months, with a number of supporters criticising the Irishman’s lack of output.

While not possessing the technical ability and goalscoring of Grigg, Quigley was a hard-working nuisance, often brought on to stretch defenses and cause a different type of threat to the Northern Irish veteran.

It was this hard work and resilience that eventually won the fans over, as the former Yeovil man took up the role of ‘super sub’ and scored a number of late goals, netting 11 times on route to lifting the National League title last season.

The 27-year-old started this season as a squad player, making four substitute appearances while starting the Spireites’ EFL Cup game against Derby, where he assisted Armando Dobra’s opener.

He was a great ‘Plan B’ option. That ‘Plan B’ has now gone.

With Drummond yet to make his mark in Derbyshire, the Spireites are reliant on Grigg to lead the line until the return of Madden, which isn’t expected until the end of the month.

Although naturally a striker, former Stockport man Madden played behind poacher Grigg as a ‘number 10’ in pre-season before his injury, implying Cook’s plan for the 34-year-old was to play the pair together, withDobra shifting back to the left wing.

Of course, things can change very quickly in football, but moving on a beloved, important squad player, who offers physical qualities no other player in his position can at the 11th hour, is a risk.

Chesterfield’s bloated squad

There is no denying that Chesterfield bringing in 12 new arrivals over the summer was necessary to take the squad to the next level but a failure to balance the books leaves Chesterfield with 29 senior players on the books.

Excluding goalkeepers and under-21 players, League Two clubs are allowed to register a maximum of 22 players and following the signing of John Fleck, the Spireites have two spots left for free agents.

Cook has been clever with his loan signings, as Harvey Araujo, Jenson Metcalfe, and Devan Tanton all class as under-21 players and therefore don’t need to be registered, freeing up extra registration slots, which Cook could utilize to add more strength to the squad.

The players who miss out include injured pairing Ash Palmer and Ryheem Sheckleford, who are expected to be out until November, as well as attacking midfielder Bailey Hobson and one of two natural left-backs in the squad, Branden Horton.

While Palmer and Sheckleford could both be included in the squad upon their return, it would be no surprise if Cook once again dipped into the free agent market, especially with the striker's spot looking bare.

Hobson was a handy squad player for the Spireites in the opening stages of the season, having made five appearances in the EFL Trophy, EFL Cup, and League Two, impressing in a 2-1 defeat to Derby.

The non-league transfer window remains open, and a loan deal to a National League club will likely be on the cards for Hobson, who spent the first half of last season at Kidderminster Harriers, where he scored two goals.

The failure to register 24-year-old Horton might come as a surprise to Chesterfield fans. He was the first-choice left-back in Cook’s National League-winning side last season and made 26 appearances.

Without Horton in the squad, it leaves Gordon as the only natural left-back at the club, with centre-backs Jamie Grimes and Harvey Arajuo covering as makeshifts when Gordon has been rested.

There are still two open slots in Chesterfield’s squad, and not giving one to Horton makes you wonder what Cook has planned in the coming weeks.

If the plan is to bring in more personnel, it would leave more players battling it out for already limited minutes.

An exit is surely looming for the former Doncaster man, where, unless his contract is terminated and he resigns with an EFL club as a free agent, he will have to look down the pyramid in search of first-team football.

Minutes are not a guarantee even for some of the squad’s new faces, with midfielder Tim Akinola, who rejoined the Spireites in the summer after a spell in Qatar, already leaving Chesterfield to join National League outfit Dagenham and Redbridge on loan.

With four unregistered players currently eating into a suspected high-wage bill, the Spireites might regret not moving on a few more names while the EFL window was open.