THE new investment coming Jim Magilton's way before the January transfer window means he will be able to operate in a brand new sphere.Magilton has had to shop very much in the bargain basement, and that is no disrespect to Accrington Stanley or Chester, or scrape around for loan signings and freebies.

By Derek Davis

THE new investment coming Jim Magilton's way before the January transfer window means he will be able to operate in a brand new sphere.

Magilton has had to shop very much in the bargain basement, and that is no disrespect to Accrington Stanley or Chester, or scrape around for loan signings and freebies.

While he will not exactly be able to pay top dollar at Harrods he will be able to compete with those who are spending the parachute cash or money from rich benefactors.

It is no coincidence that the top transfers this season have involved Charlton, Watford and Sheffield United who came down from the Premiership, and Wolves who have been bought by Steve Morgan.

The sort of player who may now be available to Magilton will be in the £2m-£3m bracket, if personal terms are not ridiculous.

That will make all the difference to a promotion push, especially at the back end of a difficult season when any weaknesses will be exposed.

We saw with Town a couple of years back when they were top of the league from December through to March when a couple of key injuries meant them slipping to third and then failing in the play-offs.

The line between success and failure is so thin it could be down to one signing at the right time.

With the money Magilton will have available to him at a pivotal time it could mean mounting a serious promotion campaign this season rather than waiting until the summer.

If Town don't do it now though, the extra cash, and the chance of more to come, will whet the appetite and with a new contract security for Magilton and his coaches there can be no excuses.

There will also be the added expectations because as the team gets more expensive then promotion will be demanded rather than, as at the moment, just hoped for. But that is better than having to scrimp and save and only gaze enviously at the managers at the top end snapping up the players who have that extra quality.

The downside of course is that the selling clubs will know that Magilton has a few quid and will squeeze every penny they can from a manager not used to dealing in the transfer market.

He will of course have the wisdom and experience of David Sheepshanks to guide him and it is usually the Town chairman who handles the negotiations.

With the new-found wealth omes added responsibility and pressure.

Magilton will have to juggle the feelings of his current squad and inevitably there will be those players who have worries about their future. Some will not be happy to be pushed further down the pecking order

At the same time there will be ambitious players confident enough in their ability and position within the side to welcome new additions to the squad, either as competition or to complement the better players already on the staff.

One of the things Magilton will also be well aware of is upsetting the equilibrium of the dressing room when it comes to wages.

The top earners at the moment are on around £8,000 a week but players coming in from Premiership clubs, for example, or the higher end of the Championship, may be demanding even higher wages.

But Magilton will have learnt the lessons that George Burley discovered in the second year of Town's Premiership stay when the team that had served so well to win promotion and then finished fifth in the table were left feeling neglected and disgruntled at the big-money signings from abroad.

The team went from being a tight unit to a split side that eventually went down.

For Magilton the added cash will offer a new challenge, but one he will probably relish.

Better to have a pot of gold to dip into than spend your time juggling sand, as his predecessor will testify.