He could, however, spot a player; it's easy to forget that he brought in James Constable for one. Sam Deering was another that he nurtured into first team action. Deering like Courtney 'shit shit shit' Pitt, he was 'from Chelsea', which always sounds impressive (like Danny Rose, Manchester United reserve team captain) but is a bit like hiring a 17 year-old gardener as chief executive of a small software company on the basis that he once pruned the borders at Microsoft HQ.
But, Deering, like Pitt could have been, became totemic in the club's revival. As a winger, he already had our interest, he was small and could beat a player, and that's all we wanted. When Chris Wilder arrived he announced Deering as our best player (he'd just broken his leg in Wilder's first game at Salisbury). Where were times when he couldn't reach the penalty box with his corners. We even forgave him for a racist post on Facebook, that's how desperate for something to love we were.
'Suntan' Lewis Haldane was another of Patterson's signings in 2008. Like all good wingers he was frustrating but punctuated this with moments of thrilling. Not least a strike against Cambridge that was as clean as you'd hope to see. The club couldn't quite make a permanent move stick, and Craig Nelthorpe, brought in by Wilder to help ignite a remarkable turnaround, couldn't stop fighting with people. We ended the 2008/9 season with a renewed hope, but still no winger to get behind.
Alfie Potter came in during that summer. He'd already gained popularity when on loan at Havant and Waterlooville where he scored in a remarkable cup tie at Anfield. With his recent injury, it would be tempting, but slightly overstating it to say that he was pivotal in our promotion season. He certainly played an important role along with Deering, in stretching tiring defenders or offering new angles when things got stagnant. But then, like now, he frustrates with his lack of finishing and occasional dribbles into nowhere. That said, he offers something that no other players does. And while he does that, Oxford fans will have infinite patience to allow him to develop.
It seems fitting that in the last minute of the play-off final, what would become the last minute of a decade in the doldrums, that it was Deering and Potter, the two most traditional wingers at the club, breaking out from a melee to exchange passes for more than half the length of the pitch, like children playing in the park, before Potter slotted home. If anyone ever doubted the importance of wingers in Oxford's history, that moment alone, nearly 30 years on from George Lawrence, Kevin Brock and Andy Thomas, proved that this club, its fortunes and wing play are a key part of its history and spirit.
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