Tom Huddlestone flys back to complete complete Derby move

At thirty years old, and a seasoned Premier League player, £2 million is an absolute steal. When untried players are being transferred for £25m and £30m, this is an incredible signing. At thirty, Tom could give us four or five years of playing. It's not as if he will lose his pace because he never had any in the first place. But he now has 400 games under his belt, and with that experience comes improvements in anticipation, keeping calm under pressure and knowing what to do to close out games - something that we have been missing when you look at the number of late goals we concede.

People regard thirty as the end of a players career. That might have been the case in the 1970's, but now players take much better care of themselves, and receive the very best in treatment which adds four or five years to their careers. Look at John Terry. Been 'in the wars' for years for Chelsea and England. Compare him to Roy McFarland who, by 1980 was 32 years old and could barely run. Terry has just signed for Villa and expects to play for a good few years yet, at 35 years old.

I really want to see Huddlestone and Thorne playing alongside one another in a 4-2-3-1, like Carsley and Graveson did for Everton a few years ago.

Brian Clough used to say that to build a good side, you get the spine of the side right first. Rowett has signed Curtis Davies and Tom Huddlestone, and got Chris Martin back from on loan. That's some very strong spine!