Graham Rix signed yet another of his old boys today, this time striker Lee Bradbury came on board to join up with his former manager at Portsmouth. Bradbury started his career at Pompey where he did well enough for Manchester City to sign him for a cool ?3 million, although this was in the profligate days of Frank Clarke’s management, and it made Bradbury City’s record purchase.

After injuries disrupted his first season at City he was unable to prevent their relegation to Division Two, and he was transferred for ?1.5 million to Crystal Palace. He didn’t do too badly in London, but less than a year later he rejoined Portsmouth for about a tenth of the fee they received for him.

Bradbury never really made it back at Pompey and he had unsuccessful loans spells at Sheffield Wednesday and Derby. He joined Walsall towards the end of last season, but was unable to prevent their relegation to Division Two (is there a pattern emerging here?). It might just be an incorrect perception, but Bradbury seems to be one of those players who always scored against United, so let’s hope that, with the boot on the other foot (as it were), he will recapture the scoring touch.