Iron hoping for Hope

Last updated : 03 January 2006 By Simon Head

Hope: A revered figure at Glanford Park

Hope was a former captain at Glanford Park, and is still held in extremely high esteem in Scunthorpe. A recent poll on the Scunthorpe Mad website, Iron-Bru.net, showed that nearly 80% of Scunny fans would like to see Hopey return 'home' to Glanford Park.

Gills signed Hope for £250,000 over five years ago, and the centre half became a model of consistency at the back, featuring prominently in our most successful league side ever.

In recent times, however, Hope's form has dipped somewhat, and he has found it tougher to maintain the extremely high standards he set earlier in his Gills career. With Leon Johnson, Brent Sancho and Ian Cox all in better form so far this season, Hope may find it tough to re-establish himself in Ronnie Jepson's new-look side.

Should that be the case, then Scunthorpe may well be tempted into making a move for their former talisman.

"Chris has been troubled by a calf strain," Iron boss Brian Laws told the Scunthorpe Telegraph.

"It's a situation we are monitoring, we are always looking at players with a view to strengthening the team.

"But the sort of players we will be looking to try and bring in are likely to be on a loan basis."

We'll wait and see what happens as the month progresses and report all the developments during the transfer window on Gills365.