But not this time. For after we'd made a fourth bid for the services of Le Fondre, rumoured to be around £35,000 plus a sell on clause, Stockport finally relented, and Le Fondre moved to Spotland, signing a three year contract in the process.

Alf was always going to be Dale boss Keith Hill's number one transfer target after his loan spell at Spotland earlier that year. His loan spell from County was a major success, and it certainly helped that we played a style of football which suited Le Fondre.

When Dale manager Keith Hill initially announced the loan signing of Adam Le Fondre, there were a number of surprised but very happy reactions from Dale supporters. For in signing Le Fondre, we had secured the services of someone with an excellent reputation in the division and certainly not the sort of player you'd let go.

The move to Spotland came about after Le Fondre found himself frozen out at Edgeley Park with Jim Gannon having a number of strikers at his disposal. There was talk of a behind the scenes dispute with Gannon, but whatever the reason, their loss was certainly our gain.

His first game against MK Dons was as spectacular a debut as you could get. In fact, he almost scored with his very first touch of the ball. Not to worry, as he did hit the back of the net with his second touch. He went on to score two goals that day, causing Milton Keynes all sorts of problems, and had he come away with four or five goals to his name that day in the 5-0 thumping, then no one could have complained.

Le Fondre was certainly a class act and he caused all sorts of problems for opposition defences. He formed an instant partnership with Glenn Murray and took no time at all in winning the admiration of Dale supporters.

Alas, his spell with Dale proved to be all too short as he was recalled by County, though his return was pretty much a waste of time as he was hardly used by County boss Jim Gannon. There were brief cameos, including one in the famous 7-2 victory at Edgeley Park but he wasn't given any chance to build on the form shown at Spotland.

There had been talk of a return to Spotland on deadline day but it never materialised, and as it was, we had to wait until the Summer before we could make Alfie our own on a permanent basis.

As mentioned, Adam Le Fondre signed a three year contract at Dale, meaning he will remain at Spotland until the Summer of 2010. During that time, it is hoped that he will be able to build on the fantastic start to his career, and it no doubt will consist of Dale fans asking themselves about how long we will be able to keep hold of him.