Julian Rhodes won't thank me for saying so but it was the sort of masterstroke that a previous chairman would have been proud of.

The decision to allow Dean Windass to go back to his spiritual home - if only on loan - has certainly stirred up a hornets nest.

But you wonder if a former resident of this parish might be nodding his head approvingly at the unfolding drama.

Releasing a big name as a money-making exercise is not a new idea around Valley Parade. Is it, Geoffrey Richmond?

Rhodes has not copied many business traits of his former boardroom partner - and, in the main, the club can be very thankful for that.

But our Geoffrey was never averse to courting controversy by letting out a crown jewel or two if it meant banking a few bob in exchange.

Remember the spring of 1998, when Peter Beagrie was allowed to slip off to Everton for a few months? Richmond effectively drew up the drawbridge on that season, accepting that City were not going up or down, and decided it was worth the gamble to rake in around £200,000 in return.

A year earlier, eight players had been allowed out of the exit door in the month leading up to the transfer deadline - including both Wembley heroes from the previous summer, Mark Stallard and Des Hamilton.

So what do you make of Rhodes' bold bid to cash in on the striker whose goals, to quote his own modest words, "stopped this club getting relegated in the last couple of seasons"?

Windass has always divided opinion.

There are those who can see nothing wrong with a quality player who makes City worth watching even in the bleakest times.

Others will point to the same histrionics as the case of a Peter Pan who will never grow up - and someone who thinks he is bigger than the team.

Equally, City's decision to make money while they can has been greeted with bouquets and brick bats in equal proportion.

Rhodes has stressed that it was his decision - and his alone. This time of the year is traditionally the leanest in the City coffers.

Gates have been down, though without Windass you may wonder if they will drop even more, and the wages still have to be paid. This will ensure that one hefty figure is taken off that bill while City will also pocket an undisclosed loan fee, which is thought to be in the region of £150,000.

It also means that Jermaine Johnson remains on the team sheet, unless an offer comes in that is far more realistic for his talents than the £250,000 tabled by Derby that was swiftly rejected.

Windass, like Rhodes, says he will be back in the claret and amber next season.

But every City fan will be sceptical - particularly when Hull's local paper carried a headline screaming "I want to end my career here" on the same day he was making his Terminator-style pledge to the Bradford public.

Finances as ever remain tight and Rhodes forecasts a £600,000 loss on the financial year.

Hull want Windass as a stop-gap to cover Nick Barmby's season-ending ligament injury. It is unlikely Phil Brown would want both of them in the same team.

But what if Deano wows them and Hull make noises about a permanent deal? Will City stand firm against a six-figure bid in the summer for a player who will be 38 by then?

If we have seen the last of Windass, then Saturday's two-goal display against Swansea was a typically stage-managed swansong.

Face down on the floor after a tangle with an opponent to earn a penalty; labelled a cheat for over-reacting by the away manager; then lamping the spot-kick into the roof of the net!

"Pure theatre," as one fan said in the deluge of comments that hit our website when the news broke on Wednesday.

I'll nail my colours to the mast and hope he does come back. Life is never dull with Windass around - and from a professional point of view, he can fill our back page every night.

City will argue that they are a lot more than Dean Windass United. The next few months - and possibly longer - will indicate if that really is the case.

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