I agree. He was adequate, ordinary. No more. Didn't do a lot wrong, but didn't exactly set the place on fire. Signing him permanently never interested me.
Seem to recall something similar happened to the woman who used to play Rita in Coronation Street. Her daughter got nicked for drink driving & called Mum from the police station. Mummy leaps in the car, turns up at the front desk within minutes, and is promptly found to smell like a brewery...