On the timeline, annually wedged between Katie Price’s latest divorce and the Superbowl, is the Transfer deadline day. Twice a season (end of August and end of January), teams attempt to beat the deadline to seal the signature of their desired players. Often when we get closer and closer to the deadline, clubs begin to panic and anyone with a notepad is considered a noteworthy source. Rumours become rife, fans become nervous, and Sky Sports News become the reincarnation of Mecca just for one day.
This year was no different to the norm, for the first four weeks of the “window”, high profile transfers were seldom, until Darren Bent joined Aston Villa for a fee of around £18Million. Little did we know, that less than 2 weeks later, 18 million would look like one of the bargains of the month. For the first 30 days, fans fed purely of speculation, before deadline day really gave them a meal to chew on.
The day itself is almost like a national holiday, if you are unfortunate enough to be at work, BBC sport becomes the office’s most sought after website, trying to get glimpse of the latest rumblings like boisterous teenagers bustling for autographs. For those not at work, you, at some point will start watching a T.V, and then be set for the rest of the afternoon/evening. The three rumours carrying weight as the day progressed were Fernando Torres, Andy Caroll and Charlie Adam, the latter linked with pretty much every club between here and Saudi Arabia.
I, spent the day at the pub, where the contrasting of emotions was really a sight to behold. On one side we had my friend Ben, who was bouncing around like a Jack in the Box on speed, bellowing “Fernando Torres, Chelsea’s Number 9” and my buddy Dan, a Newcastle fan, who became more and sarcastic and downbeat, lamenting every waking moment as time progressed and learning that Andy Carroll was finalizing a move to Liverpool. For him, it was the trademark “five stages of grief”, only when acceptance was finally reached, the latest murmurings were Newcastle looking to replace Carroll with Carlton Cole. I think that sent him back to stage 2 (anger) with a flourish, much to my amusement.
In the end both transfers, were completed, with a combined amount of 85million being spent on them. Charlie Adam somehow stayed at Blackpool, with the Tangerine Dream fighting off interest from Liverpool, Villa, Man United and Spurs.
3 Teams who benefitted from the window.
Aston Villa – Signing a player with 82 goals in 5 years, only trailing Didier Drogba and Wayne Rooney, whilst a player who has played just 20 Premier League games signs elsewhere for nearly double the price, the Darren Bent deal is looking like some shrewd business. Add the loan signing on Michael Bradley to the equation, and Villa are more than equipped to survive and probably finish a lot higher than anticipated.
West Ham – Not only have the Hammers bolstered the strength of there starting 11, there squad and there chances of survival, they did it predominantly on loan deals. The highlight of their signings was forward Robbie Keane, Ireland’s all-time record goalscorer, once a 20 million pound player, but found himself collecting dust like an old Donny Osmond record at Tottenham since returning to the club from Liverpool. Add to Keane an accomplished left back in Wayne Bridge and Middlesbrough midfielder Gary O’Neill and West Ham had one of the best months of anybody.
Liverpool – Fernando Torres is Liverpool’s most dangerous striker since Michael Owen was bursting onto the scene. Torres since he joined Liverpool was a goal threat with every game. He scored against Chelsea, Man United, Arsenal. When the big games came about, Torres raised his game to another level, a Michael Jordan-esque type of ability.
However, over the least year, fitness, attitude and form have all eluded Torres, who has now had a bust up with three managers in that span (Benitez, Hodgson, Del Bosque). So when a Premier League record bid appeared through the fax machine, it’s no surprise Kenny Dalglish and owner John W.Henry approved of the deal. An acrimonious departure for Torres, who spent a few good years at Anfield, but like David Brent in “The Office”, his ego just go to much to handle.
Replacing Torres, and taking his number 9 shirt is Andy Carroll, a big, physical target man, who can also play with the ball at his feet. A goalscoring threat with 11 already this season, and joining with a hefty price tag, will be looking for an instantaneous impact when Liverpool play Chelsea on Sunday.
One criticism of Liverpool of nearly 2 years is that they only had one proven striker at the club, and with Torres gone and Carrol in, Dalglish was not about to fall victim to that trap again, as he signed Uruguayan striker, and part time goalkeeper Luis Suarez to a 23 million pound deal. Suarez, who put up video game type stats in the Dutch Eredivisie comes to England with Liverpool fans hoping his impact is more on par with Ruud Van Nistelrooy than Afonso Alves.
3 teams who suffered from the window.
Wigan Athletic – You have to ask the question, what were Wigan thinking? They loan out 6 million pound striker Mauro Boselli, who granted has been the worst signing in the premier league this season, but alas, is still a striker. Then replacing him with nobody. If you had a Ferrari and a Metro on your drive and sold the Ferrari, who would drive the metro? You would buy a new car. Of course, for one second I’m not insinuating Mauro Boselli is the football equivalent to a Ferrari. He’s more of an overpriced Ford with a broken engine. Wigan look doomed for the drop now, and only have themselves to blame.
Arsenal – Don’t get me wrong, Arsenal are having a fantastic season, performing admirably in all competitions. They are on the cusp of their first bit of silverware (Emirates cup does not, will not and never will count) in 5 years, are 2nd in the premiership, and finely poised in the Fa Cup. So why didn’t they strengthen when they had the chance. With Thomas Vermaelen out of action for maybe 2 more months yet, Andrey Arshavin’s form plummeting lower than the underground and Robin Van Persie always one challenge away from 5 months out, it seemed logical to at least bring in cover. Arsenal this season have their best chance of landing the title since Eduardo broke his ankle at St Andrews and Arsene Wenger decided to focus on teams tackling too hard for the next 2 years, despite Arsenal having more sendgins off than any other team since he joined in 1996, and him once having a midfield consisting of Vieira and Petit, but I digress.
This Window should of seen Arsenal showing a statement of intent, perhaps signing Bolton’s young centre back Gary Cahill to name a name. I feel Arsenal May have missed the boat now in this window to really pursue the title, and have left it firmly within Alex Fergusons grasp.
Newcastle – As much as I think it was the right decision to sell Andy Caroll, especially at the heavily inflated price they did, the barcodes have now left themselves short of options up front, and may be forced into starting Shola Ameobi in a lot more games than expected for the rest of the season. Although they have had a good, solid start to the season, the lack of firepower Newcastle now have, and the reliance on Kevin Nolan to become their Steven Gerrard could see Newcastle slip back into a dogfight, and not a Michael Vick type dogfight. If Newcastle survive, then selling Carrol was the right thing to do.
Mid season awards.
MVP/Player of the Year – Dimitar Berbatov – Wayne Rooney has spent this season in Brothels, America and anonymous, having been a total non-entity for United, they have been reliant on the resurgence of the Bulgarian Berbatov. Known for his lazy play, Berbatov seems to be playing with an extra spring in his step, reminiscent of his Tottenham days. He also has bagged 4 hat tricks, which definitely swayed it into his
Favour.
Honourable mentions – Joe Hart, Samir Nasri and Luka Modric.
Manager of the year – Ian Holloway – Look at the league table. Then look at his squad of players. Then look at the league table again. Tell me how he has managed that. He also has shown he won’t shy away from his attacking style and is always reliable for a witty press conference.
Signing of the season – Peter Odemwingie – Coming over to West Brom from Lokomotiv Moscow, Odemwingie has scored goals and terrorised full backs for the early part of the campaign. His from has been stagnant of late, but was a major contributor to the Baggies strong start.
Worst signing – Mauro Boselli - £6million for 1 goal in the league cup.
Predictions.
Top 4
Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City
Europa League
Tottenham and Liverpool
Relegation
Wolves, West Brom and Wigan
Championship promotion
Queens Park Rangers, Nottingham Forest and Swansea City.
*Prediction guaranteed to be right. (until May)
This year was no different to the norm, for the first four weeks of the “window”, high profile transfers were seldom, until Darren Bent joined Aston Villa for a fee of around £18Million. Little did we know, that less than 2 weeks later, 18 million would look like one of the bargains of the month. For the first 30 days, fans fed purely of speculation, before deadline day really gave them a meal to chew on.
The day itself is almost like a national holiday, if you are unfortunate enough to be at work, BBC sport becomes the office’s most sought after website, trying to get glimpse of the latest rumblings like boisterous teenagers bustling for autographs. For those not at work, you, at some point will start watching a T.V, and then be set for the rest of the afternoon/evening. The three rumours carrying weight as the day progressed were Fernando Torres, Andy Caroll and Charlie Adam, the latter linked with pretty much every club between here and Saudi Arabia.
I, spent the day at the pub, where the contrasting of emotions was really a sight to behold. On one side we had my friend Ben, who was bouncing around like a Jack in the Box on speed, bellowing “Fernando Torres, Chelsea’s Number 9” and my buddy Dan, a Newcastle fan, who became more and sarcastic and downbeat, lamenting every waking moment as time progressed and learning that Andy Carroll was finalizing a move to Liverpool. For him, it was the trademark “five stages of grief”, only when acceptance was finally reached, the latest murmurings were Newcastle looking to replace Carroll with Carlton Cole. I think that sent him back to stage 2 (anger) with a flourish, much to my amusement.
In the end both transfers, were completed, with a combined amount of 85million being spent on them. Charlie Adam somehow stayed at Blackpool, with the Tangerine Dream fighting off interest from Liverpool, Villa, Man United and Spurs.
3 Teams who benefitted from the window.
Aston Villa – Signing a player with 82 goals in 5 years, only trailing Didier Drogba and Wayne Rooney, whilst a player who has played just 20 Premier League games signs elsewhere for nearly double the price, the Darren Bent deal is looking like some shrewd business. Add the loan signing on Michael Bradley to the equation, and Villa are more than equipped to survive and probably finish a lot higher than anticipated.
West Ham – Not only have the Hammers bolstered the strength of there starting 11, there squad and there chances of survival, they did it predominantly on loan deals. The highlight of their signings was forward Robbie Keane, Ireland’s all-time record goalscorer, once a 20 million pound player, but found himself collecting dust like an old Donny Osmond record at Tottenham since returning to the club from Liverpool. Add to Keane an accomplished left back in Wayne Bridge and Middlesbrough midfielder Gary O’Neill and West Ham had one of the best months of anybody.
Liverpool – Fernando Torres is Liverpool’s most dangerous striker since Michael Owen was bursting onto the scene. Torres since he joined Liverpool was a goal threat with every game. He scored against Chelsea, Man United, Arsenal. When the big games came about, Torres raised his game to another level, a Michael Jordan-esque type of ability.
However, over the least year, fitness, attitude and form have all eluded Torres, who has now had a bust up with three managers in that span (Benitez, Hodgson, Del Bosque). So when a Premier League record bid appeared through the fax machine, it’s no surprise Kenny Dalglish and owner John W.Henry approved of the deal. An acrimonious departure for Torres, who spent a few good years at Anfield, but like David Brent in “The Office”, his ego just go to much to handle.
Replacing Torres, and taking his number 9 shirt is Andy Carroll, a big, physical target man, who can also play with the ball at his feet. A goalscoring threat with 11 already this season, and joining with a hefty price tag, will be looking for an instantaneous impact when Liverpool play Chelsea on Sunday.
One criticism of Liverpool of nearly 2 years is that they only had one proven striker at the club, and with Torres gone and Carrol in, Dalglish was not about to fall victim to that trap again, as he signed Uruguayan striker, and part time goalkeeper Luis Suarez to a 23 million pound deal. Suarez, who put up video game type stats in the Dutch Eredivisie comes to England with Liverpool fans hoping his impact is more on par with Ruud Van Nistelrooy than Afonso Alves.
3 teams who suffered from the window.
Wigan Athletic – You have to ask the question, what were Wigan thinking? They loan out 6 million pound striker Mauro Boselli, who granted has been the worst signing in the premier league this season, but alas, is still a striker. Then replacing him with nobody. If you had a Ferrari and a Metro on your drive and sold the Ferrari, who would drive the metro? You would buy a new car. Of course, for one second I’m not insinuating Mauro Boselli is the football equivalent to a Ferrari. He’s more of an overpriced Ford with a broken engine. Wigan look doomed for the drop now, and only have themselves to blame.
Arsenal – Don’t get me wrong, Arsenal are having a fantastic season, performing admirably in all competitions. They are on the cusp of their first bit of silverware (Emirates cup does not, will not and never will count) in 5 years, are 2nd in the premiership, and finely poised in the Fa Cup. So why didn’t they strengthen when they had the chance. With Thomas Vermaelen out of action for maybe 2 more months yet, Andrey Arshavin’s form plummeting lower than the underground and Robin Van Persie always one challenge away from 5 months out, it seemed logical to at least bring in cover. Arsenal this season have their best chance of landing the title since Eduardo broke his ankle at St Andrews and Arsene Wenger decided to focus on teams tackling too hard for the next 2 years, despite Arsenal having more sendgins off than any other team since he joined in 1996, and him once having a midfield consisting of Vieira and Petit, but I digress.
This Window should of seen Arsenal showing a statement of intent, perhaps signing Bolton’s young centre back Gary Cahill to name a name. I feel Arsenal May have missed the boat now in this window to really pursue the title, and have left it firmly within Alex Fergusons grasp.
Newcastle – As much as I think it was the right decision to sell Andy Caroll, especially at the heavily inflated price they did, the barcodes have now left themselves short of options up front, and may be forced into starting Shola Ameobi in a lot more games than expected for the rest of the season. Although they have had a good, solid start to the season, the lack of firepower Newcastle now have, and the reliance on Kevin Nolan to become their Steven Gerrard could see Newcastle slip back into a dogfight, and not a Michael Vick type dogfight. If Newcastle survive, then selling Carrol was the right thing to do.
Mid season awards.
MVP/Player of the Year – Dimitar Berbatov – Wayne Rooney has spent this season in Brothels, America and anonymous, having been a total non-entity for United, they have been reliant on the resurgence of the Bulgarian Berbatov. Known for his lazy play, Berbatov seems to be playing with an extra spring in his step, reminiscent of his Tottenham days. He also has bagged 4 hat tricks, which definitely swayed it into his
Favour.
Honourable mentions – Joe Hart, Samir Nasri and Luka Modric.
Manager of the year – Ian Holloway – Look at the league table. Then look at his squad of players. Then look at the league table again. Tell me how he has managed that. He also has shown he won’t shy away from his attacking style and is always reliable for a witty press conference.
Signing of the season – Peter Odemwingie – Coming over to West Brom from Lokomotiv Moscow, Odemwingie has scored goals and terrorised full backs for the early part of the campaign. His from has been stagnant of late, but was a major contributor to the Baggies strong start.
Worst signing – Mauro Boselli - £6million for 1 goal in the league cup.
Predictions.
Top 4
Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City
Europa League
Tottenham and Liverpool
Relegation
Wolves, West Brom and Wigan
Championship promotion
Queens Park Rangers, Nottingham Forest and Swansea City.
*Prediction guaranteed to be right. (until May)
Love it, awesome once again. 1st and 10 :)
ReplyDeleteAll true. All of it. Made me chuckle about the Emirates Cup. We need some silverware baaaaad.
ReplyDelete