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The past 31-days of this new month has been a pretty hectic time for today's football club managers with the Premiership Window finally opened, just for one-month, and one-month-only. We've seen managers like Steve Bruce make good use of this time with an impressive a number of "bargain buys" signing-up to be part of his Birmingham City squad, while clubs towards the top like Manchester United, for example, have barely even seen Sir Alex Ferguson even talking to another manager or player's agent!
Just about everyone envolved with football - whether it's an out-spoken fan, or top-of-the-league manager - is againt the whole idea of keeping this sure-fire-failure of a Transfer Window for years to come in England and the rest of Great Britain, mainly because of the bad effects it has had on a large numebr of teams as a whole already this season, especially the ones struggling at the bottom of the league who have been unable to add to their squad and fight their way out.
And with that in mind - along with a number of other problems I have outlined in the past - you can see why nobody wants to see an August 31st deadline for buying players in-place again next-season.
But I'm not writing this to once again critisize the Transfer Window system for the way it works. Oh no. This time I'm here to comment on `when` it operates and the inconvenience of the system during the half-way-point in the season.
Look around the other big domestic leagues throughout Europe and you'l notice that the majority of countries on-show will have a similar system in-place that operates at around the same time as our one over-here, and therefore they experience the similar kinds of problems that you would have expected to have seen within the past month.
But when it comes to this time-of-year, and it is this cold, with increased chances of snow, European giants playing in the likes of Serie A, Spain's La Liga, and the Bundesliga of Germany take a break for a few weeks to relax and feel refreshed and ready to fight-on for honours through the remaining 6-months of the campaign.
Over-here, however, no such system is in place. But we do have out window open at the same time as them, which has been setup so that teams from all-around-Europe can negotiate deals and find who they want a lot easier, all at the same time.
But to many people, like Sir Alex Ferguson, Arséne Wenger, and even myself, January, in the middle of a hectic season where so much is at stake, is a bad time to bring-in new players. And that times like the Summer and the pre-season months are more appropraite times for bringing-in new faces who aren't neccesarily already feeling the pressures of the modern-day-game, even if they are stuck on the sidelines.
At this time in any season, not matter which club you're playing for, or which league you're playing in, the majority of footballers today will often be feeling very differently, mentally, to what they were like in the middle of August, right before the new campaign kicked-off.
Unhappy players stuck playing for a side at the bottom of the league staring Relegation in the face will be feeling very-down, and that the next thing they want to do is run-away from the `sinking-ship` like rats. And then there will be others who are more loyal to the club, and they'll stay and fight-on untill the very-last final whistle. But if thing's don't improve for them during the remainder of the season, and they do get Relegated, then their own confidence and belief in themselves is likely to be shot. And a player lacking confidence with no real belief in himself or his abillity isn't the kind of player any bigger team higher-up-the-table is likely to have in their sights.
I believe that West Ham United is a team full of players like this with rising-stars like Joe Cole, Michael Carrick and Jermaine Defoe who could quite easily lose faith in themselves if the side doesn't get its act together soon.
And then there are the teams higher up the league, performing better. And even the youngest of players in their squad will be on-a-high, feeling like the world's cowers down-beneath them, without a real care for anything else in the world. But you often find that when one team begins the season on a high-note with a consistant position in the league just-outside the top-5, when the second-half unfolds after Christmas, things can suddenly return back to normal, and they'll start sliding-down the league again, slowly, with the hopes and dreams of each individual going-down with them. And when the bigger players realise it was all a dream, they may decide it is time to move-on - again - after only having signed for the club 6-months-ago!
Everton and Southampton are 2 prime examples of teams this season who are much higher in the league than you'd expect them to be. James Beattie, Kevin Campbell, and Thomas Radzinski may be scoring-goals quite frequently now, but this good-run-of-form isn't going to last forever, and soon they will come crashing back-down to Earth again, with Wayne Rooney and co. feeling like they don't belong there, as disaster really begins to strike.
But of course, for club's like Arsenal and Man United right at the very-top of the table, with so-much to go-for this season in all major competitions, players will feel ontop of the world. But even United's squad which has been greatly influenced by Youth over the years is likely to need some new injections sooner-or-later, and Fergie and co. are likely to be looking for younger players to come-in and play as "understudy" to the likes of Ryan Giggs and Ruud van Nistelrooy - just like Quinton Fortune has been doing ever-since he first arrived at Old Trafford. And it's the same with Francis Jeffers at Arsenal, too.
But by bringing in lesser-known, in-experienced faces to play in the likes of the Champion's League and the UEFA Cup, you're starting XI won't be quite-the-same as it was a few weeks ago, before `Juan-Carlos-Guillermo`... "Wotsit" arrived; a player who has so-far been unable to fit into the team's style-of-play, and has turned out to be just the kind of player you DIDN'T want to bring in at this stage in the season!
And now all your dreams of a "Treble" - or even the "Quadruple" have now been shattered....
I, like many other United fans around the country, was at first very angry and dissapointing with his lack of spending this month, during the only time available before the end of this season to help bolster-up the United squad with the players we need to go on a become the `Kings of Europe` once again, and to perhaps even grab all-FOUR trophies this time around, also!
Obviously, with players like van Nistelrooy, Beckham, Keane, Scholes and Giggs, in the starting XI; Diego Forlan, Ole Solskjaer, Juan Veron and Phil Neville in the reserves; and potentially more John O'Shea's and Wes Brown's to come from the youth ranks and reserve team setups; Sir Alex believes that we alreadt have the strength and depth within out squad to go on and give those "Gunners" a fight 'till the very-end-of-the-season - just like it was only 4 years ago...!
(Well, it's either that, or he isn't bothered about winning ANYTHING at-all this season after having practically won it all before during the last-10-years!)
But I think we can trust him after failing to pursue his interests on David Bellion and Julien Escudé, for starters...
Just as long as the manager spends the right amount of time, consideration, and money on the players his squad needs to go as far as he wants them to throughout the coming season, during the Summer months, he shouldn't even need to look at who is and who isn't available in the January Sales, providing he's got it all-right before hand.
This is something that Arséne Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson have been trying to show us, and look at where they are in the league this season -- top-2!!
They saw the window system coming, and did all they're shopping in good-time before hand - just like you're mum probably does 6-months-before Christmas.
Can't argue with that! :)
Just about everyone envolved with football - whether it's an out-spoken fan, or top-of-the-league manager - is againt the whole idea of keeping this sure-fire-failure of a Transfer Window for years to come in England and the rest of Great Britain, mainly because of the bad effects it has had on a large numebr of teams as a whole already this season, especially the ones struggling at the bottom of the league who have been unable to add to their squad and fight their way out.
And with that in mind - along with a number of other problems I have outlined in the past - you can see why nobody wants to see an August 31st deadline for buying players in-place again next-season.
But I'm not writing this to once again critisize the Transfer Window system for the way it works. Oh no. This time I'm here to comment on `when` it operates and the inconvenience of the system during the half-way-point in the season.
Look around the other big domestic leagues throughout Europe and you'l notice that the majority of countries on-show will have a similar system in-place that operates at around the same time as our one over-here, and therefore they experience the similar kinds of problems that you would have expected to have seen within the past month.
But when it comes to this time-of-year, and it is this cold, with increased chances of snow, European giants playing in the likes of Serie A, Spain's La Liga, and the Bundesliga of Germany take a break for a few weeks to relax and feel refreshed and ready to fight-on for honours through the remaining 6-months of the campaign.
Over-here, however, no such system is in place. But we do have out window open at the same time as them, which has been setup so that teams from all-around-Europe can negotiate deals and find who they want a lot easier, all at the same time.
But to many people, like Sir Alex Ferguson, Arséne Wenger, and even myself, January, in the middle of a hectic season where so much is at stake, is a bad time to bring-in new players. And that times like the Summer and the pre-season months are more appropraite times for bringing-in new faces who aren't neccesarily already feeling the pressures of the modern-day-game, even if they are stuck on the sidelines.
At this time in any season, not matter which club you're playing for, or which league you're playing in, the majority of footballers today will often be feeling very differently, mentally, to what they were like in the middle of August, right before the new campaign kicked-off.
Unhappy players stuck playing for a side at the bottom of the league staring Relegation in the face will be feeling very-down, and that the next thing they want to do is run-away from the `sinking-ship` like rats. And then there will be others who are more loyal to the club, and they'll stay and fight-on untill the very-last final whistle. But if thing's don't improve for them during the remainder of the season, and they do get Relegated, then their own confidence and belief in themselves is likely to be shot. And a player lacking confidence with no real belief in himself or his abillity isn't the kind of player any bigger team higher-up-the-table is likely to have in their sights.
I believe that West Ham United is a team full of players like this with rising-stars like Joe Cole, Michael Carrick and Jermaine Defoe who could quite easily lose faith in themselves if the side doesn't get its act together soon.
And then there are the teams higher up the league, performing better. And even the youngest of players in their squad will be on-a-high, feeling like the world's cowers down-beneath them, without a real care for anything else in the world. But you often find that when one team begins the season on a high-note with a consistant position in the league just-outside the top-5, when the second-half unfolds after Christmas, things can suddenly return back to normal, and they'll start sliding-down the league again, slowly, with the hopes and dreams of each individual going-down with them. And when the bigger players realise it was all a dream, they may decide it is time to move-on - again - after only having signed for the club 6-months-ago!
Everton and Southampton are 2 prime examples of teams this season who are much higher in the league than you'd expect them to be. James Beattie, Kevin Campbell, and Thomas Radzinski may be scoring-goals quite frequently now, but this good-run-of-form isn't going to last forever, and soon they will come crashing back-down to Earth again, with Wayne Rooney and co. feeling like they don't belong there, as disaster really begins to strike.
But of course, for club's like Arsenal and Man United right at the very-top of the table, with so-much to go-for this season in all major competitions, players will feel ontop of the world. But even United's squad which has been greatly influenced by Youth over the years is likely to need some new injections sooner-or-later, and Fergie and co. are likely to be looking for younger players to come-in and play as "understudy" to the likes of Ryan Giggs and Ruud van Nistelrooy - just like Quinton Fortune has been doing ever-since he first arrived at Old Trafford. And it's the same with Francis Jeffers at Arsenal, too.
But by bringing in lesser-known, in-experienced faces to play in the likes of the Champion's League and the UEFA Cup, you're starting XI won't be quite-the-same as it was a few weeks ago, before `Juan-Carlos-Guillermo`... "Wotsit" arrived; a player who has so-far been unable to fit into the team's style-of-play, and has turned out to be just the kind of player you DIDN'T want to bring in at this stage in the season!
And now all your dreams of a "Treble" - or even the "Quadruple" have now been shattered....
I, like many other United fans around the country, was at first very angry and dissapointing with his lack of spending this month, during the only time available before the end of this season to help bolster-up the United squad with the players we need to go on a become the `Kings of Europe` once again, and to perhaps even grab all-FOUR trophies this time around, also!
Obviously, with players like van Nistelrooy, Beckham, Keane, Scholes and Giggs, in the starting XI; Diego Forlan, Ole Solskjaer, Juan Veron and Phil Neville in the reserves; and potentially more John O'Shea's and Wes Brown's to come from the youth ranks and reserve team setups; Sir Alex believes that we alreadt have the strength and depth within out squad to go on and give those "Gunners" a fight 'till the very-end-of-the-season - just like it was only 4 years ago...!
(Well, it's either that, or he isn't bothered about winning ANYTHING at-all this season after having practically won it all before during the last-10-years!)
But I think we can trust him after failing to pursue his interests on David Bellion and Julien Escudé, for starters...
Just as long as the manager spends the right amount of time, consideration, and money on the players his squad needs to go as far as he wants them to throughout the coming season, during the Summer months, he shouldn't even need to look at who is and who isn't available in the January Sales, providing he's got it all-right before hand.
This is something that Arséne Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson have been trying to show us, and look at where they are in the league this season -- top-2!!
They saw the window system coming, and did all they're shopping in good-time before hand - just like you're mum probably does 6-months-before Christmas.
Can't argue with that! :)
There have been no replies to this thread yet.
The past 31-days of this new month has been a pretty hectic time for today's football club managers with the Premiership Window finally opened, just for one-month, and one-month-only. We've seen managers like Steve Bruce make good use of this time with an impressive a number of "bargain buys" signing-up to be part of his Birmingham City squad, while clubs towards the top like Manchester United, for example, have barely even seen Sir Alex Ferguson even talking to another manager or player's agent!
Just about everyone envolved with football - whether it's an out-spoken fan, or top-of-the-league manager - is againt the whole idea of keeping this sure-fire-failure of a Transfer Window for years to come in England and the rest of Great Britain, mainly because of the bad effects it has had on a large numebr of teams as a whole already this season, especially the ones struggling at the bottom of the league who have been unable to add to their squad and fight their way out.
And with that in mind - along with a number of other problems I have outlined in the past - you can see why nobody wants to see an August 31st deadline for buying players in-place again next-season.
But I'm not writing this to once again critisize the Transfer Window system for the way it works. Oh no. This time I'm here to comment on `when` it operates and the inconvenience of the system during the half-way-point in the season.
Look around the other big domestic leagues throughout Europe and you'l notice that the majority of countries on-show will have a similar system in-place that operates at around the same time as our one over-here, and therefore they experience the similar kinds of problems that you would have expected to have seen within the past month.
But when it comes to this time-of-year, and it is this cold, with increased chances of snow, European giants playing in the likes of Serie A, Spain's La Liga, and the Bundesliga of Germany take a break for a few weeks to relax and feel refreshed and ready to fight-on for honours through the remaining 6-months of the campaign.
Over-here, however, no such system is in place. But we do have out window open at the same time as them, which has been setup so that teams from all-around-Europe can negotiate deals and find who they want a lot easier, all at the same time.
But to many people, like Sir Alex Ferguson, Arséne Wenger, and even myself, January, in the middle of a hectic season where so much is at stake, is a bad time to bring-in new players. And that times like the Summer and the pre-season months are more appropraite times for bringing-in new faces who aren't neccesarily already feeling the pressures of the modern-day-game, even if they are stuck on the sidelines.
At this time in any season, not matter which club you're playing for, or which league you're playing in, the majority of footballers today will often be feeling very differently, mentally, to what they were like in the middle of August, right before the new campaign kicked-off.
Unhappy players stuck playing for a side at the bottom of the league staring Relegation in the face will be feeling very-down, and that the next thing they want to do is run-away from the `sinking-ship` like rats. And then there will be others who are more loyal to the club, and they'll stay and fight-on untill the very-last final whistle. But if thing's don't improve for them during the remainder of the season, and they do get Relegated, then their own confidence and belief in themselves is likely to be shot. And a player lacking confidence with no real belief in himself or his abillity isn't the kind of player any bigger team higher-up-the-table is likely to have in their sights.
I believe that West Ham United is a team full of players like this with rising-stars like Joe Cole, Michael Carrick and Jermaine Defoe who could quite easily lose faith in themselves if the side doesn't get its act together soon.
And then there are the teams higher up the league, performing better. And even the youngest of players in their squad will be on-a-high, feeling like the world's cowers down-beneath them, without a real care for anything else in the world. But you often find that when one team begins the season on a high-note with a consistant position in the league just-outside the top-5, when the second-half unfolds after Christmas, things can suddenly return back to normal, and they'll start sliding-down the league again, slowly, with the hopes and dreams of each individual going-down with them. And when the bigger players realise it was all a dream, they may decide it is time to move-on - again - after only having signed for the club 6-months-ago!
Everton and Southampton are 2 prime examples of teams this season who are much higher in the league than you'd expect them to be. James Beattie, Kevin Campbell, and Thomas Radzinski may be scoring-goals quite frequently now, but this good-run-of-form isn't going to last forever, and soon they will come crashing back-down to Earth again, with Wayne Rooney and co. feeling like they don't belong there, as disaster really begins to strike.
But of course, for club's like Arsenal and Man United right at the very-top of the table, with so-much to go-for this season in all major competitions, players will feel ontop of the world. But even United's squad which has been greatly influenced by Youth over the years is likely to need some new injections sooner-or-later, and Fergie and co. are likely to be looking for younger players to come-in and play as "understudy" to the likes of Ryan Giggs and Ruud van Nistelrooy - just like Quinton Fortune has been doing ever-since he first arrived at Old Trafford. And it's the same with Francis Jeffers at Arsenal, too.
But by bringing in lesser-known, in-experienced faces to play in the likes of the Champion's League and the UEFA Cup, you're starting XI won't be quite-the-same as it was a few weeks ago, before `Juan-Carlos-Guillermo`... "Wotsit" arrived; a player who has so-far been unable to fit into the team's style-of-play, and has turned out to be just the kind of player you DIDN'T want to bring in at this stage in the season!
And now all your dreams of a "Treble" - or even the "Quadruple" have now been shattered....
I, like many other United fans around the country, was at first very angry and dissapointing with his lack of spending this month, during the only time available before the end of this season to help bolster-up the United squad with the players we need to go on a become the `Kings of Europe` once again, and to perhaps even grab all-FOUR trophies this time around, also!
Obviously, with players like van Nistelrooy, Beckham, Keane, Scholes and Giggs, in the starting XI; Diego Forlan, Ole Solskjaer, Juan Veron and Phil Neville in the reserves; and potentially more John O'Shea's and Wes Brown's to come from the youth ranks and reserve team setups; Sir Alex believes that we alreadt have the strength and depth within out squad to go on and give those "Gunners" a fight 'till the very-end-of-the-season - just like it was only 4 years ago...!
(Well, it's either that, or he isn't bothered about winning ANYTHING at-all this season after having practically won it all before during the last-10-years!)
But I think we can trust him after failing to pursue his interests on David Bellion and Julien Escudé, for starters...
Just as long as the manager spends the right amount of time, consideration, and money on the players his squad needs to go as far as he wants them to throughout the coming season, during the Summer months, he shouldn't even need to look at who is and who isn't available in the January Sales, providing he's got it all-right before hand.
This is something that Arséne Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson have been trying to show us, and look at where they are in the league this season -- top-2!!
They saw the window system coming, and did all they're shopping in good-time before hand - just like you're mum probably does 6-months-before Christmas.
Can't argue with that! :)
Just about everyone envolved with football - whether it's an out-spoken fan, or top-of-the-league manager - is againt the whole idea of keeping this sure-fire-failure of a Transfer Window for years to come in England and the rest of Great Britain, mainly because of the bad effects it has had on a large numebr of teams as a whole already this season, especially the ones struggling at the bottom of the league who have been unable to add to their squad and fight their way out.
And with that in mind - along with a number of other problems I have outlined in the past - you can see why nobody wants to see an August 31st deadline for buying players in-place again next-season.
But I'm not writing this to once again critisize the Transfer Window system for the way it works. Oh no. This time I'm here to comment on `when` it operates and the inconvenience of the system during the half-way-point in the season.
Look around the other big domestic leagues throughout Europe and you'l notice that the majority of countries on-show will have a similar system in-place that operates at around the same time as our one over-here, and therefore they experience the similar kinds of problems that you would have expected to have seen within the past month.
But when it comes to this time-of-year, and it is this cold, with increased chances of snow, European giants playing in the likes of Serie A, Spain's La Liga, and the Bundesliga of Germany take a break for a few weeks to relax and feel refreshed and ready to fight-on for honours through the remaining 6-months of the campaign.
Over-here, however, no such system is in place. But we do have out window open at the same time as them, which has been setup so that teams from all-around-Europe can negotiate deals and find who they want a lot easier, all at the same time.
But to many people, like Sir Alex Ferguson, Arséne Wenger, and even myself, January, in the middle of a hectic season where so much is at stake, is a bad time to bring-in new players. And that times like the Summer and the pre-season months are more appropraite times for bringing-in new faces who aren't neccesarily already feeling the pressures of the modern-day-game, even if they are stuck on the sidelines.
At this time in any season, not matter which club you're playing for, or which league you're playing in, the majority of footballers today will often be feeling very differently, mentally, to what they were like in the middle of August, right before the new campaign kicked-off.
Unhappy players stuck playing for a side at the bottom of the league staring Relegation in the face will be feeling very-down, and that the next thing they want to do is run-away from the `sinking-ship` like rats. And then there will be others who are more loyal to the club, and they'll stay and fight-on untill the very-last final whistle. But if thing's don't improve for them during the remainder of the season, and they do get Relegated, then their own confidence and belief in themselves is likely to be shot. And a player lacking confidence with no real belief in himself or his abillity isn't the kind of player any bigger team higher-up-the-table is likely to have in their sights.
I believe that West Ham United is a team full of players like this with rising-stars like Joe Cole, Michael Carrick and Jermaine Defoe who could quite easily lose faith in themselves if the side doesn't get its act together soon.
And then there are the teams higher up the league, performing better. And even the youngest of players in their squad will be on-a-high, feeling like the world's cowers down-beneath them, without a real care for anything else in the world. But you often find that when one team begins the season on a high-note with a consistant position in the league just-outside the top-5, when the second-half unfolds after Christmas, things can suddenly return back to normal, and they'll start sliding-down the league again, slowly, with the hopes and dreams of each individual going-down with them. And when the bigger players realise it was all a dream, they may decide it is time to move-on - again - after only having signed for the club 6-months-ago!
Everton and Southampton are 2 prime examples of teams this season who are much higher in the league than you'd expect them to be. James Beattie, Kevin Campbell, and Thomas Radzinski may be scoring-goals quite frequently now, but this good-run-of-form isn't going to last forever, and soon they will come crashing back-down to Earth again, with Wayne Rooney and co. feeling like they don't belong there, as disaster really begins to strike.
But of course, for club's like Arsenal and Man United right at the very-top of the table, with so-much to go-for this season in all major competitions, players will feel ontop of the world. But even United's squad which has been greatly influenced by Youth over the years is likely to need some new injections sooner-or-later, and Fergie and co. are likely to be looking for younger players to come-in and play as "understudy" to the likes of Ryan Giggs and Ruud van Nistelrooy - just like Quinton Fortune has been doing ever-since he first arrived at Old Trafford. And it's the same with Francis Jeffers at Arsenal, too.
But by bringing in lesser-known, in-experienced faces to play in the likes of the Champion's League and the UEFA Cup, you're starting XI won't be quite-the-same as it was a few weeks ago, before `Juan-Carlos-Guillermo`... "Wotsit" arrived; a player who has so-far been unable to fit into the team's style-of-play, and has turned out to be just the kind of player you DIDN'T want to bring in at this stage in the season!
And now all your dreams of a "Treble" - or even the "Quadruple" have now been shattered....
I, like many other United fans around the country, was at first very angry and dissapointing with his lack of spending this month, during the only time available before the end of this season to help bolster-up the United squad with the players we need to go on a become the `Kings of Europe` once again, and to perhaps even grab all-FOUR trophies this time around, also!
Obviously, with players like van Nistelrooy, Beckham, Keane, Scholes and Giggs, in the starting XI; Diego Forlan, Ole Solskjaer, Juan Veron and Phil Neville in the reserves; and potentially more John O'Shea's and Wes Brown's to come from the youth ranks and reserve team setups; Sir Alex believes that we alreadt have the strength and depth within out squad to go on and give those "Gunners" a fight 'till the very-end-of-the-season - just like it was only 4 years ago...!
(Well, it's either that, or he isn't bothered about winning ANYTHING at-all this season after having practically won it all before during the last-10-years!)
But I think we can trust him after failing to pursue his interests on David Bellion and Julien Escudé, for starters...
Just as long as the manager spends the right amount of time, consideration, and money on the players his squad needs to go as far as he wants them to throughout the coming season, during the Summer months, he shouldn't even need to look at who is and who isn't available in the January Sales, providing he's got it all-right before hand.
This is something that Arséne Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson have been trying to show us, and look at where they are in the league this season -- top-2!!
They saw the window system coming, and did all they're shopping in good-time before hand - just like you're mum probably does 6-months-before Christmas.
Can't argue with that! :)