Close the window behind you

One of the most exciting days of the domestic football season is upon us - the first transfer window of the season slams shut at 6 o'clock tonight, and we can be sure to have a whirlwind of frenzied activity up until that point, with rumour and counter-rumour, and this player being spotted at this airport/train station/training ground as team's show increasing desperation to strengthen their squad for the last time before January as the ultimate deadline draws close. Early rumours on the BBC's live text (which only adds to the tall stories) include - 'my sister was on a flight from Johannesburg to London last night and Siphiwe Tshabalala was on board,' and 'my sister, who works at Watford Gap service station, spotted Kevin Davies talking to a West Ham representative.' This is the day when everyone seems to know someone, everyone seems to be connected.
But despite the enduring appeal of the excitement of deadline day, you will still find it difficult to find anyone involved with football who think it's a good idea. Manager's don't generally think it's a good idea - unless you're one of the really big boys - you could lose one of your stars with minutes left of the transfer window, and won't be able to replace them until January. That's why deadline day is sometimes about who will stay at their club rather than leave - and this is definitely the case at West Ham today, who will be worried about the future of their two key players Scott Parker and Carlton Cole, with the likes of Spurs and Liverpool sniffing around. The big-wigs at boardroom level will share this point of view, to hold off the inevitable backlash from disgruntled fans. There are two sets of people who will lick their lips every time deadline day draws near - players and agents. As if player power had not spiralled out of control enough with the Bosman ruling and the increased money players can earn in the game, the transfer window has only served to add to this. Players can now hold their clubs to ransom if they are not happy - Javier Mascherano as good as went on strike to engineer a transfer from Liverpool to Barcelona, and then Charles N'Zogbia practically did the same at Wigan. Although N'Zogbia didn't really care where he went, and typifies most of what is wrong with the modern game. Having failed to agree personal terms with Birmingham, he clearly has a higher value of his own worth than anyone else, and maybe he would be prepared to 'do a Winston Bogarde' - sit on the bench, or in the reserves, while he gets paid what he thinks he deserves? Lastly, Brett Pitman, of League One Borunemouth (League Two last season) failed to agree personal terms with Premier League Blackpool. Credit must go to former chairman Karl Oyston and manager Ian Holloway for not being held to ransom, but what is the world coming to when the lure of playing at the top level isn't enough? Unfortunately, behind every petulant football player, there is likely to be a greedy agent, who will be angling to get a better deal for their client. And to paraphrase that, a bigger cut for themselves.
Since it's inception by FIFA in the 2002/03 season, there have been non-stop dissenters ever since. Former Reading and Bristol City manager Steve Coppell (one of the brighter, more insightful men in football), stated, 'the transfer window breed panic and encourages scurrilous transfer activity. I can't see the logic in it. It breeds a fire-sale mentality, causes unrest through the media and causes clubs to buy too many players. The old system we had was far better.' Coppell puts it much better than I ever could as someone on the inside, and this gives an insight into the sweats and hot-flushes managers and chairman alike will experience as the deadline draws closer. There have also been suggestions that the transfer window impinges on human rights and freedom of trade, but that is a legal rather than a football matter, so that can be left to the lawyers!
The transfer window does give an incline about where the season will lead and what the next nine months will hold in store for us. The players who clubs have signed previously, and are linked with on this transfer deadline day, give away where managers see where their priorities lie and where they have problem areas. For example, Arsenal signed a centre-back, Laurent Koscielney from Lorient! Liverpool, on the other hand, having seemingly shored up the left back position with the signing of Paul Konchesky from manager Roy Hodgson's former club Fulham, are on the trail for a striker to support Fernando Torres - candidates today include Cole, Fernando Llorente (Atletico Bilbao), Mario Gomez (Bayern Munich) and Darren Bent (Sunderland). And Liverpool's cross-city rivals Everton are also in the market for a striker with just Jermaine Beckford on a free transfer brought in to strengthen the ranks, with Wolfsburg striker Grafite being mooted as a potential loan signing. That would certainly be popular with all the journalists in Fleet Street. And this knowledge runs the rumour mill into overdrive - will Arsenal solve their goalkeeping crisis by singing Lyon keeper Hugo Lloris? Will Stoke inject some flare into their team with Dutch winger Royston Drenthe? Will Birmingham do the same with Chilean World Cup star Jean Beausejour?
If manager's are canny, they will have got their business done before this chaotic day. But not everyone has the resources of Manchester City, who have bought six top quality players for a combined £125 million. Not bad if you can do it, but the likes of the newly promoted trio, Blackpool, Newcastle United and West Bromwich Albion have barely had a penny to rub between them, and will look to be active today to increase their chances of survival. But such is the limited time-frame available on this dramatic day, that clubs like to sign a replacement before letting one of their key players go - and this in itself sparks another round of rumours. Sunderland are on the verge of signing Ghanaian World Cup star Asamoah Gyan. But is this a move to improve the squad or replace the out-going Darren Bent. Similarly, Liverpool signed two players (Raul Meireles from Porto and Christian Poulson from Juventus) before Mascherano's transfer to Spain went through, and Fulham want to sign a replacement for Mark Schwarzer (possibly Shay Given) before allowing the Australian to join Arsenal. The phrase merry-go-around springs to mind!
The chances are, though, that only the tiniest proportion of these transfers will go through, and there will be some surprises on the cards (such as the £6 million transfer of young Icelandic midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson from Reading to Bundesliga club TSG Hoffenheim). And the Championship could look even more star-studded by the end of today - with Craig Bellamy going home to Cardiff, David James winding down his career at Bristol City and Edgar Davids come out of retirement at Crystal Palace, Spurs striker Robbie Keane could be making it a quartet if rumours of his possible loan move to Nottingham Forest prove true. And former England striker Darius Vassell moving to Notts County would be another bizarre move to say the least.
But the excitement is why the fans love it, even though it's not necessarily the best for most clubs. Ir's like a box of chocolates - you never know what you're going to get. The last deadline day, in January of this year, passed without major incidence. But who can forget the transfer window on August 31, 2008. On that historic day, multi-billionaire Abu Dhabi oil tycoons took over Manchester City, and with mere minutes to go, the huge transfers of Robinho to Man City and Dimitar Berbatov to Manchester United in a breathless finish.
To add another spanner to the works, the new Premier League squad rules only complicates matters. This is one thing which could add up to 'the breathless finish' we all crave. With all clubs having to name a 25 mans squad to choose from in the top flight (including eight home-grown, not necessarily English, players), anyone who thinks they might miss the cut for their respective clubs (injury-prone players like Owen Hargreaves and Jonathon Woodgate) could hanker for a loan move to improve their prospects of first team football. The one thing anyone who follows football should expect is the unexpected. No one is going to understand that more than former Southampton manager Alan Pardew. The Saints won 4-0 away from home at the weekend, only to dispense of his services two days later, to become the fourth football league club to part company with their boss before the end of August. So while I'm not suggesting we'll see Ian Holloway pull off a sensational loan coup by persuading Robinho to move to Bloomfield Road for the season, there are sure to be some shocks come six.