Now is the winter (transfer window) of our discontent

Spurs fans have been trained in recent transfer windows to love/hate the transfer window and particularly the climax in equal measures.

We've lived through the pantomime of Harry with his car window chatty habits, the Manuel-style 'I know nothing' when it comes to transfer comings and goings, coupled paradoxically with open talk of admiring other clubs' players.

We all thought that the reign of AVB would bring in a new, more practical, method of getting our business done. Sort deals early and have the squad ready to go at the start of the season seemed to be the idea. After all, the season starts mid-August, not on September 1st. It all seemed to be going well. Kranjcar had been sold under Harry, and after Redknapp's departure Levy moved on Corluka before AVB had signed up. Within a couple of days of the ginger one arriving we were greeting Sigurdsson and Vertonghen and were excited about what else was to come.

Strangely we started the season with the same group or players as we had in mid-July (Pienaar's permanent move aside) and then the habitual end of window scramble started. Bassong and Modric passed Adebayor and Dembele in the revolving doors yet still there was deadline day business to be done. We finally said adios to Johnny Two Saints, and sadly our beloved Rafa and brought in Lloris and what looked at the time like a bit of a typical panic buy; Clint Dempsey.

The winter window opened well, and soon we were treated with the news that Lewis Holtby had signed a pre-contract agreement to join us in the summer window and that Zeki Fryers had finally arrived at WHL, having somehow been lost in Belgium since the summer.

Twitter has been a wild, busy, sometimes argumental place this window. Far too many claiming to be ITK. The one thing I'm ITK about is that there are large number of teenagers sat in their dimly-lit rooms pretending to be agents, or club insiders. Rumours are flung like meat to the waiting lions, who either rip them apart or swallow them whole, only to feel embarrased at the indigestion they cuase when the players signs elsewhere, or the informant is exposed as a fraud.

It seems to be generally agreed that if we are to strengthen we need a frontman (nothing new here), and someone to pull the strings in the midfield (any team that loses Modric and Van der Vaart needs one). Consequently we've been linked with all manner of strikers and particularly creative midfielders. The list, from memory, includes the perennial Damiao, the blindingly obvious Moutinho, Eriksen, Negredo, Willian, Remy, Llorente, Zaha, Hooper, Sneijder, and even the crap Aaron Lennon down the road. As yet, none of these have turned up in the lilywhite shirt, some have signed on elsewhere, and it's unlikely any of the others will be at the lane come February 1st.

It's not hard to see why people want us to bring these sort of players in, but why we expect it to happen is somewhat harder to understand. Our recent winter window history isn't great in terms of bringing in new faces, despite our status as a banker for some excitement for Jim White & co. on deadline day.

Last year we brought in Saha and Nelsen on free transfers (and firmed up the Falque deal), which hardly set our pulses racing. Meanwhile we parted company with the frustrating inconsistent Roman Pavlyuchenko. We'd started the window in a three horse race for the title expecting to strengthen and push on, and ended up arguably weaker than when we started. In 2011 our sole business was to bring in Pienaar and Khumalo, which may have enhanced our standing in South Africa, did nothing for the team. In 2010, we brought Younes Kaboul back from Portsmouth, but that was the extent of the dealing.

Given that in three January windows we've only brought in four players that have seen any first team game time it is hard to see an indication that we'll do any worthwhile business in the next few days.

Personally, I don't think we'll bring anyone else in during this window. I want new faces in certain positions, but only if they are the right quality to take us forward. I don't want any more short-term deals, or average quality players coming in. I believe that this is the attitude that Levy and AVB are taking as well. If AVB still wants Moutinho then my guess is that Moutinho is who we'll go for. If we can't do that this window, we''ll stick with what we've got, look again in the summer, or move on to another target of similar quality. There is no point bringing in average players. This is why I'm hoping we don't bring Hooper across the border. He may be a decent player, but he's not the quality that we need to take us forward and help us match our ambition.

With any luck, we will see some outgoing players this window. The missing men on big salaries; Gomes, Jenas, Bentley need to start plying their trade elsewhere. There's talk of the likes of Livermore, Gallas, and Huddlestone leaving but I think all of these are unlikely.

Whatever happens, the next 5-6 days will be full of rumour and opinion, which when mixed into the deliberately controversial false rumourmongering on Twitter will inevitably result in bickering and 'I-told-you-so'-ing amongst the ITK pretenders.

Let's sit back and enjoy it and hope that now is our winter of discontent, made glorious summer by this son of Levy.

Deadline Day fast approaching

In just under six days time, the transfer window closes, leaving us all debating the merits of the players our clubs have deemed appropriate to pass through their entry/exit doors.

Thursday evening, Jim White will enter the building. An occurance celebrated with bells, whistles and fanfares over at Sky Sports News, and most likely the famous yellow 'Breaking News' banner. We'll then be subjected to a few hours of Jim getting more excited, shouting more loudly, and turning more red faced as the whole occasion builds to a crescendo and overwhelms him.

The Redknapp tracker will need to stick UB3 5AQ into his sat-nav to keep on top of 'Arry and his door-window leaning soundbites. We know the drill, and QPR fans had better be getting used to it as well; 'triffic player', 'don't think we'll do a lot of business', 'the chairman's trying hard' etc.

No doubt someone else will be stood outside a pitch black Etihad stadium, with nobody to talk to, whilst another reporter is at the Britannia getting mobbed by Stoke fans getting excited at the prospect of another distinctly average player arriving (Jenas anyone?)

There will be nobody near Villa Park on Thursday night. None of the Sky boys are brave enough, for fear of being relegated to the Football League Show along with Villa.

Levy's brinksmanship will surely come into play at some point. Surely something will happen, it can't have been Redknapp creating the deadline day nervousness for Spurs fans. No, Harry was merely riding the media wave created by the way we do our business.

Bryan will be there too, with his totaliser. His hands furiously swiping back and forth, showing us who might be going where, what deals have been done and what deals are definitely off. You watch excitedly for his hand to move towards your club's badge and reveal a tasy new signing, only for the 'In' column to be empty, and all they have to report is that Bentley might be going somewhere.

We'll be fed breaking news that's actually fours or five hours old, but nothing has happened for ages. They'll show us videos of someone who may or may not be a footballer with someone who may or may not be an agent arriving at a club/training ground/hospital to sort a deal.

Twitter will explode on Thursday, with all manner of rumours. There will be the odd genuine bit of truth, but the majority will be guesswork and windup. Suddenly most of the population seems to start working as a cab driver, or at an airport, or private hospital receptions where they can lay claim to having seen Messi arriving to complete his move to Sunderland. If only there was a way of filtering out this type of bullshit, aside from not looking at twitter for a week.

I'm not sure there will be a lot of business done before the window slams shut.


Sky's totaliser is currently reporting a spend of £58m this window, so it looks certain it'll beat last year, but whether enough business will be done to see it hit to £100m mark is yet to be seen. I suppose it depends on how many more Frenchmen Pardew can entice to the North-east, or how much of Fernandes' money Redknapp can prise out of his wallet.

I may be scornful and moaning, but I do love transfer deadline day, and will (tv access permitting) be watching it from the minute I get home from work until an hour of so after the deadline (you never know what late deals you might miss – they get announced late – paperwork etc.). I have in the past taken the day/afternoon off work to enjoy the day.