Transfer Window: Yay or Nay?

Xavi6

Like most other people I find January the most exciting month of the footballing calendar. The transfer window opens and clubs battle it out over players in a bid to win the league/qualify for Europe/avoid the drop. Every hour someone is linked with somebody or such and such signs for this team. What's their not to like?

But is our judgement of the window clouded by the transfer dry spell that is the months from September to January? In the last week or so a number of managers have expressed their disgust at the system with Gary Megson saying

"The transfer window is rubbish. It is unfair and I would like to see it challenged in court. Look at other businesses. If a haulage company wanted a new lorry and someone said in September you cannot have one until January, you are not allowed to do those kind of things. Yet football clubs are told they have to do their business in a certain time, not when they would like to do it. It suits only very few clubs at the top end of the game.

"I have been on the other side of the coin, at Stockport, where money is tight. Where do you get your money from when you cannot sell someone until January?"

Steve Bruce feels it's a hinderence despite having £10 million to spend.

"It's like buying puppies at Christmas. You have to make sure it's for the long term and for the right reasons. The transfer window is not a good thing for a club like ours. In the past, if you lost a big player through injury, like Emile Heskey, then you could go out and buy someone, or get a short-term replacement. You can't do that now and that hinders you. That's why you need a squad of 25 players. The big clubs can cope because they can keep players happy. But we would find it difficult to keep four top-class centre-forwards happy because they all want to play."

As much fun as it is at the moment with City having a load of money I don't like the tranfer window. The red tops have nothing to write about with the window closed so resort to digging dirt and creating more problems than are necessary just to fill their pages. Clubs like Derby are also now panic buying in a bid to stay up. when they inevitably fail they will be left with a big squad and a hefty wage bill. Not good for them and the game with enough clubs in financial difficulty as it is. Bring back the old system I say.

Thoughts?

PHB

As I recall, the Transfer Window is a compromise between UEFA and the EU, because it is ultimately a restriction of trade.
In terms of letting trade happen at any point, I think that's kinda dodgy. Let's say City do really well this year, and are in the running to the Champions League spot against Chelsea. Chelsea could really unsettle all of their players by putting huge bids in for players like Dunne and Richards.

JimiTime

Yeh, defo a pro's and con's scenario. Anyone got any examples of issues when there was no transfer windows?

eirebhoy

I enjoy the hectic transfer windows but why was it brought in in the first place? I can't think of a reason why transfers all year round could be a problem.

Xavi6

eirebhoy wrote: »

I enjoy the hectic transfer windows but why was it brought in in the first place?

According to Wiki it was done to bring the PL in line with other major leagues.

The system has been used in many European leagues before being brought into compulsory effect by FIFA during the 2002-03 season.[1]

zAbbo

It also stops clubs unsettling rival players during the end of season run in.

Pepe LeFrits

There should be no transfers at all mid season as far as I'm concerned.

grames_bond

i think it makes for an incredibly exciting january, but i think thre should be a bit of lee-way when it comes to the deadline, you see transfers being fast tracked just to make the deadline and clubs buying injured players, i htink if the talks have past the "talking stage" the deadline should be a bit more lenient

gustavo

Doest affect me till July ,I have nothing against it really ,Good that the Winter leagues are streamlined I suppose

KdjaCL

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

There should be no transfers at all mid season as far as I'm concerned.

+1



kdjac

prendy

i still think it makes january an exciting time...i can understand why managers dont like with the fan pressure to make signings but from a supporters point of view i think its great!

raheny red

I think it should be scrapped. Many players are being left to rot in reserve sides simply because their managers can't offload them and the free movement of employees is being prevented!

KdjaCL

raheny red wrote: »

I think it should be scrapped. Many players are being left to rot in reserve sides simply because their managers can't offload them and the free movement of employees is being prevented!

i agree with you only in the way the empolyees your club couldnt pay would have left earlier and you wouldnt have stole a league title.

odd how things can work for you isnt it

kdjac

DSB

Haha grow up and build a bridge. Totally unnecessary.

Xavi6

DSB wrote: »

Haha grow up and build a bridge. Totally unnecessary.

KdjaCL post something unnecessary? Never! :rolleyes:

JPA

eirebhoy wrote: »

I enjoy the hectic transfer windows but why was it brought in in the first place? I can't think of a reason why transfers all year round could be a problem.

Could be to stop the rich clubs buying there way out of trouble when a few injuries hit. It only came into effect in 2002-03 season but I can't really remember a time without it. Strange.

KdjaCL

DSB wrote: »

Haha grow up and build a bridge. Totally unnecessary.

Dont think you get the point, im against the window as a whole, whilst he supports freedom of employees. If any club couldnt pay their players they should be instantly released?....but they signed contracts to play for the season they should honour them. As should the club.

Transfer window is joke and should be removed, and all transfer dealings should be done in the summer, its a shame managers dont get the same protection.

KdjaCL post something unnecessary? Never!

I still have that album can send you a copy.


kdjac

Xavi6

KdjaCL wrote: »

I still have that album can send you a copy.


kdjac

Well if you have it you must of had reason to buy it

KdjaCL

Xavi6 wrote: »

Well if you have it you must of had reason to buy it

the missus loves him



kdjac

raheny red

KdjaCL wrote: »

they signed contracts to play for the season they should honour them. As should the club.

kdjac

Agreed.

The Sparrow

I absolutely hate the transfer windows and I really hope they are scrapped soon. I don't understand what they achieve? It seems to me that they just unsettle everybody for the majority of the season. I noticed some ppl defending the present system because they say that if it went back to the old way that bigger clubs could unsettle players by making bids for them.

Well I think that completely the opposite is true and because there can only be transfers in the summer and January the newspapers spend the rest of the season speculating about who will move where which I think is much more unsettling. At least under the old system there was an element of put up or shut up where if you were interested in a player you could make a bid or not and that was largely the end of it. We didn't have months of speculation about Anelka or Berbatov going wherever.

And I really don't remember too much wrong with the old system. In terms of excitement this way doesn't really do much for me. It doesn't seem too exciting to me that Anelka went to Chelsea because we have been reading about it for the past four months. I found it much more exciting when transfers would come out of the blue for example Andy Cole signing for Utd from Newcastle stands out as something that was much more exciting than any of the Jan transfer window signings that I can remember.

And I think that it has really hurt the weaker teams because they can't sign a few players in April if they are struggling. The sooner the transfer window is over the better.

Galvasean

I'm not a fan of the January transfer window. IMO you should have your squad ready at the beginning of the season. Far too many rush job transfers this time of year.