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Home›General›A-Z of why the Transfer Window is annoying.

A-Z of why the Transfer Window is annoying.

By Michael Price
January 11, 2012
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Ed note: I’ve always tried to find great content providers to fill these spaces because I know you all grow weary of my own writing. Hell, I grow tired of my own writing. That is why I am really excited to bring this piece to you. Myles Burrell is a young Gooner whom I go back and forth with on twitter on a variety of topics. He is witty and sharp and when I saw he had wrote this piece for someone, I read it and immediately had to ask his permission to reprint it here. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I did and let’s hope Myles will come back and write some stuff specifically for YAMA. You can follow Myles on twitter at @MylesBurrell. –  DAG

———————————————–

I dislike the transfer window because it’s a load of rubbish, especially if you’re an Arsenal fan. And what makes it worse are those delinquents who pretend they’re “in the know” (ITK) even though it’s just some greasy nerd behind a computer screen begging for followers on Twitter. So without further ado, here is my A-Z of why transfer windows are annoying:

A – Arsenal. As a Gooner, it’s hard being conscious during the transfer window as we very rarely sign players. Graveyards are more pro-active than the Arsenal transfer department.

B – Blank cheque. If you support Real Madrid, Man City, Man Utd, Chelsea, Anzhi etc. you’ll be familiar with this concept. It is UNFAIR that you can just buy your way to success, and highlights that football is becoming more and more based around money, and not players’ love for the game.

C – Contract talks seem to take FOREVER, I know it’s not meant to be a quick process, but you have to criticise a system that takes up valuable time just so the player and his agent can get a little extra cash? I mean, it must be terrible trying to provide for your family on a measly £50,000 a week.

D – Deadline Day, in my opinion, should be a national holiday. It’s far too stressful to handle along with work/school/college whatever. But a royal wedding? Oh let’s all have a day off. Deadline day (Feb 1st/Aug 31st) tends to make football fans boil over with excitement. The Arshavin deal in 2009 was a particular highlight.

E – Exaggeration of stories. “Reports suggest that [club] are interested in [player] …” gets turned into “… [player] will sign for [club] within the next few days.”

F – Foreign leagues are cheaper, but nobody realises, and that for me is a complete shame. Look at Newcastle’s signing of Cabaye, he was £4.3million. A player from the Premier League with the same (or worse) ability would go for much much more. Prime example: Michael Carrick from Tottenham to Man Utd for £18million.

G – Greed. Many players move because they want more money, Samuel Eto’o is a perfect example. A player, who was appreciated at Inter Milan, was seen as a world class and playing in one of the most prestigious leagues in the world. But he left that all behind for £350,000 a week at Anzhi Makhachkala.

H – Hindrance, the progress of youngsters who have been affected by transfers is usually hindered. Whether a big player has come in and taken their place, or a young player has been snapped up by a big club, and then not used (Oxlade-Chamberlain).

I – ITKs, people who pretend they’re “in the know.” What use do these people have? None, they mislead fans and get them excited/frustrated over absolutely nothing at all. On Twitter it seems these people only exist during the transfer windows, so what, they just curl up and hibernate for several months until the next window opens? Idiots.

J – January, probably the most scary month of the year for most small clubs, who could have their star player whisked away from them at any moment, only to have to replace said player with an inadequate replacement. But then for the big teams it’s just “let’s offload everyone who is surplus to requirements and then buy new players!” The seed cuts both ways.

K – Knowledge, or in this case, lack of. Some people seem to think that if a player is good on FIFA, he’s the one to lead your team to glory. Some people think that if he played well in one match, we should sign him before someone else does. Also, saying “yeah he’s alright” to a player you’ve never heard of is just stupid.

L – Long. It’s long, nothing else to say, it is quite simply: long.

M – Money, not surprisingly the main interest of Samir Nasri also plays a huge part in transfer windows. I don’t like this; sometimes clubs take it way too far and just end up annoying their fans. Although admittedly, paying £35m for Carroll (Liverpool) and £50m for Torres (Chelsea) is hilarious, being as they are both rubbish. If your club has more money than sense, transfer windows are a pain in the backside.

N – Nationality. English players tend to cost five or six times more than what they’re actually worth (Andy Carroll, Stewart Downing, Jordan Henderson… noticing the trend?). But then a player from Colombia (for examples sake) may get overlooked just because he isn’t from a renowned footballing nation.

O – Overreactions from fans when their team signed a player: “OH MY GOD HE IS AMAZING WE ARE GOING TO WIN THE LEAGUE!!!!!” or “HE’S RUBBISH SACK THE MANAGER FOR WASTING OUR MONEY” etc, etc.

P – Personal terms. I don’t like personal terms. Why should personal terms (living, wages, involvement in the team etc) hold up a transfer deal? If you’re a player and you’re reading this (highly unlikely) then DO your research before making my month longer than it needs to be. If you’re keen on a move, you move, if you don’t want to leave your family behind/move them out of their comfort zone, then don’t move.

Q – Questionable. Sometimes you think to yourself “why on earth did we sign/sell him?!”

R – Repetition. Quite often you hear the same story from about eight different sources, and then you start to think to yourself: “maybe it’s true!” Then deadline day passes and you haven’t signed said player. Disappointment.

S – Sky Sports. This lot seem to do whatever’s necessary to annoy me during the transfer window. Whether it’s showing on their news channel that Arsenal haven’t signed anyone, or posting on their website “our sources understand”… YOUR SOURCES UNDERSTAND NOTHING. It’s all rumours. So many media institutions get transfers wrong. Don’t believe anything until your club has announced it.

T – Tapping up: search “Harry Redknapp” or “FC Barcelona” for more details.

U – Ugly, transfer windows can get really ugly. Look at the way Barcelona handled the Fabregas transfer, or how Tottenham behaved this summer during the Modric ordeal.

V – Viral. I know the transfer windows are exciting, but this excitement spreads like a disease! People go crazy, start believing stupid things, making knee jerk reactions and even maybe horrendously inaccurate transfer prediction. However, the latter can be quite amusing at times.

W – Worrying. Deep down, in the back of your mind there’s always a worry that your star man will leave, or your manager will sign someone who is nothing but an utter waste of money.

X – Xenophobic: see “F – Foreign”

Y – Youngsters. As an Arsenal fan it’s hard to go through a transfer window without being linked to a “highly rated youngster” about seventeen times a day. I don’t want a highly rated youngster; I want an established player that will improve my team! In addition, I think it’s a bit harsh on the selling club to have a young player plucked from their grasp mid-season. Let him develop without being messed about for ages!

Z – Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. At the end of the day, it’s all a bit boring.

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14 comments

  1. Lakiesha Aderholt 16 March, 2012 at 08:22 Log in to Reply

    Some truly terrific work on behalf of the owner of this site, dead outstanding subject matter.

  2. HighburyTerraceSteve 13 January, 2012 at 00:31 Log in to Reply

    Not sure if I’ve been banned from the site….I tried one in response to Stag (below) and I sent my (by now customary e-mail) about it….Eventually I’ll take the hint, probably…..

    Testing, testing…..

    (Also, Abidal? I’ll bi-dal-ieve it when it happens, i.e. not a chance….)

    • HighburyTerraceSteve 14 January, 2012 at 15:52 Log in to Reply

      @HighburyTerraceSteve, testing, testing….

      Like I said, a (longer) comment I posted below has failed to post. Are others
      Having similar troubles….I sent my (customary) message to DAG but that
      Didn’t do the trick…Perhaps (hopefully maybe) he has better things to do.

      Additionally, my “reply” box doesn’t function properly, with words beyond
      The margins failing to appear or bump to the next line. This is why
      I’m trying a “haiku” style.

      Overall, I’m looking for a spot where I might have a bit of Arsenal/
      Football talk, sort of like the unmonitored days back at Arsenal America.
      Is it time to go to wordpress and start something new?
      God forbid….

      Like I say, testing, testing, testing….Anybody home?….

      • stag133 14 January, 2012 at 16:20 Log in to Reply

        @HighburyTerraceSteve, I see your posts. Maybe DAG doesn’t
        want you to see your own posts… !!!

        I agree Abidal is unlikely… but we apparently have a kid from Oman on trial.
        Sounds about right… apparently we couldn’t find anyone from Mauritius?

    • stag133 14 January, 2012 at 16:23 Log in to Reply

      @HighburyTerraceSteve, I don’t see your post to me though.
      But I figured DAG deleted it because it was offensive to the senses!
      LOL

      • HighburyTerraceSteve 14 January, 2012 at 16:48 Log in to Reply

        @stag133, LOL….It was all about
        Our (mutual) appreciation of Spurs and other teams….
        Swansea in particular (for me at least….)

        Things appear to be posting better for me. Maybe there’s
        A limit on the number of stacked responses….Does your
        “Reply” box work properly? Mine doesn’t….
        But I’m far from a ‘puter savvy sort….

        Since it’s mostly been just the two of us, Maybe we need to
        Break off and start our own-proposed titles:

        “Stag and Steve’s Arsenal Agonies”…..
        “Money vs Love — Ar$enal under Wenger”…..
        “Fighting for 4th — Fecked Forever Arsenal”…..

        Others?

        • stag133 15 January, 2012 at 00:00

          @HighburyTerraceSteve, My reply box is like yours…
          where you have to do
          the Haiku thing
          in order to have it appear in some proper fashion!

  3. stag133 12 January, 2012 at 21:25 Log in to Reply

    Eric Abidal anyone?
    often rumored to be an Arsenal target…

    He’s 32 years old, and has played 15 matches for Barca this year…
    and seeing they just sold Maxwell to PSG, I don’ know why Barcleona would sell another defender…

    having said that, he can play FB or CB, and he has experience at the highest level of football…

  4. ChicagoGooner 12 January, 2012 at 14:51 Log in to Reply

    Man City have lost two in a row now (both cup games) so maybe they are losing momentum. And Spurs finally played- and won- their game in hand. Now they’re only 3 pts off the pace. Maybe Spurs winning the title is what it would take for Arsene and Arsenal to get off their butts and spend during a transfer window. That wouldn’t help us during this window, but maybe it would cause some introspection at the club.

    Are other people here pulling for Tottenham or not? As a Gooner I know I really shouldn’t. But they are fun to watch- definitely more fun than the two Manchesters. And of those three their financial resources are the most limited and also the most ‘self-created’. So I often find myself often rooting for the ‘eternal enemy’ over the other two. I hate Utd more than any other team and City are just so dislikable, plain and simple.

    I’m not sure who to pull for…

    • stag133 12 January, 2012 at 15:23 Log in to Reply

      @ChicagoGooner, Hey ChicagoG…
      Spurs are a REAL threat for the League THIS SEASON. No doubt about it.
      They have a REAL chance of winning the the Prem…
      Their midfield with VDV, Bale, Parker, Modric… Lennon off the bench… is REALLY GOOD.
      Add to this Adebayor playing inspired football, and Defoe is always a threat.

      They are scary good at times, but I think their problem, like many teams, is in DEFENSE. They are relying on Ledley King’s health, Gallas…
      If they were able to acquire CAHILL, I think they could win the League.
      (noticed that ManU are now sniffing around Cahill as well)…

      Hard to actually root for Spurs to WIN anything, especially for the older Arsenal supporters who have a hatred of Tottenham, but I hear where you are coming from. I like that new teams are fighting for the Top 4… it makes the EPL much more interesting, and it forces the “BIG 4” to compete … instead of the same outcome every season.

      Whatever forces Arsene Wenger and the Arsenal Board to actually DO SOMETHING to improve the team and attempt to win a TROPHY, would be something worth applauding… as opposed to the tired bullshit that’s spewed about a Top 4 spot being more important than winning the FA Cup, etc… Why can’t we actually try to do BOTH? I have no idea….

      So Spurs title run, might just be the thing that lights a fire under the ass of the club…
      I know it will ignite the Supporters to PRESSURE the CLUB… and that is definitely what is needed.
      IMHO.

      (yes HTS, I am saying that another team is worthy of watching and even accepting that they are a very good team, I know you don’t like to say anything positive about other teams!)

  5. DaAdminGooner 12 January, 2012 at 11:23 Log in to Reply

    Got to watch this video – completely off topic –

    Samir Nasri getting ripped by Liverpool fans –

    http://youtu.be/gaNDKK_HGxY

  6. Myles 11 January, 2012 at 21:26 Log in to Reply

    I hate how everything is blow completely out of proportion, I’m not just doing it from an AFC point of view. Also, working for a company doesn’t have the same emotional link as playing for a club. If someone offered to triple my wages I’d take it, but if I was playing for Arsenal I wouldn’t DARE think about leaving because I love my club.

    • stag133 11 January, 2012 at 21:54 Log in to Reply

      @Myles, Myles, while I understand that sort of thinking, since you aren’t a professional athlete, you CAN think that way.
      If you were a Pro athlete, you could NOT afford to think that way.
      Hopefully, you would have people around you that advise you… and say, hey kid… you have a limited number of years in the sport… you have to make the MOST MONEY YOU CAN… because tomorrow could be your last match.

      Footballers don’t retire at 65, like blokes sitting behind desks.

  7. stag133 11 January, 2012 at 15:16 Log in to Reply

    Interesting write up. I know you had to fill every letter to complete it…
    but frankly, I like the transfer window!
    just HATE the fact that Arsenal doesn’t usually participate.
    Without the window, we’d have what? the teams playing every season with the same players?

    I’ll take exception with a few things!
    Blank Check… well, Arsenal CHOOSE to not compete, so its the clubs fault, not the teams that spend.

    Greed… really? A players career can be over with one bad tackle … see Eduardo or Ramsey… so, you make as MUCH MONEY as you can… as quickly as you can… If Eto’o is offered 350K a week, he’d be INSANE not to take it.
    If a company offered to triple my salary, I’d be an idiot not to check it out, that’s for sure.

    ZZZZ. its only BORING because the Board and Wenger make sure we do feck all… on a regular basis.
    Wasn’t always that way…

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