The movers and shakers

Transfer deadline day can often flatter to deceive.

There have been many in recent years that have promised a lot but almost entirely failed to deliver anything even remotely close to excitement.

This year, however, the last day of the summer sales was an absolute cracker that kept followers glued to the edge of their seats right to the very end. Transfer requests with 30 minutes to go? That’s the sort of thing that keeps you on the internet till silly o’clock.

Of course, the two deals everyone expected to happen, didn’t.

Despite lots of frantic tunnel digging, Carlos Tevez’s attempt to escape from the Etihad Stadium failed miserably. Mostly because nobody else can afford the ransom or his subsequent upkeep.

Likewise, Luka Modric will have to spend at least another four months at Tottenham Hotspur before getting his dream move to Chelsea. Which means Harry Redknapp can now build his team around a player who wants to leave – a plan that worked so well for Arsene Wenger.

But while those moves didn’t take place, there were plenty of others that did. In fact, Premier League spending during the transfer window totalled £435 million (€497m), a 33 per cent increase on the same period last year. And a reasonable chunk of that was spent on the last day.

Understandably, one of the biggest movers in the market was Arsenal. There’s nothing like an 8-2 defeat to make you realise your squad might not be quite as good as you thought it was.

They brought in Mikel Arteta from Everton, Yossi Benayoun from Chelsea, Per Mertesacker from Werder Bremen and Andre Santos from Fenerbahce as Wenger finally remembered how a chequebook works.

To be fair to the Frenchman, that seems like pretty shrewd business. The fact that all four of those players are experienced, seasoned professionals possibly indicates that Wenger has realised the errors of his youthful ways.

Manchester City must have run out of cash, as all they could muster was the somewhat bizarre free transfer signing of Owen Hargreaves. I’ve got a mental image of Sir Alex Ferguson chuckling into his cabernet when he heard that one.

Manchester United themselves did no business on Wednesday. But then again, if being on the receiving end of an 8-2 thrashing indicates you need to spend, then dishing out an 8-2 thrashing probably tells you things are fine as they are.

Other clubs that got involved in the shenanigans included Stoke City, who broke their transfer record to sign Peter Crouch from Spurs. Considering the way they play football a six-foot, seven-inch (198cm) striker could be just what the long-ball doctor ordered.

Sunderland, meanwhile, took a rather bizarre approach to solving their goal shortage by signing Nicklas Bendtner from Arsenal on a season-long loan. Supporters with season tickets in row Z behind the corner flag at the Stadium of Light will probably want to think about changing seats.

Down at Queens Park Rangers, Neil Warnock has tried his best to sign himself an entire new team during August but only managed to add Anton Ferdinand and Shaun Wright-Philips on deadline day after deals for another 21 players fell through.

Spurs boss Harry Redknapp kept up his image as the biggest wheeler-dealer in London since Del Boy hung up his suitcase, although he seemed intent on raising money rather than spending it this time. Scott Parker came in, but in return Crouch, David Bentley, Jermaine Jenas, Wilson Palacios and Alan Hutton all moved on.

Cue Redknapp complaining about a lack of depth in his squad in about three weeks’ time.

There were, of course, plenty of other moves involving just about every club in the country, although the vast majority of them involved players you’ve never heard of moving to teams you don’t care about. (Ben Swallow to Bath City anyone?)

But there is one more transfer I will leave you with which is worthy of mentioning – Craig Bellamy to Liverpool.

Up until now I have had a lot of respect for what Kenny Dalglish is trying to achieve at Anfield – he has bought wisely and his rebuilding of the once-great team is going smoothly, even if he has paid over the odds for many of his signings.

But Craig Bellamy? Why?

Okay, he was free and that is always a bonus. But Bellamy has dodgy knees, is past his prime, has just had a remarkably average season in the Championship and comes with the attitude that makes Joey Barton look like Mary Poppins.

I’ve got nothing personal against Bellamy and actually think he has been one of the Premier League’s better players over the past decade.

But he comes with baggage and that is precisely what the new, improved, lemon-scented Liverpool don’t need.

Time will tell whether I am wrong on this one. But I suspect he will do more harm than good at Anfield, especially if he spends the season gathering splinters on the bench.

Overall, however, now the transfer dust has settled I think we are set up very nicely for a solid four months of football. By January 1 we will know who spent wisely, who panic bought, and who needs to get the cheque book out again.

Paolo the great

It hasn’t taken Paolo Di Canio long to get up to his old tricks.

The Italian legend, now manager of Swindon Town, has always been known for his fiery temper and impulsive behaviour.

Who could forget his infamous push on referee Paul Alcock back in the days when he played for Sheffield Wednesday? A push that earned him an 11-match ban and a reputation as one of football’s most infamous bad boys.

But that was 13 years ago and you would have imagined age and maturity combined with the fact that he is now in a ­position of authority would have taken the edge off his personality.

Absolutely not.

Last Tuesday, Swindon lost their tie with Southampton in the Carling Cup. At the end of the match, Swindon’s new signing Leon Clarke had words with the club’s fitness coach, blaming him for making them run too much in training.

Up steps Di Canio to try and calm things down by getting Clarke to leave the pitch and go to the dressing room. But Clarke doesn’t want to, so Di Canio starts tugging at his shirt.

Anyway, to cut a long story short it turns into a proper brawl that goes on all the way down the tunnel with television cameras following as the two scuffle like a couple of five-years-olds fighting over a Milky Way.

It was, to put it mildly, classic Di Canio, and proves that just because he’s hung up his boots it doesn’t mean he’s hung up his temperament.

I can’t wait for the days when we get to see the Italian managing in the top flight.

sportscolumnist@timesofmalta.com
Twitter: @maltablade