Jim White. His name has become synonymous with the histrionics and drama (or at least what Sky Sports News classifies as drama) of the transfer deadline day. Twice a year, on August 31st and then again on January 31st, Sky Sports wheels out White for the run-up to the deadline itself, and the immediate aftermath.
Personally, I have no problem with White or the way Sky Sports News goes about its business on deadline day. The channel receives criticism for overhyping deals, and the vaunted mystery of the ‘Sky sources’ (which are in effect local newspapers and, increasingly, twitter users). White himself also bears criticism for his overexcitement at the most mundane of transfers, and his shameless use of clichés. White’s clichés have become so legendary that you can now bet on which cliché he is going to say first on deadline day, or play ‘Jim White bingo’ by downloading a grid from Sky’s own website.
Sky has transformed deadline day into a form of entertainment. And what is really wrong with that? Given all the money which the network pumps into English football and has done now for decades, a major contributing factor to the fact that it is the most entertaining league in the world, shouldn’t they be allowed to present the results of that investment in a way they see fit? True, there may be a slight poetic licence in the identity of ‘Sky sources.’ But they’re not harming anybody by it.
So yesterday evening, I and maybe millions of others watched with baited breath as, at 7pm, White and his partner for the evening, Natalie Sawyer (pictured together above), appeared on our screens, neatly colour co-ordinated with Sawyer in a yellow dress and White in a yellow tie. But as time ticked on, something dawned. Try as they may, even Sky Sports News and the man himself Jim White could not convince the viewers that this was an historic transfer deadline day. It was just dull.
Deadline days will never really be able to match January 31st 2011. That was the day when Newcastle United, staunch in their refusal to sell local hero Andy Carroll, finally buckled under the weight of Liverpool’s offer, setting into motion a domino effect which sent Fernando Torres to Chelsea.
Nor could it match the famous late deals produced through the partnership of Harry Redknapp (pictured right) and Daniel Levy at Tottenham. They were always reliable to pull something out of the hat at the last second. Now at QPR, and in dire straits, Redknapp couldn’t afford to leave anything to the last minute this time around. Sure, QPR have thrown money around in this transfer window once again, but they couldn’t risk doing too much business on deadline day itself. Enjoyably, Redknapp did treat the viewers to numerous renditions of his infamous car window interviews. The question is, where does he keep coming from and going to?
QPR seemed not to be the only one who didn’t dare risk leaving business to the last minute. A lot of the major deals were completed well in advance of Big Ben striking 11pm. I had no personal interest in the last few hours; as a Sunderland fan, it had already been announced that Danny Graham would be our only signing of the day, and so it transpired. Up the A19 in Newcastle, owner Mike Ashley flew in by helicopter to assure Alan Pardew that he wouldn’t be losing any players, nor would there be any signings. A quiet day in the North-East.
There were some big deals which went through. In a refreshing move on two counts, young England goalkeeper Jack Butland completed his move to Stoke City. Butland had refused a move to Chelsea earlier in the week because he did not see any first team opportunities in the not-too-distant future. He also insisted, as part of the deal with Stoke, that he be loaned back to Birmingham for the remainder of the season to continue playing first team football. Meanwhile, Arsene Wenger awoke from his usual deadline day stupor to splash the cash on full back Nacho Monreal from Malaga.
Earlier in the day, Graham completed his long-rumoured switch from Swansea to Sunderland, and Chris Samba returned to English football with QPR. Mario Balotelli has moved to AC Milan, while in probably the biggest name transfer of the day, David Beckham signed up to play the rest of the season with Paris St-Germain (whilst also agreeing to donate every single penny of the wage he would have earned to local children’s charities, in a sign of class rarely seen in the world of modern football).
Yet there was no major drama, nothing coming out of left-field. Just as Sky Sports must have been worrying that nothing was going to happen in the run-up to 11pm, they were saved by a certain Peter Odemwingie (pictured left). Odemwingie rocked up to QPR’s training ground and gave interviews about looking forward to a new start at QPR and his gratitude for former club West Brom. Yet it transpired that no deal had been agreed for the Nigerian, and QPR refused him entry to their complex through fear of tapping-up allegations. Odemwingie remains a West Brom player; I’m sure few will have swapped places with him as he arrived at training this morning.
So who were the winners and losers of the window? Newcastle must be counted amongst the winners. They may be the butt of jokes regarding the ‘French Revolution’ on Tyneside, but they have made what are by all accounts tidy signings which should help them climb away from relegation. Importantly, they also held on to unsettled captain Fabricio Coloccini, who seemed certain to be on his way home to Argentina.
On the flip-side, two clubs likely to be dissatisfied are Arsenal and Aston Villa. Gunners fans are unlikely to be surprised by their lack of activity, but it will certainly do no good for their Champions League qualification expectations. Meanwhile Villa, already in deep trouble with regards relegation, have failed to particularly strengthen and with every passing day look more doomed to end up in the Championship next season.
The jury is still out on QPR; only time will tell whether their signings will have the necessary impact and help them climb away from relegation. What seems certain, though, is that failure to survive this season will put the club at high risk of financial oblivion.
And so it’s done, until the speculation takes off again in the summer. It was far from a vintage deadline day, but one thing it has in common with every January transfer deadline in years past is this: we still have no idea what’s going to happen in the remaining months of the season. For that we can all be thankful, and we don’t even need Sky Sports News to hype it up for us.