Some transfer window musings

So much for the recession

An economist would say it's all about supply and demand - the supply of world class footballers is low, but demand is high, and therefore they are very expensive indeed. But £50 million for Fernando Torres? It feels a bit risky, like buying a three year old sportscar - it looks gorgeous on the surface, and you know the level of performance will be high, but there have to be concerns about reliability and miles-on-the-clock. From the world cup onwards, Torres has looked a shadow of the player he was before; Roman Abramovich and Carlo Ancelotti will be hoping this is because of the general malaise at Anfield, rather than because the Spaniard's best years are behind him.

But if that's a bit of a gamble, then what can you say about the arrival at Liverpool of Andy Carroll? To put a bit of perspective on things, £35 million is roughly what Barcelona paid this summer for David Villa, an international striker who has been a goal machine in La Liga, European competition and the international stage for several years. It is also what Liverpool paid Newcastle for a centre forward who has only been a Premier League regular for half a season, who has been out for several weeks with an injury (allegedly caused by falling off a bar stool) and who has...erm..."character issues" - it is worth noting that recent charges that he assaulted his ex-girlfriend were dropped, but he has an assault conviction for smashing a glass in a man's face and broke teammate Steven Taylor's jaw in a training ground fight last season (breaking
his own hand in the process). Classy bloke. He might turn out to be the best England centre forward in a generation, but he might turn out to be the next Joey Barton. I can't help thinking that his new strike partner, Uruguayan Luis Suarez, is the much safer bet, even if he cost a cool £23 million.

El Hadji Diouf at Ibrox

If Andy Carroll is the best example of how much football clubs are willing to overlook character issues, then El Hadji Diouf surely runs a close second. The Senegalese player has just been hounded out of Blackburn after claims that he taunted QPR and Scotland striker Jamie Mackie whilst the player was being treated for a broken leg. He is already infamous in Scotland for his behaviour at Celtic Park whilst playing there for Liverpool in a UEFA Cup tie; having gone over the advertising boards trying to prevent a throw in and landed in the front row of the Celtic support, he got a few pats on the head from the local jakies...and promptly turned around and spat at them (he ended up with an assault conviction and a fine - though it might be said that his spittle was the closest thing to soap that would land on those Celtic fans for a long while).

Diouf also got banned whilst a Bolton player for gobbing in the face of Portsmouth's Arjan De Zeeuw, and was questioned by police for racially abusing an Everton ball boy. Off the field, he has a string of motoring offences including driving without a licence. In short, he is not the sort of man you want your daughter to be dating. But I'm sure Rangers fans won't care if he scores against Celtic in the cup this weekend.

By the way, does anyone else appreciate the irony of Rangers fans expressing moral outrage over Diouf;s signing? These are people who support a club irrevocably associated with sectarian hatred and bigotry, so they aren't exactly bastions of society themselves...

Deadline day may decide who wins the first division

Aside from Diouf, transfer deadline day was pretty low key north of the border...but the most intriguing and important move of the day, for me, came at East End Park - the sale of Dunfermline's outstanding winger Willie Gibson to English lower league side Crawley Town. It will be pretty difficult for the Pars to replace a player of his quality, and it might tip the battle for promotion to the SPL in the favour of their Fife rivals Raith Rovers - who managed to hold on to their own star man, Gregory Tade, in the face of interest from bigger clubs. But it's very tight at the top of the table, with Falkirk also close behind (Dundee would be top but for their points deduction), and with squad depth minimal at all the clubs it might well be the team who has the fewest injuries and the least fixture congestion who emulates Inverness Caledonian Thistle's storming run to the title last year.

Why couldn't Andy Webster succeed at Rangers?

I know his first year or so at Ibrox were destroyed by injuries, but Webster was so good on loan at Dundee United last season that he was shortlisted for Player of the Year honours. Yet even when fit he got precious little opportunity this season, as Rangers continue to shirk their responsibility of grooming a successor to the evergreen David Weir. Walter Smith just didn't seem to rate him for some reason. Webster was released from his contract on Monday, which allows him to find a club outwith the transfer window - he is rumoured to be returning to Hearts, whom he left in 2005 after a contract dispute to Vladimir Romanov. If he reaches his previous high standards, this could really come back to bite Rangers hard...

And one last thing...

I'm delighted by Caley Thistle's transfer window business - young Irish winger Aaron Doran comes on loan from Blackburn with glowing references, whilst former Hibs captain Chris Hogg gives us cover at centre-back and right-back, areas of weakness. How Hibs could afford to let Hogg go is beyond me - they spent deadline day getting another goalkeeper (they now have four) called Jakub Divis - the joke is that his shirt will say "Divis 1" as a marker of where the Hibees will be next season. Hamilton, their main relegation rivals, brought in a bunch of young players from down south and Ireland. St. Mirren just didn't bring in anyone. It will be interesting to see how these deals influence the battle against SPL relegation.

L.