On the now defunct ‘Through the window’ programme on BBC Radio Scotland, which broadcast the live transfer action as it happened, the highlight of one show I was on was the loud ringing, live on air, of Chick Young’s door bell as his carry-out curry arrived at his house from where he was broadcasting.
Generally though, the transfer window and the final day in particular, is a time of high octane energy and collective insanity.
Managers and chairmen and boards of directors are under immense pressure to freshen up squads as fans put the heat on through social media, radio phone-ins or by simply not turning up to pay at the gate or by not buying their season tickets.
I’ve been with managers as deals have been conducted, nearly conducted and sometimes mis-conducted, in a blizzard of events which can and do sometimes spin rapidly out of control because of the number of outside factors at work.
In many cases there are several clubs chasing one player who may be undecided until the very last moment as to where he wants to go.
Agents, family and friends can all play a part in determining that decision as can the mental strength of the player who may be easily manipulated by others.
If several clubs are chasing a player the signing may be on one minute and off the next as agents deal and double deal, playing one club off against another in a game of poker.
It’s a bit like buying a house, a budget limit is set beyond which you will not go, until you realise that for just a few thousand pounds more you might miss out completely.
Budgets are then hastily reworked while managers decide who they might be able to get out of the door to free up funds, assuming they can find a taker for a player whom they don’t rate, or whether a pay off for an outgoing player, which will free up a wage for an incomer, can be negotiated to make the deal happen.
Much depends on whether a player is coming as a loan deal or as a permanent signing.
In a loan deal the portion of wages which the club trying to secure a player can commit to may be a big factor, or not a factor at all, depending on whether the lending club want the player to get game time, or have simply realised he is surplus to their requirements.
If it’s about game time and they are, let’s say a wealthy English club, they may be happy to continue to pick up all or most of his wages for him simply to play, so that he either comes back as an improved player, or alerts potential buyers to his hopefully improved worth.
Accommodation costs, league placing, promotion bonuses and more, are all just part of the tantalising melange of factors managers must juggle with to land a player.
It’s just a wonder that the sound of breaking glass isn’t heard more often in what is a hugely tense and frustrating time for football bosses.
