New windows please

Okay, so I must confess I am on holiday at the moment – in the off-work sense, rather than sunning it in Sheringham – hence the slight slowing of posts.

However, it does mean I’m sitting here like most Norwich fans waiting to see who turns up through the Carrow Road entrance by midnight tonight.

It is almost a cliché these days to say Norwich need a striker. It is of paramount importance to Glenn Roeder, who has already ruled out simply bringing in anyone who comes in at over six foot tall, whether they can kick a ball or not.

As a result, rumours suggesting Roeder was so impressed by my own backtracking on Darren Huckerby in our Canary from the Flames masterpiece – click here to see it – he was going to offer me a three month deal are sadly untrue (I would expect).

We all know what we want to see arrive, far more than who.

But as something that used to be a source of excitement, the whole appeal of watching the end of each transfer window is slipping away.

I have always been a big fan of deadline days; I love hanging around until midnight, waiting to see which club picks up an average player for a ludicrous amount of money at 11.58pm.

And that usually follows a frenetic couple of days, when all 92 league clubs are desperate to record their share of last minute ins and outs.

But now, either through fear of being ripped off or the ever-increasing temporary reliance on other team’s players, the deadline day action seems to have been reduced to a trickle.

The window system is not working, but then the entire transfer system and ownership of players seems to be in a state of limbo.

The Canaries are not going out of their way to make a point, but as a symptom of the current state of English football, Norwich are going from owning their own houses to renting from far wealthier landlords.

And if a striker does walk in by the end of today, it now seems likely they will also join as a short-term fix, despite the fact Roeder started a search in May to bring in a permanent forward.

It comes down to the players as well. I was an avid basketball follower as a teenager and it was always interesting comparing the way the NBA worked, compared to football here.

The NBA always threw up one year deals in a sport where the player was king and the clubs were simply franchises – football seemed to have a grander, more loyal footing to it.

But now 'soccer' is bearing down fast on some of those NBA aspects – and it is already the same in others.

Players love the idea of keeping their options open and that will apply to whoever Roeder does manage to sign today.

posted on 01 September 2008 12:56 byMichael Bailey - Sportsdesk

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