Hutton & Jenas set to sign.

[Villanation]

Personally I think the transfer window is a complete joke, mangers hate it, clubs hate it, players hate it, the only parties addicted to it are agents and Sky, agents because they can manipulate fee's and Sky because they get a decent 24hrs of bums on seats, I mean did you see the Sky fella that was on the news desk the other night, Scottish fella, fs, he must have had an intravenous drip feed of statins going at all times to keep his blood pressure even reasonable, did you see the Sky girl, there ain't a bloke out there that gets her that excited, that said i wouldn't mind being the boyfriend at home waiting for her to show up after she's done her shift, can you imagine.

It should work the other way, Transfer Window open at all time with just a month break in winter and a further month during the summer.

[hawkeye]

The alternative is to make contracts binding, then only allow transfers at the end of the contracts.

[ozzjim]

In a similar vein to US sports, it would save a huge amount of cash in fees.

[villadelph]

Things will never change unless we see a salary cap. It's complete and utter nonsense that there isn't, the ability for the big to get bigger ruins the game.

[TheSandman]

Would now be a good time to shamelessly plug the Salary cap Facebook campaign I joined recently?

http://www.facebook.com/groups/133138463448386/

I definitely agree that a salary cap is what is needed. I used to be skeptical about it but I feel that the best way to level the playing field is to give all clubs the same amount to pay on wages. Thus meaning that the club which is best run, with the best manager and who finds the best players will be the ones who win rather than just the guy who is richest.

On transfer windows I really think we should close it BEFORE the season starts as some managers have been arguing recently. Give the new players time to settle in and not have distracted players thinking about moves at the start of the season. Am I right in thinking that UEFA only mandate the length of the window and not when it should be?

[willywombat]

Things will never change unless we see a salary cap. It's complete and utter nonsense that there isn't, the ability for the big to get bigger ruins the game.

That's it in a nutshell as far as I'm concerned

[KRS]

Some may criticise the American way of doing things, but they are way ahead of most countries when it comes to rules for competitive sports (thats a bit of a generalisation and I'm sure not all their rules make sense) and already have the salary cap and structure in place. The problem we have is that it is gone so far out of control that I cant see it happening without forcing the European Super League or whatever they'd want to call it.

As far as the transfer window goes, I think the opposite to Villanation and it should be cut short to a week before the start of the season so squads are complete before the campaigns start. All this transfer activity 4 or 5 games already into the season is complete bolx and disruptive, and its almost as if the first few weeks of the season dont really count. They should also scrap the January transfer window...you do your business in the summer, utilise the squad at your disposal and deal with the consequences if you end up in a relegation scrap.

[KevinGage]

There is a weird irony that Russia now has the most obscenely paid footballer in the world. And yet the home of naked outright capitalism sees no problem with salary caps, draft picks weighted in favour of weaker teams and all the rest of it.*


Something has to be done -but it needs to be on a pan Europe basis. The 4/5 teams in England who now believe themselves to be virtually untouchable will naturally fight it all the way.  Particularly if similar constraints aren't applicable to Italian or Spanish sides.



* I'm aware that America has some obscenely paid sportstars in it's most popular sports too

[ktvillan]

I think it would be nice if the bigger "making up the numbers" clubs like us, Everton, Newcastle, and Sunderland were to lead a breakaway, taking the other 80 odd clubs in the lower divisions with them, and go back to the old pre PL system.  The SKy 4 (5) need some cannon fodder to play against, remove that and they don't have a league and Sky don't have a product.  They then have a choice to form a european super league, and good riddance if they do, or play by the new rules.  We get our game back minus the greedier self interested clubs who screwed the game in the first place .

[oldtimernow]

I'd agree with that KT but cannot see it happening unless the 80+ can tie up a deal with TV and since sky won't want it to happen then it won't.

One of many reasons for limiting skypower

[richard moore]

Going to cancel Sky this week and switch to BT. Way too expensive for what it is and it is time I took my own personal stand against the ridiculous amounts of money washing around in the game. Not that it will make much difference of course but I shall feel better for it. Fed up too with the constant overhyping of football which has become such an utterly mediocre product. I think last week's transfer deadline day coverage was the final nail in the coffin - people with half a brain cell having orgasms over signing Crouch, Palacios, Wright-Phillips, Anton Ferdinand et al. I shan't miss the games either, they are so awful for the most part and I am better off seeing what few highlights these games have on MOTD. Roll on the Rugby World Cup meantime, some proper, decent sport played in the sort of spirit which last existed in football in about 1950....

[Greg N'Ash]

A salary cap is just not on. Probably illegal if someone challenges it in Europe. The only people to blame are the clubs themselves and the fans to an extent who put pressure on them to pay these salaries. The bottom line is its always been this way even back in the 60's before Jimmy hill turned up. Players like Greaves went abroad to make money and also had ways of improving their basic pay through various under the table deals. All that would happen IMO would be salaries would reduce but the reduction would be made up in things like image rights.

[Neil Hawkes]

The alternative is to make contracts binding, then only allow transfers at the end of the contracts.

Considering you're using my nickname and I never seem to agree with a word you say.........I'm stunned that I actually concur with the above! 

Why can someone legally bugger off at the end of a contract, but isn't required to honour it? Baffles me.

[JUAN PABLO]

Going to cancel Sky this week and switch to BT. Way too expensive for what it is and it is time I took my own personal stand against the ridiculous amounts of money washing around in the game. Not that it will make much difference of course but I shall feel better for it. Fed up too with the constant overhyping of football which has become such an utterly mediocre product. I think last week's transfer deadline day coverage was the final nail in the coffin - people with half a brain cell having orgasms over signing Crouch, Palacios, Wright-Phillips, Anton Ferdinand et al. I shan't miss the games either, they are so awful for the most part and I am better off seeing what few highlights these games have on MOTD. Roll on the Rugby World Cup meantime, some proper, decent sport played in the sort of spirit which last existed in football in about 1950....

I think Im with you there ...   

[Vanilla]

Going to cancel Sky this week and switch to BT. Way too expensive for what it is and it is time I took my own personal stand against the ridiculous amounts of money washing around in the game. Not that it will make much difference of course but I shall feel better for it. Fed up too with the constant overhyping of football which has become such an utterly mediocre product. I think last week's transfer deadline day coverage was the final nail in the coffin - people with half a brain cell having orgasms over signing Crouch, Palacios, Wright-Phillips, Anton Ferdinand et al. I shan't miss the games either, they are so awful for the most part and I am better off seeing what few highlights these games have on MOTD. Roll on the Rugby World Cup meantime, some proper, decent sport played in the sort of spirit which last existed in football in about 1950....

I think Im with you there ...

Never had Sky (tried to get it last year because of switchover, but told by installer that there were to many trees around my house!!)

Seen it in pub a few times, but never heard commentary until ahem, recently watched dubious internet coverage. Couldn't believe how biased the commentary was in favour of certain teams. Used to think ITV Champions League coverage was bad enough.