Put a Brick Through that Window

I HATE the January transfer window. When I "were nowt but a lad" as my Four Yorkshiremen friends say, football's transfer market was easy to understand - if a player was available, some club with the money bought him, or otherwise - up to some point a few weeks before the end of the season. Today all the buying, selling and trading is done in two "windows" - end of season - to end of August, and in the month of January.

We are told the transfer market is what keeps football going. Me, I'd like to see the January market abolished. Of course, players will always want to move, clubs will always want to freshen-up their squads, man has become over the millennia a natural trader, but, these days, I reckon, if we banned transfers for cash, football would be better for it.

I always look at North American sport as my model. In  the big sports over there - Americal football, baseball, basketball and ice hockey there is no transfer market which involves the big-name stars moving from club to club for millions of dollars. Sure, they still move, but they, the players, have control of their own destinies. They are their own men - they contract their services to clubs, but are not "owned" by the clubs, as happens over here.

Mind you, the way American sport is organised, with franchises, with the way there is no relegation threat and where clubs can plan for the future is far fairer than the comparatively unregulate state of football in Europe makes far greater sense to me. Amazingly, North America, the home of capitalism and the free market economy has, in the way its professional sport is run, shown more "socialism" and built a flatter playing field than we have this side of the pond.

If, over here, we had a situation whereby the transfer window closed on the eve of the first match and thereafter managers had to manage and clubs had to make do with the squads they then had, we might have a better game. And, if we franchised each league to remove the fear of failure and relegation, we just might start to produce better players, since clubs could not buy their way out of trouble, but would have to make do with what they had. And, if the supposed first picks weren't doing the business, either bring in the kids, or change the manager/coach.

I LOVED HIbs boss Pat Fenlon's comment about the abuse he allegedly received from some Cowdenbeath fans. Mr Fenlon was allegedly shocked to be described as an illegitemate Irishman, rather than, as he was used to as a Linfield player, an illegitemate Orangeman. Of course what Pat maybe didn't grasp is, he was in Fife at the time.

We here in God's County of Ayrshire have our detractors among the sophisticated Weegies of the world, but, as I always say: you come to Ayrshire, put your watch back 100 years - you cannot do that in Fife, over there the watch hasn't been invented yet.

I ADMIRE what Kenny Shiels is trying to do at Kilmarnock. His support for the passing game and his insistence that the team passes is wonderful. That said, if opponents fore-check well, the Killie defence has a collective bout of the skitters, which makes for an interesting game.

I firmly believe Derek Riordan, should he sign for Killie, could flourish in the team's system. And, if the club was to house him in Onthank, series two of "The Scheme" could go global. But, seriously, Killie survived Kris Boyd, McCoist and Durrant and successfully re-habilitated Andy McLaren. It's a no-brainer, come to Killie Deeksie son.