Transfer Deadline Day: more overhyped than Stewart Downing.

Seriously, if Sky Sports News got any more excited they’d probably explode into a jizzy ball of semen filled fire. Why they feel the need to report on the fact that Jim Tabernacle has joined Shamrock Rovers for an undisclosed fee, or that Roger Flim-Flam has signed a one-month loan deal for Newell’s Old Boys is beyond me. I know they are a media outlet and their website and TV channel needs to get as many clicks and views as possible to keep the advertisers happy, but most football fans could do with the extra Vaseline they coat onto their programmes just to make things seem a little glossier than they are.

As for us gooners, well, we were never going to be treated to a transfer splurge on the last day, were we? And even if we did spend the GDP of a small Island in the Pacific, there is no way that a January purchase would have represented good value. Just ask Liverpool how their record signing is working out for them.

We had some news filtering through from Ivan Gazidis about how we won’t spend £50 – £70million on a player as we are not funded by oil or a Russian. I have to say I’m getting a little more than frustrated with this stock phrase given to the senior Arsenal executives to retort whenever interviewed on signings. Not many Arsenal fans I know have advocated a Fernando Torres style splurge. We don’t expect that and we don’t want it if it lands you with a Schevchenko or a Carroll. But one thing I think every Arsenal fan agrees on is the fact that the squad needs some investment. If the choice between buying two £20million footballers and a £10million or one overpriced player we all know which box we’d pick from. I do feel as though we as fans are being treated to a hefty dose of spin by officials when we hear these sorts of things.

We did manage one signing – a little known German Youth international Thomas Eisfeld. I can’t profess to be an expert on German football, but given that Eisfeld wasn’t a regular in the Dortmund team I’d say even if I was my knowledge would be limited. I suspect he’ll be another one that the club will expect to see more of next season as a squad player. Let’s just hope he doesn’t have the Amaury Bischoff or even Chu-Young Park about him.

I actually think that not signing anyone of note is a darn sight better than signing a Rebrov. And besides, as I’ve stated on numerous occasions on this blog, who is available that isn’t in the Champions League? Or wants to play in the Champions League next season? And on top of that, if we do sign somebody from abroad, what if they don’t make an instant impact? We are not at the stage of the season where we can afford to give a player six months to find his feet. So the next option would be to keep it local and buy British, or a player based in these here isles. But here’s the thing – nobody will sell for anything other than above market value, so playing the old ‘get Leighton Baines’ card just isn’t viable. Everton boss Moyes and Chairman Kenwright would be rubbing their hands together with glee as they chortle down the phone the £30millon price tag they’ve placed on his head with an hour of the deadline to go.

Like I said, I think the team needs investment and it needs it as a matter of priority, but with players coming back it’s important that we realise that we are not in the same position as three weeks ago. I agree, we might be only a couple of injuries to key players away from another crisis (I dare not even mention the name of one particular player we need to keep fit for the rest of the year), but you can’t buy new players for positions based on a ‘what if’.

So what now? The window has slammed shut and we have made our bed to lie in.

I’ll tell you what now: now we sing up for The Arsenal until May. There is the small matter of a game against a relegation threatened Bolton and we need to pick up the points. I want the same attitude as we saw against Villa in the second half and I want players like Ramsey, Walcott and The Ox to say “hold up Robin, we’re having a piece of glory now” and start putting teams to the sword. Bolton will be a tough challenge for us, make no bones about that, but it’s one that the team need to stand up and be counted. Last year we threw away the game thanks to the shocker that Nasri had. Let’s put that to be with three points tonight. And I think we will, so I’m going to say a goal from Theo and RvP to win it 2-1 for us.

Have a good one y’all.