Why don’t we extend the transfer window so that it covers the months in between August and May? The excitement produced by this innovative move would mean that we could scrap the Premier League entirely.
Every four years there would be a World Cup and in the alternate two years there would be the European Championships. Friendly internationals and qualifiers could then be played all year round without that pesky Premier League interfering.
There would still be a need for the clubs because they would have to produce players for the international teams, pay them and help them recover from injury, they just wouldn’t have to take part in any silly tournaments where they may also get injured or suspended.
If you think that the previous nonsense was just that, nonsense, then spare a thought for the long-suffering club supporters next weekend when the first international break will occur.
We are three games into the new season and already it has to come to a shuddering halt for qualifiers and meaningless friendlies.
We are not going to comment further on the pros and cons of the break because we have already done so in numerous other articles, here’s an example if you are interested.
The other factor is that the transfer window will have just closed and players will be changing clubs and trying to get their heads around their new environment and teammates when they suddenly have to report for international duty.
With all the organisational prowess of the board of directors of a brewery who are responsible for getting their customers as drunk as possible and just can’t work out how to do it, the FA and UEFA/FIFA completely fail to comprehend the effect their stupid decision making has on the clubs and their fans.
As José Mourinho pointed out recently, he can’t even take advantage of the break by getting the players fitter or training them on different tactics because none of them will be there!
The supporters are just getting back into their weekend routines when, in a cruel and perverse manner akin to snatching the milk away from a feeding baby, their whole world is turned upside down for two weeks.
Surely the answer to both problems is to make sure that nothing interferes with the Premier League season. It is, after all, where all the money comes from. Without the Premier League there would be no transfer window of interest or even internationals of interest, although the latter is debatable as internationals are rarely of any interest anyway, particularly those involving serial losers England.
The other possibility which should be taken into consideration is that of serious injury to a player. Ask Chelsea fans how they feel about Eden Hazard being injured while with Belgium.
The FA and UEFA need to start to realise on which side their executive bread is caviared and put into place safeguards which will ensure the integrity and well being of the Premier League and it’s players.
As for the transfer window, surely the solution to this is a simple one. Just close it on the 31st of July. This gives all the clubs around two months to do business as they all start at the beginning of June anyway.
There would then be a couple of weeks, at worst, for new signings to be bedded in rather than trying to do it three or four games into the season. This problem would not be alleviated if the window were to close the day before the season starts, as some people have suggested.
As for the different leagues around Europe then synchronise the start dates of them all. Why does La Liga start two weeks after the Premier League anyway? What is the point of that?
If they all started on the same date there would be no reason why the transfer window couldn’t be the same for everybody.
There may be people wiser than ourselves who know why these suggestions wouldn’t work and, if there are such people, please come forward and explain it to the clubs, managers and supporters.
Have your say on the transfer window by voting in our poll which can be found to the left of this article.
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