The emotions then take over, and we find ourselves blaming Ryan Shawcross for his injury. Bad challenge, late challenge, over the top of the ball, and any other symptom you could care to mention.

Once the initial dust has settled, we sit back and we evaluate, and the conclusion we come to is that this has happened to Ramsey, and to Eduardo, and to Diaby because people think that they can kick Arsenal to put them off their game.

The conclusion that is then drawn, quite logically, is that we should do something to protect Arsenal’s players from this approach.

However, I have two questions that nobody seems able to answer. How and why?

How can we prevent this kind of injury cropping up once every two years? It’s not an easy question to answer. Players already wear shin and ankle protection, which, since being made compulsory, has massively cut down on the number of serious injuries. It used to be five or six players every season. Now we’re down to one every two.

It is key to remember that these athletes are at the top of their profession, the best amongst them earning six figure weekly pay packets. Their profession is a nation’s passion, a physical battle between two teams of 11 men both aiming to win. They, both professionally and personally, want to win each and every weekend because their livelihood, quite literally, depends on it.

When people push themselves to their limits, accidents will happen.

Do we discourage players from going in hard by excessively punishing players that over-use force? This opens up a whole new can of worms for a number of reasons.

Firstly, how exactly do we define excessive force? It’s an extremely subjective interpretation of a challenge, which would be impossible to consistently referee. Secondly, if we are going to just punish those players who cause injury to others, then that would prove to be a totally ineffective solution for two reasons.

Firstly, we have already seen the extent to which some players already artistically subvert the rules to get others in trouble with the referee. And secondly, such injuries happen so scarcely that most players will consider the odds of causing one so small that they will not change the way they play in any noticeable way.

If rule changes did come into effect with the desired effect, causing players to back out of or reduce the force of challenges, then we could actually see an increase in the number of injuries caused.

It is a well known, tried and tested mantra in Rugby, a game far more familiar with physicality than football, that the best way to get injured is to go into contact half- heartedly. The same must apply to football—a tensed leg is much less likely to sustain damage than a relaxed one.

So, given all the difficulties getting the desired result, should we be changing the way the game is played? Is there really anything that we need to change?

The question challenges the absolute fundamentals football. Who is to say what the correct way to play the game is? Teams are set an aim, and that is to score more goals than their opponents. Can we go about dictating to them exactly how they go about doing this without changing the very fabric of the game?

I have seem some respected journalists describe Stoke as “destructive,” “vile,” and “uninspiring,” but who is to say that Arsenal’s style of football is any more valid than Stoke’s? At the very top level of football, it’s a results game. The correct style is one that gets positive results.

In the modern game, winning the physical battle between two teams is one of the keys to winning over 90 minutes. This is an aspect of the game that Stoke are especially good at, and one that Arsenal struggle with.

This is a trade off. Arsenal win games through football, Stoke win them by fighting hard. There is nothing stopping Arsenal becoming more physical, but one would imagine their footballing side would suffer. This is why players who combine the two so well, like Didier Drogba, are in such high demand and worth millions.

The injury to Ramsey is tragic, more so because it is to such a talented player at the start of his career. However, one injury of this magnitude every two years is, far from being something to be ashamed of, a record that is not all that bad.

To paraphrase Josef Stalin, of all people, one injury is a tragedy, but ten injuries is a statistic.

That we feel so acutely the tragedy of Ramsey’s injury is testament to how few and far between they are today.

Most people blame John Terry, who, oblivious to his role as captain and devoid of loyalty to his team-mate, jumped into bed with Vanessa Perroncel without a moments thought for his ex-friend, Wayne Bridge.

Some of the more perceptive have pointed out that it takes two to tango, and Perroncel, understandably feeling down following the break-up of her relationship with the father of her child, sought solace in the arms of a man she presumably knew well.

Others still blame the overriding culture at Chelsea, one of living the celebrity life, one of having it all and to hell with the consequences. They see Terry as a product of both the times and his environment, and shake a disconsolate head when they think about what the proud Chelsea FC has come to represent.

But you will be very, very hard pushed to find someone who blames Wayne Bridge.

Especially on Sunday afternoon, because it seemed they were all crammed into Stamford Bridge to witness Terry vs Bridge, round two.

The general support of Chelsea have made their opinion abundantly clear. They are standing by their man. Quite how they justify this standpoint is unclear, but they’ve made their decision and they are sticking with Team Terry.

However, a line was crossed at the weekend. They moved from, in their opinion, support for their captain and club icon during his hour of need, to open hostility towards the man that he so very badly wronged.

Bridge, booed every time he touched the ball until the game was effectively over, has kept his dignity throughout. He has refused to publicly speak out against Terry, Perroncel, or anyone else for that matter.

It is hard to imagine how a man, placed in his position, could react in a more dignified and correct manner.

And yet the Chelsea support wanted blood. Quite how they would justify their booing of Bridge to anyone else is a mystery, but they can certainly justify it to themselves. Their insular, self-righteous attitude has lead to this entirely misguided gesture.

For Chelsea, the original neauveau riche of the Premiership, still have none of the class or history that surround their closest rivals, Manchester United, Arsenal, and especially Liverpool. They show no respect for anyone, least of all their opponents, because it all came so easily to them.

They went to bed paupers and woke up millionaires.

And to extend the analogy, as we have seen so many times when a less desirable member of society wins the lottery, money can buy you everything, but it cannot buy you a modicum of class.

It is a shame that the few, decent Chelsea supporters who made a point of applauding Wayne Bridge off the field when substituted should be so overshadowed by the actions of a moronic majority.

However, the ridiculous snubbing of a player who played almost 150 games for Chelsea, and scored one of their most important goals in recent memory against Liverpool, is just symptomatic of the Chelsea attitude.

They will get to the top, they will do things their way, and they do not care who they offend. They can do no wrong, only right.

And it’s this very attitude which has caused their empire to begin to crumble so dramatically in the past few weeks. It remains to be seen whether anyone within Chelsea has insight enough to see this, and bring about the sea change in culture the club requires to be considered a true giant of the English game.

But I wouldn’t hold your breath. Form is temporary but, as we saw on Sunday, class (or lack of) is permanent.

This Sunday, Manchester United meets Aston Villa in a rerun of the 1993 League Cup final. On that day, Aston Villa won a superb match 3-1.

1 – 1988 Luton 3-2 Arsenal

As we have seen, The League Cup Final throws up fewer big four clashes than the FA Cup final, and has a penchant for throwing in a wildcard team, but when the big boys meet, they can deliver games just as thrilling. As such, the 2005 final was eagerly awaited.

Given the refereeing in the latest round of Champions League games, the topic of its quality has bubbled to the surface once again, especially amongst fans of Arsenal and Fiorentina.

What these critics never seem to do, however, is explain exactly where these referees are going to come from.

It is a referees curse to forever be measured against the slow-motion, multiple-angled high definition yardstick of perfection. And they never match up. Of course they don’t. It would be impossible to do so.

Referees in football range from inexcusably bad hobbyists to elite athletes who study each and every nuance of the game. The method used to differentiate between the two and place individuals somewhere on the spectrum in between is an extensive, peer-reviewed process of assignment, assessment and appraisal.

The game is organised in a pyramid, with very few elite athletes at the top, right down to the hundreds of thousands of us who play the game for fun every Sunday.

The structure of referees must, of course, match this, and a side effect is that only the very, very best referees will ever reach the top of the pyramid. Therefore, those in charge of UEFA Champions League games have proved themselves time and time again, at every level of the game, just to be given the chance to referee a Champions League game.

To label a referee like Tom Ovrebo incompetent is a knee-jerk insult of the highest order.

Refereeing is an art, not a science, and what people constantly fail to understand is that the mistakes, as few and far between, are statistically certain to happen. Much like the best players, the top referees study and train for hours to minimise these mistakes and ensure a top performance come matchday.

That is the nature of our sport. We do not expect perfection from our athletes, so by extension we should not expect perfection from our referees. But we do expect them to do everything they can to ensure a good performance come a matchday. This they do unwaveringly.

The tale of Stuart Attwell is a cautionary one. Responding for calls for a younger referee to be tried in the top leagues, he was fast-tracked through the system despite some performances criticised by many, including the usually unpartisan BBC.

He made his Premier League debut aged 25, but a catalogue of errors since, including the awarding of Readings famous phantom goal, have blighted his career and led to him becoming notorious amongst supporters.

It remains to be seen whether Attwell’s career ever recovers. But his case certainly suggests that there is no replacement for cold, hard experience at the top of the game. Even the best referees make mistakes. The difference is that 20 years of experience has ensured that they happen as rarely as possible.

But they don’t have the right footballing philosophy to win the biggest prize in club football, nor do they have a coach versatile or crafty enough to triumph.

Leonardo’s system favours a three up front setup, with absolutely no requirement of any of the front three to track back and work alongside their midfield three. The idea is that, when Milan win the ball, they can spring forwards at lightning pace.

To compensate, Leo picks three midfielders who are, in theory, hard working players who can win the ball and work it to one of the flair players up front. The problem with this system is that one of the three is invariably Andrea Pirlo, not known for his tenacity or work rate. This means that the other two, last night Ambrosini and Beckham, must work harder.

As they’re busy trying to stifle a midfield four, this leaves the full backs one on one with the opposition wingers. This is a dangerous game, and we saw both sides of the coin last night. Nani, poor in the first half, did not threaten Antonini or Favalli. Valencia, in the second half, tore Favalli to pieces.

With modern teams favouring attacking full backs, Leonardo’s insistence on a work-shy front three means that Milan, without the ball, are forever playing a game of defense vs. attack, with a man short.

The full backs have to take the wingers. The center backs take a striker each, and the midfield, with an average age well into their 30s, have to work overtime to cover two central midfielders and two full backs.

However, when we consider the modern preference for the five man midfield, especially away in Europe, the problems multiply. Leonardo’s rigid tactic results in an ageing midfield being tasked with taking on a midfield five, at this level most likely excellent footballers and almost certainly younger than themselves.

When Milan are on top, they are exciting, incisive and dangerous. But into the meat of the match, between 60 and 80 minutes, they are left sorely lacking.

As an aside, although Milan boast a vastly experienced side, at the other end of the scale is Pato. It is vital, at this stage in his career, that he learns the right habits to enable him to fulfil his potential. We saw last night that Ronaldinho is not the right role model for this. Wayne Rooney is.

Leonardo does not change his system come hell or high water. This is how Milan play. This is their philosophy, and they live or die by it’s sword.

Unfortunately, a mortal blow has already been struck, and they will almost certainly die by it this season.

I can’t help it. I keep writing nice things about Manchester United. Also, why not join us on Twitter or Facebook for up-to-the-minute In Behind updates, or to tell me how stupid I am?

Just one or two injuries can cause a real selection headache. If John Terry and Rio Ferdinand break down in May, who do you take?

In 2006, Sven raised eyebrows when he named the then uncapped Theo Walcott and experienced but unconvincing Owen Hargreaves in his squad to travel to Germany.

The two could not have enjoyed more different tournaments, and perfectly exemplify the risk and reward nature of taking a dark horse to the World Cup.

With the EPL beginning to build towards it’s climax, who are the players making a late push to come from outside the squad and climb onto the plane to South Africa?

Who’s Already Going?

For arguments sake, we are going to assume the following 22 players are going to the World Cup. This represents the most likely squad considering who Capello has picked in the past and who is fit.

David James, Robert Green, Ben Foster, John Terry, Ashley Cole, Rio Ferdinand, Wes Brown, Glen Johnson, Matthew Upson, Joleon Lescott, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Gareth Barry, David Beckham, Aaron Lennon, Theo Walcott, Michael Carrick, Peter Crouch, Wayne Rooney, Emile Heskey, Jermain Defoe.

The following 7 players have also been omitted as they are either close enough to the squad not to be particularly surprising selections, or have extensive international experience.

Joe Hart, Paul Robinson, Ashley Young, James Milner, Jermaine Jenas, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Stuart Downing.

So, with that clarified, who are the players most likely to make a late run for that fabled 23rd place the squad?

Roger Johnson

Gone are the days when Roger Johnson was better known for his wife’s fitness videos than his playing ability.

Johnson has been, along with Barry Ferguson, the reason for the unlikely Birmingham City success story this season.

Exceptionally mature for his 26 years, Johnson is a solid goalscoring centre back very much in the John Terry mould. However, having spent his career with Wycombe and Cardiff, it’s only this season that his ability has truly been noted.

And what ability. Johnson will stop anything you toss in towards him.

However, Fabio has had his fingers burned by playing inexperienced defenders in big games. See Phil Jagielka against Spain.

Despite this, after Ferdinand, Terry, Upson and Lescott it’s hard to think of anyone else you’d definitely slip in ahead of Johnson. All it would take is one injury.

Michael Dawson

The very same injury that another Spurs man, Michael Dawson, is hoping for. Dawson has undergone a remarkable revival at Spurs this year, showing remarkable endurance in the face of constant arrivals in his position.

Since joining Spurs he’s seen the likes of Jonathan Woodgate, Ricardo Rocha, Callum Davenport, Sebastian Bassong and now Younes Kaboul arrive at the club.

So it’s testament to him that he, along with Bassong, is now established.

However, Dawson is a very simple, no-nonsense player. He does nothing flashy, and as such rarely stands out.

Were he playing the way he is for Chelsea, he’d be a shoe-in. However, right or wrong, it could be that Spurs just aren’t fashionable enough to send Dawson to the World Cup.

Should he get the call, however, it would be richly deserved.

Stephen Warnock

Warnock took his time in becoming an established Premiership player, but he’s blooming at just the right time if he wants to go to what could be, at 28, his only World Cup.

With Wayne Bridge’s place in the England squad cast into doubt by the antics of John Terry, Fabio Capello could well need a replacement understudy for Ashley Cole at left back.

It is therefore heartening to see Warnock evolve into such an effective all-round full back. Despite being a contemporary of Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher, his career seemed to be disappearing down the pan with successive loan spells outside the top flight at Bradford City and Coventry.

However, his return to Anfield saw him offered a chance to play regularly on the left alongside John Arne Riise, and since his departure from Anfield his rise has been meteoric. Now an integral part of an Aston Villa side challenging for a place in Europe, his chances of traveling have to be excellent.

The main concern for Warnock is the number of certain travelers who can fill in at left back, especially Lescott and Barry. However, if Fabio decides to go with a dedicated reserve, it’s a straight fight between Bridge and Warnock.

Tom Huddlestone

When Tom Huddlestone first broke into the Derby County team as a 16 year old, many observers knew he would be good. Few predicted just how good.

Martin Jol did, and practically stole him for £3m in 2005. He’s not looked back since, playing more than his fair share of games in a star-studded Spurs midfield (as of writing he’s just two appearances short of his Premier League century).

The 6′3” Huddlestone is a tower of midfield strength, yet his game involves so much more. An intelligent positional ball winner, he shields the back four, an ability complemented by his extreme range of passing. In this respect, Jol once compared him to Beckenbauer.

He has also been used on occasion as a center back, and such versatility stands players in good stead when it comes to naming a squad. The ability to play at the back very nearly got Dion Dublin to France 98, and could take Huddlestone to the brink.

Huddlestone’s biggest obstacle in getting to South Africa is the huge range of midfield options available to Capello. It’s in the centre of midfield where England are most blessed, and to have a chance he’ll have to be playing every week and in excellent form.

But if he is, there is no reason he can’t go.

Lee Cattermole

In 2006, Owen Hargreaves showed that sometimes a player can be just right for a team in its hour of need. Should Gareth Barry and one other midfielder break down before the World Cup, Cattermole will be in direct competition with Huddlestone and Jenas for the place that will surely become available.

The former Middlesbrough and Wigan man has all the attributes needed to do a resolute defensive midfield job if needed.

That he is also capable of conjuring a wonder strike out of nothing, and is a nerveless penalty taker, also count in his favour.

However, despite his status as first choice for the England U21 side, he lacks any notable big match experience, and should Capello need to throw someone in, he’s more likely to go with the experienced Jenas or the more graceful Huddlestone.

If it’s grit that he wants, though, Capello may just take Cattermole.

Leon Osman

Even when he plays well, the enigmatic Osman never quite does enough to gain England recognition.

The Evertonian, every now and then, hits an unbelievably rich vein of form, terrorising defenses and seemingly scoring every week.

He then shrinks back into his usual role of being merely pretty good.

Osman has never played for England at any level, and is also eligible to play for either Turkey or Cyprus through his father.

However, should he hit one of his inexplicable hot streaks, he could just sneak into the England squad, especially if injuries strike on both flanks.

But surely even Leon would accept that his inclusion is a very long shot.

Adam Johnson

Far more likely is the inclusion of the pacy, tricky Adam Johnson. Having spent the first half of the season ripping apart the Championship on the left flank of an otherwise unspectacular Middlesbrough team, he now has the chance to shine at Manchester City.

Mancini has made no secret of his admiration for the player, an admiration shared by Carlo Ancelotti and Arsene Wenger.

However, it’s on the left hand side of a front three at Eastlands that he will now have the chance to stake his World Cup claim, and this could be his undoing.

We have already seen wide players, with the notable exception of James Milner, struggle to adapt from 4-3-3 to the 4-4-2 system used by England. Ashley Young is a prime example.

Johnson’s hopes could depend on what he shows Capello in the upcoming friendly against Egypt, should be offered the chance.

Having already played in the Premier League, he should take no time at all to adapt.

The worst-kept secret in football is that England really don’t know who their best bet on the left side of midfield is.

A strong run in and a convincing run out in pre-tournament friendlies could see Johnson given an unlikely chance to be that player, but at the very least he has a good chance of being on the plane at the expense of Young and, on current form, Stuart Downing.

Darren Bent

Bent is a real slow burner. He’s scored hatfuls of Premiership goals, yet doubts still exist with regards to his ability at the absolute top level.

Having been the top English goalscorer in the Premiership whilst at Charlton, you’d expect him to have been the next in a line of excellent young strikers.

But, like Owen and Fowler before him, there is a slight worry that he will never quite live up to his potential to have real success on the international scene.

He’s back in his element at Sunderland, but his miserable season at Tottenham have led some to suggest that Bent plays best in a bad team.

And as hard as that is to fathom, it could be the fact that ensures England take Rooney, Heskey, Crouch and Defoe to the World Cup.

Should Capello opt for a fifth striker, however, it could easily be Bent.

Gabriel Agbonlahor

If there is a fifth striker, or if either Rooney or Defoe breaks down with an injury, then Bent will be in a straight fight with Agbonlahor for a place on the plane.

The lightning quick Agbonlahor is an obvious threat to slow defenses, but how many of those are there at the top level today?

He is another player who, like Adam Johnson, may be ideally suited to a three pronged attack, but less comfortable as part of a front two.

Doubts also exist about his technical ability and football brain, and he has been accused of relying on his raw pace a little too much, at the expense of a pinch of guile.

However, if he hits the form he showed last season, he may go to South Africa. Quite whether he would play at all is another question entirely.

Kevin Davies

Capello is a man who picks players to fit a system, and should either Crouch or Heskey break down or lose their form, then he’ll need a replacement target man. It’s difficult to think of anyone other than Davies who fits that bill.

He’s a very physical player. In four of the last six seasons he’s committed the most fouls in the premiership. In the other two seasons he was second on the list.

His bare knuckle style isn’t in any way petulant, however. In that time he’s only been red carded once and also been one of the most fouled players too.

Davies is a reliable player who does what is asked of him, and that is fill an extremely similar role for Bolton as does Heskey for England, and to a similar standard.

He also scores more goals than Heskey, although only represented his nation three times at any level, Davies suffers greatly from a lack of experience.

Although it’s unlikely, a striking injury crisis could leave Capello with little choice but to take Davies.

Any one of these players could, if the stars align, go to the World Cup. These lot have already earned it.

In football, the top teams don’t need a captain to lead and inspire, because every player in the dressing room is equally capable of doing the same. It is hard to imagine that Steven Gerrard, Rio Ferdinand and Wayne Rooney rely on John Terry to get them up for a big game.

Indeed, a number of top players have, over the years, indicated that it barely matters who wears the armband, as the players all know each others personalities and games to such an extent that there is nothing a captain can add.

Andy Cole has pointed out that, whilst in sports such as Cricket the captain is of great importance in strategic decision making and team selection, “football captains are rarely anywhere near so important… I hate to disappoint those who buy into the notion that every captain gives a Braveheart speech before a game, calling for his troops to die for him and the cause, but it’s a myth.”

In his interview, Cole also asserts that the identity of a teams captain will never win a match. So, if the captaincy bears little practical value on the pitch, where is it’s true value?

Captaincy in football, especially a big job such as the England captaincy, is a symbolic role far more than it is a sporting one. The captain is expected to lead the team with dignity, loyalty and pride, and to be a focal point, taking pressure off the other players. They are also usually the main commercial focus of the team, who’s image sponsors will seek to buy into. David Beckham was excellent on both counts, but John Terry has blotted his copybook again.

How can Terry be the symbolic leader of an England team if he has so betrayed one of his team-mates? He can’t.

But the key question is whether taking the captaincy from Terry affect England’s performances on the pitch? As Cole suggests, almost certainly not. But will keeping him as captain damage the image of the squad going into a World Cup year? Most certainly, but what does that have to do with the aforementioned performances on the pitch?

The wisest move on Capello’s part would be to strip Terry of the captaincy, but keep him in the squad. Terry is a man who finds himself fuelled by the injustice, as we saw in his performance again Hull. What better motivation for him to lead England to the World Cup than the need to redeem himself in the eyes of the public?

After all, if England win the World Cup in the summer, by September we’ll all have forgotten who Vanessa Perroncel is.

The Winners

Everton – In, Landon Donovan and Phillipe Senderos. Out, Lucas Neill.

The Toffees came into the transfer window treading water, moving backwards in the league, and wondering where their inspiration was going to come from. However, whilst others dallied and flattered to decieve, David Moyes went out and made two signings that could prove to be inspired peices of short-term business. They went into the window already knowing that Donovan would be linking up with them from January 1st. In the form of his life, Donovan has already contributed to an upturn in form at Goodison Park, with his pace and goal threat adding something that has been distinctly lacking from a team that gambled, and lost, on Jo. For his part Donovan knows that this is likely to be his last chance to impress in Europe, and avoid going down in history as a never-quite-was, and thus far he has done exactly that.

Whilst the signing of Phillipe Senderos is a loan on paper, noises being made by the player and Arsenal very much indicate that is with a view to buy, and it’s a move that both Senderos and Everton can gain much from. Everton have the excellent Sylvain Distin at the back, but otherwise have Joseph Yobo, who is a shadow of the player he was three years ago, and Phil Jagielka who is recovering from a serious injury and will need to convince people of his fitness.

Senderos himself was impressive at first, but his development has somewhat stalled, having been overtaken by Johan Djourou and seen William Gallas and Thomas Vermaelen signed. He is a one dimensional player, in that he will head and head and head for days, and would stop anything coming past the edge of the area, but contributes little when Arsenal go forward, in contrast to the goal-hungry Gallas and Vermaelen. He’s much more in Evertons mould, and will suit.

This could play out two ways – either Jags is excellent, plays his way into the World Cup squad and Senderos acts as cover on loan, or Jagielka struggles at first but, with Senderos in to cover, is kept out of the firing line. Senderos also bears a remarkable similarity to Distin as a player, and as the Frenchman is 32, can’t have too long left. Senderos would be an ideal long-term replacement to already have in place once Distin begins to fade.

So, two short term deals, but two extremely astute ones that could turn Everton’s season.

Tottenham Hotspur – In, Younes Kaboul and Eidur Gudjohnsen. Out, Robbie Keane, reserves on loan.

Robbie Keane’s return to Spurs has flopped, but as we are judging this transfer window purely objectively and on it’s own merits, Harry Redknapp should be commended for two excellent pieces of business. Redknapp knows Portsmouth players better than most, and as such will have the inside track on Kaboul having already decided to bring him to Fratton Park as one of his last acts as manager on the south coast.

Whilst Portsmouth have been shocking so far this season, the France U-21 international has been one of the few highlights, emerging as a rampaging, goal scoring defender who averages a goal approximately every ten games. Redknapp has stated that Kaboul is a late developer, and has vastly improved as a player since his first promising but ultimately disappointing spell at Spurs. With Woodgate and King both  as reliable as nigerian princes, another solid and consistent center back is just what the doctor ordered.

With Keane shipped out to Celtic, presumably with a future fee agreed or with the intention of putting him in the shop window for other clubs, there remained a fourth striker gap to fill. Keane, similar if not in effect then in style to Defoe, has been replaced by one of the smoothest operators ever to play in the Premiership. Eidur represents a genuine diversification in Spurs striking options.

Deployed as a striker by Bolton when he first emerged, he eventually found himself playing as an extremely withdrawn forward, almost a midfielder, by Jose Mourinho, where he found much success and was integral to their two title wins. Calm on the ball, an effective passer and with deceptive guile, Gudjohnsen found himself playing a similar role at Barcelona before the emergence of Andres Iniesta and Xavi as the greatest attacking midfield duo left him out in the cold. He can look forward to playing a more advanced role when given game time at Spurs, which seems increasingly likely as the club are desperate to offload the misfiring Pavlyuchenko.

Wigan – In, Victor Moses, Vlad Stojkovic, Steven Gohouri and Gary Caldwell. Out, Olivier Kapo and Daniel de Ridder.

It takes a brave manager to admit that one of his biggest signings of the summer has been a flop, and to move to replace him in the January window, but that is exactly what Roberto Martinez has done by beating most of Europes top clubs to the signing of the phenomenal Victor Moses. A direct striker of impeccable pace, balance and instinct, the Nigeria-born player has represented England at every level from U-16 to U-19, and U-21 honours are surely a matter of waiting for the next round of fixtures. It’s terrifying when watching him in full flow to think that he’s only 19 years of age.

He began his career as a winger, but has delivered the goals in a struggling Crystal Palace side this season having moved into a more advanced role. Perhaps Jason Scotland will be sparked to life by the new arrival, but Moses certainly offers Martinez an excellent option both now and in the future, and if he only half lives up to his potential, then the reported £2.5 million fee will seem like an absolute snip.

Gohouri, an Ivorian defender who has scored 3 goals in 2 internationals, and Vlad Stojkovic, the Serbia goalie, are both fairly unknown, but Martinez, having  built an excellent Swansea side out of unknown foreigners like Ferrie Bodde and Jordi Gomez, has a good track record at scouring the European markets, and Stojkovic looked to be a decent shot stopper on his debut against Notts County. Gohouri looks less promising, having yet to appear for Wigan after joining on a free having been released from Monchengladbachs reserve team, but it’s only fair to reserve judgement. Caldwell is an experienced player, although none of his experience comes in the Premiership, and if nothing else won’t be a disaster.

The loaning out of Kapo and de Ridder is moot, as neither player seems to figure in Martinez’s plans.

The Losers

Portsmouth – In, Quincy Owusu-Abeyie. Out, Younes Kaboul and Mike Williamson.

An absolutely disastrous transfer window for Pompey, both symbolically and practically. Williamson typifies the kind of mis-management that has led to the club needing to sell players like Kaboul to stay in busines. However, the fact that they didn’t manage to offload anyone else could prove to be absolutely disastrous.

Williamson was signed for £2m rising to £3m just in the summer, despite having thrown his dummy out of the pram at his previous club, Watford. Having made no appearances for the club, he was sold to Newcastle for just £1m five months later. Financial suicide, and hardly the best message to send your fans regarding harmony at the club.

Although selling Kaboul for £9.5m will keep the wolves from the door for a few more weeks, Portsmouth needed to do far, far more in this transfer window to stay alive and competitive in this seasons relegation scrap. They have previous – Harry Redknapp brought in a merry band of mercenaries led by Andres d’Alessandro to keep them up last time they were in trouble this deep – but their enforced inactivity in this window could prove absolutely fatal. They have been unable to sell players they needed to and with a good chunk of the Kaboul money already gone, owed to Spurs thanks to previous deals, they are in dire, dire trouble.

The signing on loan of an Arsenal and Birmingham City flop to replace the sometimes impressive but now gone Dindane does little to lift the spirits, and Portsmouth’s doom is now assured. All that remains to be seen is whether they go under before or after relegation.

Liverpool – In, Maxi Rodrigues. Out, Andrea Dossena and Andriy Voronin.

Far, far more was needed from Rafa Benitez if Liverpool are to pose any sort of title threat. For starters, another decent striker was a must, especially as one of his options (albeit his weakest) has been let go. He’s gone about signing Milan Jovanovic on a free to join in the summer, but that’s a symbolic admission that this season is a write-off, and as a fairly unknown striker from a backwater league, he reminds one of many, many failed Benitez signings. Marouane Chamakh, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Kenwyne Jones have all been linked with Anfield, and whilst the latter may not fit the bill, the former duo are certainly the kind of player Liverpool both need and should be looking for.

However, the meek signing of Maxi Rodrigues, a player who is no longer able to compete with the elite in La Liga, is Rafas only work. Liverpool continue to sign wingers who are either rubbish (Pennant, Nunez) or offer no genuine width (Benayoun, Rieira), and it could be harshly argued that Maxi fits both. Liverpool are, and have been for a number of years, an extremely narrow team, and you have to go back to Steve McManaman to find the last really decent winger who fits the bill. Maxi is more of the same, more of what has not worked, and won’t take Liverpool any closer to the title.

The two departures shouldn’t weaken Rafas team, but were it any weaker they could wave goodbye to 4th.

The Rest

Elsewhere, there are very few deals of note. Sol Campbell returning to Arsenal is a relatively risk-free excersise in gap-filling, presumably before Wenger signs a more suitable backup defender in the summer. It was probably part of his Chris Smalling masterplan, but he’s decided to move to Old Trafford instead; regardless, we won’t see Smalling at United until next season. Blackburn have signed Yildiray Basturk, who used to be really, really good in about 2002 when he played for Leverkusen and took Turkey to the World Cup semi-finals, but it’s not difficult to imagine that his powers may have waned somewhat since then.

Zaki is back, this time at Hull. That will end in tears. Patrick Vieira is also back in the Premiership at Man City, but I can’t see his signing having a positive or negative effect. I don’t think he’ll play much, but his wages and fee will just be swallowed up by the giant oil  monster that bankrolls city. And nobody signed Ruud van Nistelrooy, Marouane Chamakh, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Sandro, Aguero, Dzeko, Bentley, Toni,  Kjaer, Angel Di Maria,  or David Silva or Villa, but the journalists still got paid.

It’s an increasingly familiar hollow feeling as we sit here early on Tuesday morning, almost like we have been duped, hoodwinked into thinking something exciting was going to happen in the past 24 hours. In reality, Man City’s insane deadline day in the summer of 2008 apart, not much has happened for a number of years now. How and why has deadline day degenerated into the damp squib that we just experienced?

What has changed since the days of the crazy scramble to stave off relegation, or to push for a European place, saw clubs sign numerous players seemingly at random on one day?

The reasons are twofold. Firstly, the new transfer window system, now that it has bedded in, has had the effect of neutering the day somewhat. Clubs are no longer on the brink of success or failure, deep into March, as they used to be under the old single deadline system. Conversely no club, unless their problems are non-footballing as is the case with Portsmouth, is in full-on panic mode at the end of January. The closest we have this season is West Ham, who give off an air of being concerned but confident that they’re going to stay up. They’re not going to crap themselves and spend £13m on Billy Nobody because he scored a hat trick two weeks ago, for example.

Additionally, the window system has forced clubs to plan in advance in much more detail than ever before – when you only have a month to sign your players, you have to be critical about what you have at your disposal, and go into the window knowing what you need and who fits that bill. You can no longer pick up players as and when a need arises. As such, clubs will have extensively researched and closely defined shortlists, and aim to do their deals early in the window.

Afonso Alves, Robinho, Pavlyuchenko, Berbatov… deadline day flops, all high profile, and all recent. This, in a nutshell, is the second reason that deadline day had died. It has now become the accepted wisdom that, when you rush through a deadline deal, you’ll somehow get an unsuitable player for an inflated price. It’s perhaps not strictly true or fair, because for every Andy van der Meyde there’s a Jermain Defoe to Portsmouth. However managers, no longer under the gun on deadline day, aren’t willing to take that risk with a whopping great £10m chunk of their budgets, when they could instead hold on to the cash until the summer. Then they could spend the cash in a more considered way on players who’s values have probably dropped as they move towards the end of their contracts.

Plus, the end of January is an awkward time for a player to join a new club, having already bedded in with and, if they’re being courted by a bigger club, probably played well for their current club. With less than half the season to go, and the buying team also, presumably, being settled, it isn’t the best situation for a player, who may need time to adapt, to be moving.

So because, stuck at the bottom of freezing January, deadline day is no longer the pressure cooker it used to be, we can’t expect the outlandish deals we used to get. The Premiership is higher profile and more competitive than ever before, and with that comes a duty of responsibility from managers. And that duty simply does not allow them to spend lots of players who may flop.

So, sadly for all of us, interesting deadline days may be a thing of the past. But that won’t stop us hoping that this year, the multi-million pound marquee signing is by our club.