Tales from transfer windows

It’s almost upon us – transfer deadline day.

Three words that when mentioned ensure most managers and club personnel break out into a cold sweat, have agents rubbing their hands in glee, get Jim White hyperventilating and supporters readying their ‘announce someone’ Tweets.

And the players? They are just kind of caught up in the middle of it all, chess pieces on a board to be moved around.

Two decades ago, the transfer deadline was on March 31.

Strengthen your team for the run-in. That kind of thing. Clubs could trade freely throughout the season up to then. There was no hype around it, no social media pressure.

It all changed for the 2002/03 season.

We now have two transfer windows, summer and winter’s in January, both ending with the exclamation mark of what is deadline day.

And on deadline day itself, it can be quite frankly ridiculous.

It’s like a supermarket sweep, a mad dash to fill your trolley with goods you need, might not need and probably don’t need.

Sky Sports, of course, love it. They’ve fuelled the drama, supporters have bought into it and transfer deadline day has become a staple of the football calendar. It’s like a lite version of draft day you see in the NBA or NFL.

Sure, clubs aren’t under any ‘obligation to buy’ (as Sky might say) on deadline day itself. They are allowed to get their business done in the other available months.

Bolstering squads, securing your preferred ins and outs, isn’t always straightforward. So many factors are at play.

And when time begins to run out, that’s when determination to get something done if not desperation takes over. And, come on, who doesn’t love a bit of beat-the-clock drama?

The summer window of 2017 for Blues was . . . interesting.

Under Harry Redknapp, Blues made 13 signings, plus Craig Gardner’s loan from West Bromwich Albion became permanent.

On a feverish deadline day, Jason Lowe, Maxime Colin, Jota and Liam Walsh were added to the ranks. The club media staff were bunkered down in a tiny office, behind the reception at Wast Hills. Well prepared to work until whenever to announce so and so. Pizza was even ordered.

Nearing the 11pm deadline, a mysterious stranger with his hoodie up breezed past the office door window. We glanced at one another as if to say ‘hold on, he looks familiar . . . ‘.  A millisecond later his agent doubled back, opened the door and said: ‘You’ve not seen him, OK?’ shut the door and carried on walking.

It didn’t really matter, as earlier Redknapp chatted to waiting fans at the Wast Hills gates and revealed Blues had signed this mystery man in the hoodie, Alex Song, even though his medical had not quite finished.

Song’s proposed switch from Rubin Kazan, however, fell through at the death.

Sky Sports had made contact a couple of days earlier, asking what Redknapp’s movements would be. I knew what was coming.

Sure enough, they wanted live footage of ‘Arry arriving at the training ground so they could interview him in his car, window down, his arm resting on the door frame, as part of their deadline day coverage.

The reporter wasn’t too pleased though when I revealed that Redknapp tended to clock in at 7.30am as he’d be up and out at 5am from his Sandbanks home to commute!

Jota became Blues record signing in a deal worth more of £6 million, from official feeder club Brentford, on that deadline day.

The transfer almost didn’t happen. He was is transit intending to sign for Middlesbrough. Frantic negotiations took place en route and in the end Blues powers of persuasion left Boro miffed – it was a close one, but Jota’s car was swung round from the A19 and he sped towards Wast Hills, arriving when darkness was falling.

On Jota, you always wonder if things would have turned out differently for him had he stuck away that one-on-one chance against Aston Villa and not found the Tilton Road top tier . . .

Blues last signing of the 2017 summer window was Walsh, on loan from Everton. His teammate Tom Davies was an alternative whose name was bandied about on that evening by Blues transfer task force, tucked away in the upstairs offices at Wast Hills. They had ordered in pizza, too.

Blues had considered various contenders to bolster their midfield throughout the window and had been in negotiations with Hibernian over John McGinn at one stage. Chances of that transfer happening were put at 50-50.

Another interesting rider to the dealings of the summer of 2017 was that Blues targeted John Ruddy for a move. So much so that Redknapp and director of football Jeff Vetere had a sit down meeting with the goalkeeper to talk terms. But Blues pivoted, brought in David Stockdale and Ruddy left Norwich City for Wolves and went on to win the Championship.

Blues also spoke to Nantes about striker Emiliano Sala in regard a potential £3 million move. Tragically, Sala died in an aeroplane crash after signing for Cardiff City in January, 2019.

Walter Pandiani’s capture on deadline day in January, 2005 set something of a precedent.

Blues had brought in Jermaine Pennant (loan, Arsenal) and Mehdi Nafti (loan, Racing Santander). Steve Bruce, having failed to land Craig Bellamy, switched his sights to the Uruguayan centre-forward.

The relevant paperwork arrived with the Premier League well past the midnight cut-off.

On that deadline evening, is was assumed Blues business was done. Everyone did. Blues esteemed club secretary Julia Shelton had gone home. As had Karren Brady. The St. Andrew’s offices were shut. Then Shelton received a call from Bruce at 11.30pm . . .

The rest of us were still none the wiser. The next day just past 8am, I remember casually opening my emails and seeing one from David Sullivan, time-stamped at some godforsaken hour in the middle of the night, rather triumphantly informing me Blues had signed Pandiani.

I remember walking over to the sports desk and telling the Birmingham Mail sports editor and sub-editors: ‘Erm, Blues have made another signing’. They all looked at me as if I was mad.

But it was true. We rushed out a back page as it transpired Blues had successfully argued that the move was in progress before the midnight deadline even though the paperwork wasn’t ratified until much later. Michael Dawson and Andy Reid’s 11th hour switches from Nottingham Forest to Spurs jammed up the fax lines to Premier League headquarters.

There was no option of scanning in those days, everything was sent by fax. If the lines were engaged, then tough. Shelton’s assistant Vicki Gough had taken a picture on her phone to prove transmission of Blues fax was started before midnight, even though a ‘completion’ printout at both ends (a receipt when all the fax pages have gone through) wasn’t confirmed until long past the deadline.

Pandiani scored on his debut a day later, a 2-1 win against Southampton, which was Blues first Premier League victory of 2005. Saints manager Redknapp grumbled afterwards that Pandiani should not have been allowed to play and there was talk of a protest.

It is believed no team had previously executed such a high-profile signing of a player after the transfer deadline in this manner.

Blues securing El Rifle as they did from Deportivo La Coruna and advances in technology contributed to an eventual regulation change, allowing clubs leeway to sign players post-deadline if the transfer was proceeding beforehand and certain conditions were clearly being met – the ‘deal sheet’ Sky Sports like to tell us about.

Blues also signed Jeremie Bela outside the transfer window, in November, 2019.

Due a wrangle with his Spanish club, Albacete, the Angolan forward was available on a free.

Blues had actually brought him over to have his medical in July. He began training ahead of his announcement for at least a fortnight as legal issues needed to be sorted out – Albacete claimed he was still under contract – and, remarkably, it was all kept under wraps.

There were no spoilers by ITKers about his presence at Wast Hills, even less so a cryptic GIF.

Dwight Yorke joined Blues from Blackburn Rovers after travelling up to Glasgow to sign for Celtic on deadline day in August, 2004.

Yorke was actually at Celtic Park after agreeing terms on a loan with Martin O’Neill when Bruce made his play.

That was another touch-and-go scenario for Blues as they scrambled to get the registration documents faxed in time.

Because it was so late, Shelton would have lost valuable minutes had she driven to St. Andrew’s. So she popped to her brother’s house nearby as he had a fax machine, although it hardly eased the tension of the situation when the paper kept on jamming!

Sometimes deals depend on moving someone out to bring someone in.

On August 31, 2011 there was almost a farcical situation whereby Wade Elliott’s incoming arrival from Burnley could only be sanctioned if Cameron Jerome’s £4 million transfer to Stoke City went through.

Carson Yeung had not long been arrested on money laundering charges, trading of shares in Blues parent company had been suspended and Blues had to sell to survive in the wake of Premier League relegation.

Burnley had agreed a fee. Elliott had passed his medical and was good on personal terms. He was at St. Andrew’s ready to put pen to paper. But he had to wait . . . and wait . . . and wait.

Negotiations over Jerome’s move were problematic and painstakingly slow. And despite Elliott itching to sign his contract, Shelton’s assistant Mark Dennis had to deploy delaying and distraction tactics, to make sure he DIDN’T. It was like a scene out of a sit com until the the go-ahead was given at around 11.50pm.

Tales from transfer windows – part two, to follow. 

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