Three and in – not just another football blog

It’s an impressive list of honours: two Premier League titles, an FA and League Cup, two appearances in the PFA Team of the Year, and 84 caps for France.  32 is no age for a centre-half.  And his fee?  Absolutely nothing.

And yet William Gallas cannot find himself a club.

Arsenal lost two French defenders on the Bosman ruling this summer.  Both are yet to sign on elsewhere.  In the case of Mikael Silvestre, who spent most of his time in London looking like Fergie’s rogue agent, this is no surprise.  Gallas, however, is a different case.  He has undoubted pedigree, and last season showed his best form in an Arsenal shirt.

Still, a policy is a policy, and Arsene Wenger refused to offer him anything more than a year’s contract, as is customary when a player hits 30.  Gallas preferred to try his luck elsewhere.  It was to be his last move, and he and his agent probably expected the offers to flood in.

Early rumours linked him with Europe’s glamour clubs: Real Madrid, Juventus and Roma.  The most recent stories off the press see him being snubbed by Panathanaikos and offering his services to Celtic.  Whilst we can doubt the veracity of those articles, we can’t doubt that Gallas’ stock appears to be falling rapidly.

What’s putting off potential buyers?  It could be his wage demands – at Arsenal he was earning some £80,000 p/week.  A two year deal would be a risk – Gallas struggled with injuries last season and would be almost 35 at the end of any such contract.

Perhaps the biggest factor is the Frenchman’s personality.  Despite somehow managing to keep his mouth shut last season, Gallas’ time at Arsenal was chequered at best – there was his famous strop at Birmingham, followed by the outburst which saw him stripped of the Arsenal captaincy.  Unless a favourable offer arrives soon, Gallas might soon wish he’d accepted the short-term contract back at the club where he became a captain and then a pariah.

A new signing is supposed to be greeted with elation, excitement, and pointless speculation about what squad number he might wear.  It’s a moment when the optimistic and the disgruntled can unite to celebrate the warm fuzzy novelty of a new face, who is surely bound to be better than last season’s dross, purely on account of his newness.  Look at the Olympiakos fans: over 1000 of them flocked to Athens airport yesterday to greet Albert Riera.  Delirium over the disappointingly average is what typifies transfer windows.

Imagine the disappointment on Steve Bruce’s pumpkin-like face then, when he presented Sunderland fans with his latest addition.  No cartwheels, no confetti, no commemorative enamel badges.  Instead, he was audibly booed during Sunderland’s friendly with Brighton.  This, I suppose, is what happens when you sign Titus Bramble.

Bramble’s signing will be difficult to swallow for Sunderland fans, who enjoyed his calamitous spell at Newcastle more than most.  People sometimes talk about defender’s having a potential mistake “in their locker”.  Bramble hasn’t got a locker.  He’s got a garage.  And it’s overflowing.

Bruce knew there might be a backlash. He’s taken a leap of faith that might land him in as prickly a situation as Bramble’s name evokes.

“Look, I thought long and hard about signing Titus, long and hard. I knew it might be a difficult one for Sunderland fans – and a difficult one for him. But the great thing is that the lad has plenty of bottle – he wanted to come here. He wants to play for me and for Sunderland and I feel sure Sunderland fans will recognise that and give him a fair crack of the whip. At the end of the day Sunderland fans want the same as me and the same as Titus Bramble, which is success for the club.”

Maybe Sunderland fans ought to give Bramble a chance: as gambles go, this isn’t an expensive one.  Bramble’s fee is mooted to be somewhere between £750k and £1m.  Sunderland’s pride might be hit, but their pocket won’t be.

In his time at Wigan, Bramble twice won Player of the Year awards.  Bruce contends:

“Titus’s problem has always been his concentration levels but we improved them out of sight at Wigan and he’s big, strong, powerful with two good feet. The easiest thing would have been not to sign him and to avoid any hassle, but I think he’s a player who can genuinely improve us.”

It’s easy to see it from Bruce’s perspective.  Having been quoted a fee of £7m for John Mensah, a player who makes Ledley King look like Bruce Willis in Unbreakable, he’s now been able to snatch a player he feels he can rely on for a fraction of the price.  How many English centre-halves in the peak of their career can you buy for £1m?

Bramble’s reputation precedes him, but it doesn’t necessarily remain fair.  Redemption and praise from Sunderland fans – those who taunted him most – would be worth the world to him.  Now he simply has to earn it.  And if he can’t concentrate on that, then I’m not sure what he’s doing being a footballer.

It’s interesting to look at Man City’s purchasing in the last 12 months. Primarily they’ve been trying to improve their own squad but there’s definitely a bit more to it.

It’s like they’re buying from clubs around them to try and weaken them. For example, I’m sure City expected Arsenal to be more affected by the losses of Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Adebayor than they actually were. Arsenal fans may not have been but a lot of pundits suggested the Gunners would suffer without two players who were first choice when fit. I’m sure that’s what City expected.

Buying Gareth Barry made Aston Villa weaker and City’s rather unsavoury pursuit of Joleon Lescott played a significant part in Everton’s poor start to the season. A 6-1 spanking on the opening day left David Moyes ruing his decision to play Lescott whose head, he claimed, was elsewhere. Both Villa and Everton would have been expected to challenge, with City, for a top 6 place.

Taking Carlos Tevez away from Man United was a fantastic coup, Tevez flourished at Eastlands and without him United just didn’t have enough firepower to claim their 4th consecutive title. Tevez or Owen isn’t even a fair question, let alone a fair swap on the football pitch. United were weaker.

Now, City are after James Milner who has told Aston Villa he wants to leave. There’s already massive competition for places in the City midfield and Milner is an important player for Martin O’Neill. Mancini’s team is obviously a temptation for any player. There’s the potential the money brings (the ability to buy the best players in the world and ultimately challenge for trophies) and the money on offer which leaves every other club in the shade. I don’t blame Milner for wanting to go but for the price City are going to pay there’s no doubt in my mind they could get better value on the continent.

While I’m sure they’ll say they want to keep an English core to their team I’d suggest this is tactical again. Do what it takes to, at the very least, consolidate their league position. I know their ambitions are much higher but nobbling those who might challenge them is not a bad idea either.

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Before City fans jump down my throat, I’m not being critical, just making an observation. I’ve previously outlined my unease with the way City’s money will affect/is affecting the game but that’s for another day.

The transfer window is now well and truly open, blowing a gust of signings in to new clubs.  Managers everywhere are doing all they can to persuade players to jump in to their particular ship.  The traditional bait remains: swathes of cash, first-team football, and the chance of a fresh start.

There is, however, another tactic.  Football is an emotional game.  Should we therefore be surprised that transfer stories are full of the language of love?

Take Blackpool’s attempted seduction of recent free agent, Francis Jeffers.  Manager Ian Holloway can show Jeffers round the training ground, hand him a decent wage packet, and take him for a tour of Blackpool’s seaside attractions.  He knows, however, that that might not prove enough.  He needs a personal touch.  A splash of romance.  He needs to show Jeffers that he’ll be a generous, tender lover.

What can I say?  Ollie just loves Franny.

Sometimes romance makes way for pure lust.  Take West Ham’s charged pursuit of Nice striker Loic Remy.  Nice President Patrick Governati told L’Equipe:

“West Ham are hot for the player and we want to complete the transfer before the end of the month.”

With Gold, Sullivan, and Avram Grant in charge at Upon Park, no wonder there’s such a lascivious edge to their transfer dealings.

Former West Ham substitute Freddie Ljungberg, meanwhile, has been sleepless in Seattle for long enough, and after a good deal of speculation, could soon be switching teams.  Seattle coach Sigi Schmid says:

“At this point, he is exploring options … I know I have my feelings and my judgements on that thing.”

Whatever you decide Freddie, we’ll still love you just as much.

As the transfer window begins to creak towards closing and the media go transfer mental, keep an eye open for similarly romantic overtures/childish observations.  It breaks up the monotony.

So, Joe Cole has made his choice. He was offered the chance of a reunion with Uncle ‘Arry, a renaissance with Mnsr Wenger, or a return to his boyhood club, West Ham. In the end, he opted for Roy Hodgson’s Liverpool. One can’t help but wonder why – it certainly wasn’t the lure of Champions League football.

It’s funny. Only a few weeks ago, Cole’s agent was insistent that participation in Europe’s premier competition was at the forefront of Cole’s mind:

“Football is the most important thing to Joe and continuing to play in the Champions League is high on his priorities.”

Not that high, it seems. Cole has now opted to join a side who will be contesting the Europa League, which has about as much credibility in this country as the bastard offspring of the League Cup and Eurovision. We know Harry Redknapp was interested because he made a point of telling us. We know Arsene Wenger was interested because he made a point of not telling us. So what are the factors that have persuade Cole to move to Merseyside?

The first, and most obvious, is money. Matt Law of The Express suggests that Arsenal offered Cole £80k for two years, and Spurs £65k for three. Liverpool are widely reported to have paid £90k, for – and here’s the clincher – four years.

Cole has the security of a massive wage until he is 32 years old. Whatever injuries may befall him, whether he loses his first-team place to Nabil El-Zhar, that sum is guaranteed. Some pundits have incorrectly suggested that Liverpool have swapped Yossi Benayoun for Cole and ended up £5m better off. Hardly: Cole will cost Liverpool nearly £19m over the next four years. And that’s without the inevitable signing-on fee.

But finance isn’t the only factor in Cole’s decision – there’s first-team football, too. Spurs would probably have to change their system to one focused around a lone front-man to accommodate Cole, and they don’t currently have a striker suited to that role. Their flanks are well stocked, with Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon both coming off the back of very strong seasons. Arsenal, meanwhile, have a whole host of players in the Cole mould – Andrey Arshavin, Samir Nasri, Tomas Rosicky and Jack Wilshere to name but a few.

Liverpool, however, have just lost Benayoun, and look set to sell Albert Riera. Assuming Hogdson adopts the same 4-4-1-1 tactic he used at Fulham, Cole could be deployed off Torres or on either flank as a creative alternative to Dirk Kuyt.

So Cole will get a chance to play. If, that is, he’s fit. He’s made just 28 Premier League starts in last two seasons combined – the same amount he made in 2007/08 alone. This is not a player on an upwards trajectory. Along with Torres and Gerrard, he now forms part of one of the most injury prone frontlines in Europe.

If he can stay fit, he could well prove a good signing – he has the potential to bring imagination to a Liverpool side that lacked sparkle last season. That if, however, is almost as big as the pay packet that persuaded Cole to move North in the first.