Man wonders what he will do with his time now that transfer window is almost closed

AFTER A breathtaking summer of hot gossip, frenzied speculation and sizzling season-long loan arrangements, many football fans will be glad for the break in excitement which comes with the start of normal league fixtures.

But for Richard Clare, 28, the looming closure of the transfer window will leave a gaping hole in day-to-day life, and the Jarrow accountant has said today: “I really don’t know how I’m going to cope.

“At the moment my Saturday starts with Good Morning Sports Fans on Sky Sports News, and I’ll generally thumb through the Daily Star’s rumours column as Georgie Thompson talks me through the overnight developments in the ‘Younes Kaboul to Portsmouth’ story.

“Then it’s the tense wait for the BBC’s gossip column to come online, followed by all my usual rituals leading up to 3 o’clock centrepiece of the day: Teamtalk putting up a couple of stories about Juande Ramos’ latest targets.”

Clare explained his worries that he will now spend weekends getting dragged round IKEA with his wife, with only his WAP-enabled phone to keep him up to date with transfer news. He conceded that even that would be unlikely to sate his appetite, given that no deals can go through until January.

Meanwhile, Clare’s wife Kathy has rubbed salt into her husband’s wound by expressing her happiness about the imminent end to summer transfer activity. “There’s far too much transfer news on the TV anyway, and it will do Richard good to get out of the house,” she said.

“I’m sick and tired of gossip taking up so much of our lives. It’s bad enough that it dominates the papers for weeks on end over summer, but just last week an episode of Corrie was moved because Ivan Campo was spotted at Portman Road thrashing out a lucrative year-long deal.”

Published October 20, 2008

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