Transfer deadline

The transfer deadline nearly passed with only a couple of deals in the last hours - Danny Mills to Charlton and Bernardo Corradi to Parma, both only on loan deals as well rather than permanent moves.

Then a fairly late deal was made with Paul Dickov another loanee, joining Crystal Palace until the end of December - all moves which at the very least shave a bit off the payroll which has increased a great amount with the recent signings.

Talk of a renewed bid for Darius Vassell by Derby appeared to end when they grabbed Kenny Miller, and likewise with Wign with their signing of Marcus Bent on loan for the season. Likewise, stories of a move for Giorgios Samaras amounted to little more than hope for most fans.

No players of note brought in (not counting the deal for Thai player trialist Suree Sukha) despite it seeming that we need another quality striker (at least on a temporary basis) to cover for the absence of Valri Bojinov. Eriksson was fairly guarded and almost politican-esque with his comments about potential arrivals at Friday's press conference so it is unknown at this point whether he is happy with the players at his disposal or couldn't find the right deal, and one thing I have given him credit for is not appearing to be rushed or pressured into making a deal that he doesn't think is right for the club.

I do have a concern that we are light up front, and as well as Mpenza and particularly Bianchi played on Wednesday, if either player were to go down then we would be far too light up front to maintain the promising start we have made to the season - but if the right player wasn't available then at least we haven't panic bought anyone as some teams are wont to do at this time.

Perhaps this will see more of the 4-5-1 formation that has been employed so far this season?