Political influence

BANGKOK, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Suree Sukha's hopes of becoming
the first Thai to play in the English Premier League have hit a setback after
his application for a work permit was rejected by the British
government.
Fullback Suree had impressed Manchester City on a two-week trial,
but the Home Office refused him a permit as Thailand are ranked outside FIFA's
top 70 and he had not played in 75 percent of their international matches, the
Bangkok Post reported on Saturday.
Suree, who earns less than $300 a week in
the Thai league, said he was hopeful the club could pull a few strings to get
him on board.

- The Guardian.

No doubt this one will go to the appeals process (although someone at the club should have been aware of the criteria and that Suree failed to meet them) but interesting that Suree thinks the club 'could pull a few strings to get him on board'. Maybe back in Thailand, Dr Thaksin could intervene in such matter whilst he was running the country, but I'm not sure what political influence our new owner has in the UK as regards with work permit applications...

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?