Cod Almighty | Diary

Some say a man ain't happy unless a man truly dies

17 January 2014

Mardy Diary writes: OK, just calm down a bit. Come on, count to ten, take a nice deep breath. You at the back – in the full kit – stop hyperventilating. Maybe go and do something non-football related for a bit: go for walk, eat a proper meal, talk to other people – that sort of thing.

So we haven't signed another striker yet and some people are starting to panic a little. Several factors are at play here. One is that our dour but rational manager has quite rightly said that he's only interesting in bringing the right player in. Of course this is perfectly sensible – why sign someone for the sake of it?

Another: this January transfer window is always like a house-buying chain. A club is reluctant to let even a fringe player go unless they know they won't need them. But they won't know that until another club lets a player move to them, and that club won't let a player go until they've sorted out bringing in someone else. And so it goes up the chain – and we're at the very bottom. It's a game of patience where you might still be left empty-handed if a deal further up the chain falls through.

But these are the risks if you want to get the right deal. Of course, Hurst has said that he's no closer to signing any of his preferred choices, but what does that mean? He (and Scott before) have always been quite coy about which players they're looking at. And it doesn't matter how many names the Telegraph put before him – he's not going to turn round and say: "Oh yeah, that's the one – you've got me there."

Maybe we won't sign anyone, and maybe that won't matter – who knows when a player will go on a prolific scoring run. But what really is the difference between signing no-one and signing a player that adds nothing to the team? The latter costs money, and may even unsettle the team – as we saw last season.

The media may continue to bleat on about transfer window dealings, but it's only on behalf of themselves: they're trying to make money. Why play their game? Just have a cup tea, put yer feet up, and what will be, will be.

Me? I'm just excited about the match tomorrow – new striker or not. Have a good weekend.