Deadline Day proves largely uneventful

Somehow Transfer Deadline Day manages to simultaneously be both one of the must-see events yet one of the most stupid, overhyped and pointless wastes of a day on the football calender. As City fans we've perhaps been spoilt somewhat, being the centre of attention on this day last year, and waiting with baited breath as the possibilities of putting together a team of globetrotters in the space of a few hours unfurled before our very eyes, eventually resulting in perhaps the most astounding transfer in Premier League history.

It's with that extraordinary day in mind that we perhaps naively sit in anticipation as the two yearly windows creep to a close. Our spending, we were pretty sure, was pretty much done going into today, but there was always the chance something mental could happen; a last-ditch £60m bid for Franck Ribery, a move for another of the Big Four's better players simply too good for them to turn down, something so ridiculous that Jim White pipes up as though his loins are about to burst all over Georgi Thompson's creosoted face. Sadly, all we got was a puzzling rumour that we were about to offer Spurs a small fortune plus a vital squad player for their reserve team midfielder David Bentley.

The arrival of England's fifth or sixth choice right-winger would have been a strange one, especially as we already have a player in Shaun Wright-Phillips who Fabio Capello deems better, or at least more worthy of inclusion in his squad, also ahead of Aaron Lennon in that respect, who Bentley seems very unlikely to dislodge. Where he'd have fit in is beyond my small brain, SWP, to me, would be an automatic starter. Perhaps Hughes might have seen him as a potential like-for-like replacement for Petrov, though surely that would've crossed Redknapp's mind before he splashed out a whopping £2m on out-of-form Pompey wantaway Niko Kranjcar as a replacement for the sadly crocked Luka Modric.

The possibility of Martin Petrov leaving, though i'm a fan of the player, would have made sense in more way than one. Bulgaria do still have a slim chance of making next summer's World Cup, it would be unfair to stand in the way of any player who might need games in order be guaranteed of selection or more likely in Petrov's case, keeping 100% fit ahead of the tournament. There's also the fact that the player is now into the final twelve months of his three year deal. No longer being a first-team regular it's likely he won't be renewing. Even with the wealth the club now posseses we have to maintain business sense where possible. £3m+ for a player now or nothing next year is a no-brainer.

Talking of sound business decisions, we appear to have waived any potential fee for Tal Ben Haim, a £5m recruit just a year ago, in order to push through his move to relegation favourites Pompey. There has been some debate over who sanctioned this player's arrival at City in the first place, also Brazilian forward Jo, who wanted them, who paid, and whether the current manager had any final say. He might well have, arriving before either officially signed, but i suspect they may have been given more of a chance were that the case. An alleged £23m on two poor players, both given limited opportunities then moved on, it's crazy even by our standards. I'm not convinced a manager would be allowed to spend significantly on players as these, drop them and shift them on without fees and any real questions being asked. I expect they were either signings agreed by the previous manager, or paid for in full (or at least their debts serviced) upon the takeover.

Our only other business of the day has been the departure of captain Richard Dunne, which finally, after a week of ifs, buts and maybes, sounds like it's gone through, though The FA will confirm either way tomorrow. The man has been a tremendous servant to the football club, it should never be forgotten, but the fee was too good to turn down for a player no longer first choice, and it was perhaps best all-round for him to move on. Rumours of a set-to over a pay-off for the player are a little disappointing. I'd hope we'd compensate him well for his nine years sterling service. Good luck to him.

In a way, the biggest disappointment of today is the fact we've still got Benjani on the books, or Javi Garrido for that matter, both of who i'd expected to move on to leave our squad pretty much completely free of dead wood. They were linked with more than one club apiece, the former, somewhat fancifully perhaps, with a reunion with former boss Sven at League Two 'ruiners' Notts County and then later, West Ham. 5pm arrived, though, after countless yellow tickers and hours of conjecture from Sky, and both players are somehow still at the club.

The day then, all in all, was a bit of a non-event. These 5pm deadlines aren't for me, i feel a bit lost now, a few beers in the fridge but an almost non-existent chance of a near-midnight £100m move for Leo Messi. Villa signed a couple of centre-halves, Everton bought some bloke called Johnny who's already 'better than Lescott', Pompey borrowed half a side, and a few randomers secured loan deals, gripping stuff. For all people like to slag our tactics in the transfer market at least they're exciting. Today i spent ten hours plus watching absolutely nothing of note unfold whatsoever. I'm all for us buying these world-class players, but next time can we not hold back a multi-million pound signing or two so we can at least make a day of it?!?