‘Well, we can’t marry in the summer on a World Cup year,’ said my girlfriend.

With all fuss about Alex McLeish potentially heading across the second city divide to Aston Villa, another Midlands managerial appointment has somewhat snuck under the radar. It’s just 10 years ago that Steve McClaren was being vaunted as one of the top coaches in England, now he finds himself at a club who are still aiming for promotion to the Premier League 12 years after relegation.

British talent has always been bought and sold at a huge premium but if the ever-churning tabloid rumour mills are anywhere close to the mark then this summer’s transfer window has already seen Manchester United and Liverpool go head to head for such targets three targets at vast cost. Sunderland’s Jordan Henderson has plumped for Merseyside while both Phil Jones of Blackburn and Aston Villa’s Ashley Young appear destined for Old Trafford. Throw in the fee spent on Andy Carroll and the increased price for native youth is even more obvious

I never saw a team whose name
Was perfectly ironic,
Until our fixture against “Winning”;
Such hubris so laconic!
Pummelled by the Beerca like
Japan by Earth’s tectonics

As the sun sets on another Championship season, the promotion parties have died down and attention turns to the transfer window. With some clubs looking to gain an immediate return to the Premier League and others fighting for their lives at the bottom, everyone must act fast to snap up the best deals in this year’s market.

Here we go again! Its summertime, clubs around the world draw up their list of transfer targets and the press silly season begins once again. However, as stories emerge of football’s elite looking to strengthen their squads to take themselves to new heights, many reports would have you believe they are merely looking to replicate the past. As Chelsea look close to securing the signature of Anderlecht striker, Romelo Lukaku, dubbed “The new Didier Drogba”, here are a few examples of past signings, that haven’t quite lived up to their previous comparisons.

Not to discredit Denmark, the 12^th best country in Europe to play the sport of football, according to FIFA, however not many would expect to find the next hot prospect in Southern Scandinavia, furthermore in the month of June, when the Danish ‘Superliga’ season has finished. Although, any club with initiative and the transfer money to spend, would have their best scouts sent to Aarhus, Aalborg, Herning and Viborg, for 15 days, starting Saturday as the 1992 European Championship winners hold the Under-21 version of the tournament.