WINDOW PAIN OF PANIC

I TUNED into the transfer window frenzy from my base in Austria this week... for all of 30 seconds.

Let’s get real about the January window.

It’s for desperate clubs with c*** teams rolling one last set of dice to try and stay in the Premier League.

And there’s nothing too compelling about that.

I’m not really that fascinated by Hull signing Oumar Niasse or Lazar Markovic, or Sunderland signing Everton’s next legends team. I’m even less interested in Demba Ba going from China to Turkey. Or some French team signing some French player.

I’m not on the edge of my seat, either, when Arsenal sign a kid who’s played for Nantwich Town (though I hear they make nice cheese there).

Top sides stopped bothering in the winter window years ago. They realised it’s for mugs – and the players you bring in don’t start performing until the following season anyway.

It can be entertaining at the bottom, granted, but it’s a foolish man who sticks his neck out at this stage and says one team has had a blinder in the window, another a disaster, when they’ve all taken a mad punt on players no one else really wants.

But, equally, whoever wins the title will have done inspired business too – by not signing anyone. LIVERPOOL had a pretty disastrous January, whichever way you slice it. Yet, part of the criticism aimed at the team – and especially their manager – is because of the expectation they have created.

Jurgen Klopp (above) is building something – that’s pretty clear. He did it at Mainz and Dortmund, and he’s still in the fairly early stages of doing it here.

I would urge all Liverpool fans to not be trigger-happy and think about the bigger picture. I’ll be amazed if Klopp doesn’t win something big as his plan comes together... in the long term.