Silly season is (almost) over - the transfer window, barring the freak situation with Benjani is closed for business and the rest of the season will be a rumour free easy ride (yeah right!).
For Spurs, this was one of the busier January windows since the system was put in place. Indeed when you total up all player moves, Spurs were involved in 8 player deals - 4 in and 4 out. What most fans will be pleased about though is that the dynamic duo that is Juande Ramos and Damien Comolli appear to be addressing some of the issues that fans have been concerned about for the whole of 2007/08.
So first then to the "outs". In total we earned an estimated £10m from the sales of Wayne Routledge to Aston Villa and Jermain Defoe to Portsmouth. On the face of it the departure of Routledge will not have an impact given that under success managers he simply did not figure in first team football - a shame as he is undoubtably a player with great potential but ultimately either not good enough or in the wrong place at the wrong time - the emergence of Aaron Lennon and injury dictating his Spurs career. Time will tell if Villa got a good deal. As for the departure of Defoe - this one will stick in the throats of a great number of Spurs fans, but on all fronts the greater good may well be served - Defoe gets his first team football, Spurs don't lose out financially and the club doesn't have a disenchanted player on their books running down his contract. Whether the loss of Defoe will impact on the attacking prowess of the team remains to be seen, but with Keane, Berbatov and Bent, along with the attacking minded midfield options available to Ramos, you would hope not. A word to the other temporary departures - Paul Stalteri and Antony Gardner - the former will likely get a good run of first team football in a team ultimately destined for relegation, having fallen to third or even fourth choice at the Lane. A chance for a thoroughly likeable, committed but ultimately limited professional to get a chance to find a new club next season. The latter is an odd one. Gardner is not fully fit, indeed some might even say still injured. You have to honest and say that he's unlikely to force his way into Everton's first team, and as such you have to wonder about the logic of this move.
So the dearly departed dealt with, now to look at the new arrivals. Bought for an estimated £22m the club has invested in for new defenders. First to sign was Chris Gunter, a £2m aqquisition from Cardiff - one for the future who is featuring now, he looks talented if raw, but with the ability to play in both full back positions, he is a good prospect. Second to arrive was Jonathan Woodgate. A player with a chequered past, but an honest smile these days, Woodgate has been around a bit, moving from Leeds to Newcastle, to Real Madrid, then to Boro, and ultimately arriving at WHL for £8m. Should he achieve a run of games similar to his one season at Middlesborough, he will become a hugely valued first team player and could well be the leader in the back line so sorely missing in the perpetual absence of Ledley King. Next to arrive for the eyebrow raising figure of £9m is Alan Hutton. Hutton is a "one for now and the future" player - a very talented individual with 6 Scottish caps and given the sum of money spent, the backing of the management to take up the role of right back from Pascal Chimbonda for the next 10 years. Spurs fans are already eagerly anticipating the day a back four of Hutton, Woodgate, King and Bale steps out - on paper surely the best back four for many years.
Last to the table, the classic 11th hour signing for Spurs, was Gilberto Da Silva Melo. Casting aside the stereotypes associated with Brazilian players to look at just the facts, this is a man who has 27 caps for Brazil in a position dominated by Roberto Carlos - that in its self is no mean feat. A left sided player who can play in either the full back or midfield role, it remains to be seen whether he turns into an Atouba or a Bale. You'd love to think it would be the latter!!!
So, looking over the transfer activity you have to think back to the words of Gus Poyet at the end of 2007 after a game at Villa Park. "Enough is enough". Seems that for the likes of Paul Robinson, Pascal Chimbonda, Michael Dawson and Younes Kaboul, its now a case of "Shape up or Ship out". They would do well to heed the advice - because the Ramos train is starting to gain some momentum and anyone not on it will definitely be left behind.