Quinn’s Deadline Day experiences

Niall Quinn talks about the “marvellous madness” of Transfer Deadline Day, and shares his experiences of the final day of the window as Sunderland chairman.

On my first Deadline Day as chairman of Sunderland we signed six players. People have no idea of the stress. Six players is six sets of paper work, six copies of every page and an army of physios, doctors, lawyers, administrators and club staff running around in the mayhem.

And the main source of panic was keeping the six players and their agents apart during the day. 

We did not want them comparing notes on what deals they were getting so we shuttled the players and their entourages here and there between training ground, stadium, offices, physio rooms and external scanning centres. It was like an Ealing comedy.

People who work in the lifeboat service say that you never hear a boat skipper calling in a calm, mayday signal. 

They always wait till the last minute when the water is sloshing around their knees and the boat is sinking before they get on the radio to scream MAYDAY! MAYDAY! MAYDAY!

On a more trivial level, that is what Transfer Deadline Day is like in football. The old sea dog manager who spent the summer at the helm sucking on a pipe and saying things like “steady as she blows, me hearties” is running this week like a headless chickens, screaming MAYDAY! MAYDAY. 

After all these years of Deadline Day it still seems to take some clubs by surprise.You would think by now some of the bigger clubs who have the sort of money that makes the whole thing so much fun would know when to stick and when to twist. What, it’s Deadline Day already? Why didn’t you wake us earlier?

Still long may it last. It’s not perfect and people complain about it, but the two Transfer Deadline Days in a season have become entertainments in themselves. It’s the last chance saloon for managers, agents, players, chairmen. Pure entertainment if you’re not feeling the stress yourself.

When Deadline Day looms everything suddenly looks like a lifeboat. That striker in Spain who had a little of everything and not enough of anything back in July? He’s The One. Have to have him…I know he’s just right…he makes my heart go pitter patter…he completes me.

That winger across town? They’ve just sold their other winger to Everton for good money? Well maybe they’ll sell this one to us for half …

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