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HAY: How a computer glitch sparked a Fab frenzy
There may come a day when football clubs believe it is appropriate to announce outward transfers by simply erasing players' names from their official websites, but we're not there yet.
In a scenario which proved that point, Leeds United had to fight a curious fire earlier this week after Fabian Delph's name was wiped from the roll of first-team players on the club's official website.
The oversight was the result of a technical error which Leeds were not responsible for.
It was United's misfortune to lose the profile of the player they are under most pressure to retain this month, but it had the immediate effect of spreading rumours via word of mouth and the internet that Delph had been, or was in the process of being, sold.
The Yorkshire Evening Post received phone calls from as far afield as Norway and Denmark and a flood of emails on Tuesday, all asking the same question.
By mid-afternoon, the error had been rectified, Delph's profile was restored to United's website and the speculation died a death, much to the club's bemusement.
Regardless of whether Delph will be sold, won't be sold or might be sold, basic rationale says that neither Leeds – nor any other professional club – would reveal the departure of a prized player in such an underhand or dismissive manner.
For one thing, the club has its own paid-for text messaging service, which issues breaking news before its website, and subscribers would not pay to see major announcements slip out through the back door.
For another, the thought of another club forking out a seven-figure transfer fee for Delph and leaving the signing unannounced is nonsensical.
Word gets around soon enough and even unpopular decisions are best revealed openly.
It is still the case, to gauge by every comment and whisper coming out of Elland Road, that Leeds do not expect or intend to sell Delph in January.
At the midway point of this particular transfer window there has been nothing – with the exception of a phantom internet profile – to suggest that he will be on the books of another club by February 2.
To date, the club has been as good as its word.
The problem for United's supporters, and something which was displayed by the concern over his absence without leave from the club's website, is that the repeated assurances given by Leeds have not quelled the fear that Delph will be traded before this month is out.
Between remarks made by Ken Bates, Gary McAllister and Simon Grayson – not to mention the offer to Delph earlier in the season of a four-year contract – the club has done as much as it can realistically do to state and reiterate it position, but it seems the closure of the transfer window is the only event which can unequivocally confirm that the 19-year-old will be United's player for the rest of the season at least.
There are reasons for scepticism about United's resilience: the fact that the club – albeit in different times and very different financial circumstances – has sold its better players before; the fact that this season is still to provide definite proof that Leeds, as a team, are moving forward as Delph would want them to; and the fact that clubs in League One are rarely able to fend off predatory Premier League clubs.
The last reason is possibly the most relevant and the centre of the issue surrounding Delph.
The midfielder is a majestically talented player and a clear asset to United's team, but he is not someone who can carry Leeds into the Championship single-handed.
The club's results this season have proven that and retaining Delph is only half the battle of a transfer window in which United must find new, effective recruits.
What the teenager has become, is a symbol of United's ambition and an example of the club's confidence about its prospects.
Leeds believe they can promise players in the near future what Premier League clubs can offer them today, and Bates' vow to Delph has consistently been that he will become a top-flight player by choosing to remain at Elland Road.
There are few League One clubs which can make that statement with a straight face, but Leeds is one of them.
By selling Delph without just cause, the Elland Road club would be admitting it is the same as all the rest, essentially at the behest of the Premier League.
The retention of its star midfielder is a perfect way of saying otherwise.
****
Before the start of his last season as Leeds United's manager, Kevin Blackwell was able to isolate a total of around four days for his entire summer holiday.
An untimely period of jury service hindered hopes of a longer stint away from his job, and United's training ground, but the main complication for Blackwell was the speed of the turnaround between the 2006 Championship play-off final and the start of the following term. Even before the 2006-07 season began, he looked exhausted.
The Football League's play-off system is established, largely popular and well organised, and it is accepted that a club which reaches a play-off final will see its term stretched by the best part of a month.
It is also true that players involved in the Football League's showpieces need every possible chance to recuperate and recover from the campaign they have completed.
Last week, Gavin Strachan, the Notts County midfielder, made a strong case for a winter break in the English season in the insightful online blog he writes for BBC Sport.
His column focused on the spate of postponements over the weekend of January 3 – a day when Leeds failed to kick off their game at Hereford United – and his argument may have been strengthened by the disruption caused by freezing weather six days ago.
Strachan's suggestion was to suspend the season for up to three weeks in January and extend it in May – an idea that has some merit in principle but would be incompatible with the structure of lower league campaigns.
Postponements are highly inconvenient for clubs and supporters, but they are inevitable in a country with England's climate. To argue that a three-week break in January might eradicate them ignores the reality of a winter which can persist for months.
In any case, the prime purpose of a break should not be to avoid call-offs but to ease the physical and mental strain on players and managers.
It is difficult to see that being achieved by stretching a campaign, which begins at the start of August, further into May and beyond, eating into recovery time that the hundreds of staff employed in professional football need and earn.
The release offered to managers by the summer break has already been curtailed by transfer window regulations which require so much business to be completed in that time.
Food for thought is the statistic which shows that Leeds completed 55 matches last term in a schedule spanning 289 days.
The cold weather can be a nuisance, but the English season is long enough already.
Ends
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Thursday 24 May 2012
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