'Closed For Business' Part Three

It's time to dive head-first into the murky depths at the base of the Premier League table now as 'Part Three' of our transfer window assessment takes us to the teams that are fighting against the dreaded drop to the Championship. Nasty.

Middlesbrough

There were a heck of a lot more outgoings than incomings at The Riverside this winter window, something that manager Aitor Karanka certainly hasn't held back on mentioning. Karanka wanted Jese Rodriguez, it didn't happen. He tried to buy Robert Snodgrass, it didn't happen. He made Bojan his number one target, and yet again it didn't happen. That must be deeply frustrating of course. Karanka goes against the grain though, he more often than not, voices his concerns in public. He's done it plenty of times before and threatened to walk away from Boro last season if his ambitions in achieving promotion weren't met by the board. He's even provoked reaction from supporters about the atmosphere at home games, something that I do agree with but that's for another story. 

The club did manage to bring in Patrick Bamford, Adiene Guedioura and Rudy Gestede; shipping out nine players in total including Jordan Rhodes, Tomas Mejias and Emilio Insua. What I would ask is do Boro possess a stronger squad than they did at the beginning of January? I'd argue that they don't. Gestede struggled for goals in the top flight with Villa, Bamford hasn't notched in the top flight and Rhodes was sold for that very same reason. Boro's goals have been spread around the side this term, but their problem is that they don't get many. That would be the real concern for me, and I'm not sure what they've brought in is any better than what they've already got.
Grade D-. 

Swansea 

Swansea signed a player this window that will have passed under the radar, certainly when compared in terms of the Payet and Snodgrass stories that dominated the window. The transfer that I refer to is the signing of Luciano Narsingh, a £4m capture from PSV. It was such a shrewd piece of business from Paul Clement that it prompted me to write a whole piece on the window (It Doesn't Have To Be This Way! - for those who haven't read it please check it out!) He's pacy and direct, pretty much that starting requisite that a player must have if he's to make it in English football, particularly if you're a winger. I still think that this one was a steal at £4m. The club also brought in Martin Olssom, Tom Carroll and Jordan Ayew, all players who have played in the Premier League before, with varying degrees of success I must add.

As for outgoings, Marvin Emnes joined Blackburn, Mo Barrow was surprisingly allowed to go to Leeds, and Neil Taylor moved to Villa as part of the Ayew deal. What is probably most significant for Swansea though was the ability to keep hold of both Gylfi Sigurdsson and Fernando Llorente. These two players will be vital to Swansea's immediate future. Sigurdsson, one of my favourite players, is a proven Premier League operator; his creativity and guile will be of grave importance. He will be the main supplier of ammunition to Llorente as The Swans try to keep their heads above water.
Grade B.

Crystal Palace

Where to start with Crystal Palace? Along with West Ham, the Londoners were seemingly linked with a new player every single day of the window. After heavily investing in the side under Alan Pardew in the summer, things certainly haven't worked out well at Selhurst Park. Pardew's since departed, and now Big Sam is tasked with keeping the club afloat in the top flight. Armed with another war chest, Sam moved swiftly to bring in Jeffrey Schlupp from Leicester for £12m and courted Patrick Van Aanholt for most of the month. It was on, then it was off, then on again as PVA signed on the dotted line for an eye-watering £14m. Good business from Sunderland if you ask me. Sakho and Milivojevic came in on loan to add much needed steel in the side. This Palace team can certainly score goals, but it is at the other end of the pitch that needed strengthening. The signing of Sakho will do that. Jordan Mutch was the only major departure, leaving on loan to join Reading.

Will Big Sam's winter business be enough to save Palace from the drop this season? I honestly think it will be. I think it's been a good window for the club. They've maybe overpaid for their acquisitions but what they have done is brought in Premier League players who add that little bit extra in terms of the demands brought by this league, the need for adjustment to new surroundings being subsequently minimized. Let's be honest, with the squad they possess, Palace shouldn't be in the position they are, and now that the defensive shortcomings have been addressed, their attacking talent should see them survive the drop this season, hopefully not at Sunderland's expense!
Grade B+

Hull

This winter transfer window was a simple one for Hull City; quantity. Quality of course, but the club certainly needed quantity. A bizarre managerial stand-off situation at the start of the season with Mike Phelan left Hull desperately short of players in all departments. They were struggling to field an XI at times, things were that bad, yet they somehow started the campaign with a victory over champions Leicester; football eh? Fast forward to January and the club are as predicted, struggling towards the end of the Premier League table. With Phelan departed, the task has fallen to Marco Silva to keep the club in the top flight, and he's wasted no time at all in moulding the squad to his liking. In came Markus Henriksen and Kamil Groskicki for £4.5m and £7m respectively. N'Diaye, Niasse, Elabdellaoui, Rannochia and Markovic have all joined on temporary deals. Evandro, who Silva has worked with previously, was also brought in from Porto, and from what I've seen, he looks like he could make the grade on these shores. He is obviously a player the manager trusts. Robert Snodgrass has left for East London for £10m, and with his contract expiring, that seemed like a no brainer. The one surprise was allowing utility man Jake Livermore to depart, Silva himself going on record to say he'd liked to have kept him. The £10m fee received was obviously needed to balance the books.

What Hull have done is gambled, rolled the dice so to speak, and I guess they've had to. They've gone for a mix of experience and youth, older heads who've some mileage in the tank and some younger players with the hunger and desire to prove themselves. It may work, it may not. Hull's hierarchy will have felt that the club had no other choice. The squad does looks better, fresher and there is now more strength in depth, which was badly needed. I think they've recruited reasonably well, but has it come too late? The next four months will certainly tell us.
Grade B.

Sunderland

Ok, I admit it; I've been dreading doing this, so I've had to leave Sunderland until last. I'm sure most people who read our articles on a regular basis know exactly how I feel about Sunderland's transfer strategies in recent seasons, so I'm going to cut this one a little short. David Moyes has found that working at the Stadium of Light and in particular for Ellis Short, a trying and testing affair. In fact I'd hazard a guess that he's found it a whole load tougher than he was expecting. Moyes is the guy Short has finally decided will be trusted to manage the club, mould the side, build the squad and take care of the football side with a little continuity once and for all. He is paying the price for past failings. The club had very little in the way of money and maneuverability in the January window, reflected in the signing of Joleon Lescott. Bryan Oviedo and Darron Gibson were only brought in after Moyes sanctioned the departure of Patrick Van Aanholt to Palace for a hefty £14m, clearing a wage and enabling some recruitment. Failing once again to buy an experienced striker is a travesty. To do it in one window is bad enough, but successive windows is utterly unforgivable. Yes we tried for Ulloa but once that failed, where was plan B? I won't say too much more on this, because quite frankly, for years now we've been getting it massively wrong in the summer and winter windows. It surely can't get any worse though. Can it? 
Grade D- (I'd have gone for an E if we hadn't banked such a ludicrous sum of money for PVA!)