Shut the Window Already!

By: Matt | September 1st, 2008

Barring an eleventh hour, and I mean 11:57, type of deal with no rumors that even the trashiest of gossip sites would print, KJH is going to be staying in Amsterdam. Until January at least. All the activity that could have happened weeks ago took place today, and Danny Blind was not taking calls. He was making them, though. The last of ten Cate’s riff-raff was run out of town, taking their ridiculously large contracts with them.

First, let’s have a cathartic moment. KJH was not sold today, and you know there were bids as Madrid started going nuts, even going so far as to reportedly bid for Berba. The lesson Ajax should have learned years ago seems finally to have sunk in: money means nothing on the deadline day. If Madrid did call today, I hope we asked them how Sneijder is doing, and I hope we reminded them how arrogant that move was last year. If a star Ajacied is not good enough to buy weeks or months before the window, i.e. he was not your first choice, then he can stay in Amsterdam. Hopefully, this (and not Saturday’s match) is a signal of the new Ajax.

As the MvB era begins, the Romanian connection ends. Nicolae Mitea’s contract was terminated, a likely outcome after the Perez affair, and Ogararu was sent on loan. Both are now in Bucharest, one for Dinamo and the other for Steaua. I would have much preferred to keep Ogararu, seeing how our backline depth was suspect before. But I cannot blame him. As for Mitea, he was once so promising and then so fragile. Let’s drink to his health while we watch Sulejmani and Suarez.

And best of all, Luque is no more. Clueless to the bitter end, he seems happy to be on his way to Malaga. Congrats, Malaga, you now have a player who will not only help you get relegated, but you will probably have to explain to him several times that relegation means you must leave La Liga.

The worst news of the day is that while we were short a defender yesterday, we managed to lose one more. I sincerely hope that there is somebody on the training ground that I do not know about who can help shore up the defense. And who won’t pull a Wormgoor and rob a teammate. (Is this why Schilder is still around? Can he play CB?)

Ajax did purchase today, however. After all the worrying I have been doing over the prospects of having too many midfielders and not enough pitch time for them all, I should be encouraged that MvB saw fit to purchase Cameroonian midfielder Eyong Enoh from our Cape Town satellite. I mean, if MvB’s not worried about it, then I am not either. (Except that I am worried. Aissati must be thrilled, too.) We probably won’t see him until spring, but if midfield play does not improve it could be sooner.

I am going to wait to pass judgement on this transfer period for a few months at least. If you have any words of instant analysis, fire away.