In a comedy of haphazard planning which has become an all too familiar story, it has emerged that Harry Redknapp has spent £30m on two forwards who cannot play in Uefa Cup.
Redknapp will have to continue to make do with just two senior forwards available for selection during the early stages of the competition because Robbie Keane's move from
Earlier this week Guardian journalist David Hytner commented that Keane's signing showed a lack of planning, both in the short and the long term, and it is fair to say that this latest charade helps to prove his point.
In Redknapp's defence, it is no secret where his priorities lie. He has made little attempt to hide his contempt for the extra burden the Uefa Cup is placing on his squad and he would not be too disappointed if we failed to overcome Shakhtar Donetsk later this month. Keane and Defoe were re-signed with one thing in mind, at least in the short term, and that is to help ensure the club's Premier League status. But what about the bigger picture?
In December the message from Daniel Levy, and Redknapp himself, was that there would be no big money signings in January. Harry had clearly been given a very different set of assurances when he replaced Juande Ramos and as the transfer window unfolded it became apparent that what he wanted, he got, regardless of the cost.
But it is not just a question of money. When results went against him Harry has been quick to blame the slapdash way his squad had been constructed by his predecessors, pointing out that huge sums were paid for players without improving key areas of the squad, such as a left winger, and with nothing more than lip-service paid to the club's long term goals.
Yet January has passed and the search for a left-sided midfielder goes on. Granted it wasn't for the lack of trying - bids were placed and rejected for
Then there is the question of whether the Keane-Defoe partnership can work, a debate which has played endlessly across internet messageboards since Martin Jol decided it couldn't and opted for Keane. Juande Ramos agreed and gradually Defoe was left to feed on scraps from the Carling Cup and home games against weaker European opposition. The 26-year-old will be forgiven if he didn't toast Keane's return quite as heartily as Levy and Redknapp.
If the partnership didn't work then, there's no reason why it should work now. Lack of physical presence is one explanation, and Harry's pursuit of Kenwyne Jones shows that is area he wanted to address but, had he managed to prise the Trinidad striker from
In truth the signing of the Irishman owed nothing to a long term considered transfer policy and everything to the club's league position and Defoe's injury. Should we have tried to make do with Darren Bent and Fraizer Campbell? Perhaps, but Redknapp couldn't bare the thought of having rely on the players he had dismissed a month earlier. It is clear that neither is trusted to dig us out of the hole we find ourselves in.
The loss of Defoe merely delays a solution to the dilemma Redknapp has given himself. At some point he will have to make a decision who should lead his attack. If he opts for his two new acquisitions then it is likely we will struggle. If he doesn't then one will have to make do with a place on the bench and Redknapp will have repeated the mistakes he mocked Ramos for making.
Whilst Levy should be commended for continuing to back his managers with a remarkable amount of money - a product as the club's financial health as much as promises made to the managers he persuades to enter the mad house - it is impossible to imagine that trend continuing, especially given the shiny new stadium the club hopes to build.
Once Damien Comolli and the continental experiment had been scrapped it was hoped that the long wait for a semblance of sanity in the clubs transfer policy would be over. However, it appears we must wait a little longer.