That’s the Summer 2010 transfer window done then.

Out: Marlon Harewood and Andy Marshall were both released at the end of their contracts. Stephen O’Halloran went to Coventry on a free, while Nick Shorey joined West Brom for £1.5m and James Milner joined Man City for £26m.

In: Stephen Ireland joined from Man City for £8m.

KMac has confirmed that he would like an interview. Make whatever you will of the inclusion of a two minute video recap of his four game C.V. embedded into the official announcement.

This, then, is the “player palette” I’ll be using during the next few months:-

Depends how you view the Ireland/Milner swap I suppose, but aside from the cover Shorey provided at left back, we start this season more or less in the same shape we finished last season. On the pitch at least. Behind the scenes is whole other story.

It’s going to be a tough few months and we need most, if not all, of these players to give everything they’ve got to keep us hanging in there by the turn of the year. In a five week period between the last game in November and the first game in January, we’ll have to face Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham, Man City and Chelsea in addition to West Brom and Wigan.

If we’re in bad shape before that period, we’ll be in all sorts of trouble afterward, just as the Winter transfer window opens. But, as I keep saying, that’s essentially the team than were in the hunt for top four for 36 games last season, they’re not a poor side, it’s up to them to prove it.

EDIT: I can barely believe that I forgot to mention Freddie Bouma was also one of the players to leave at the end of last season. Although he didn’t play any part in the season, I had heard that he had finally signed a deal with PSV just before writing this and it slipped my mind.