Players come, players go

So that was Neil Alexander. A surprise signing perhaps- and very much a surprise exit. After Plug chose to warm the bench at West Ham rather than play football at Portman Road- the fact that a chilly bench at Ibrox is more inviting than keeping goal for us comes as yet another reminder that we are currently a long way from the big time that most fans yearn for. Or maybe average goalies are just plain greedy.

With many Town fans expecting £12million worth of rabbits out of hats following our bizarre takeover by an invisible man, the transfer window has proved somewhat interesting to say the least. Whilst most of us felt a central defender or two and maybe a striker, or even someone to fill the aching void on the left were urgent priorities, (if we were actually allowed to spend any of the alleged £12million), we seem to have been inundated with midfielders and lost our goalie.

Quite how Jim will fit all these midfielders in the team is perhaps a question even Marcus Evans might be interested in. Whilst the thought of singing 'there's only one Velice Sumulikoski!' is mildly entertaining, I have to say I am expecting him to be more Marco Holster than Steve Gerrard. But let's not be too hasty - and I gather his wife is rather gorgeous.

I must admit my heart sank when smarmy Sheepshanks said we were negotiating for an 'international.' I rather suspected after the damp squib of the Quinn signing our next major coup would be a seasoned Andorran international perhaps - or maybe the kingpin of the Falkland Islands' defence. The truth is perhaps even more depressing. The Macedonian Gerrard sounds all to much like another Slovenian million dollar man to me.

Even more bizarrely, his rumoured position sounds very much like that of Norris and a certain Frenchman - and if I was Garvan I'd begin to wonder if my future was looking a tad rosier away from Portman Road too. But hey - all this is in the future. And let's not forget our ex-Sheffield Utd reserve - who I suppose can actually play on the left... maybe almost as well as Williams.

But I digress. There was a time when you could form a sort of bond with players - but so many come and go now with such bewildering speed, that the team is becoming a revolving door twirling with ever increasing speed as players move on, often for the simple reason they don't seem to get much of a chance or simply run down their contracts (inserting handy little clauses or via dubious loan deals.

Jamie Peters is an interesting case in point. Much hyped for no discernible reason prior to his arrival - there was even a somewhat embarrassing petition organised lest he sign for mighty Milwall instead. The fact that he wasn't and may well never be very good never seemed to matter very much. And so off he goes to Yeovil - where I rather hope he proves Jim Magilton (and me) wrong.

The point I am trying to make is that for years we have overloaded our team (I hate the word squad) with very average players who offer no more than what we already have - clearly to the detriment of our own youth system. And having established that they are pretty useless they drift away. On the rare occasions that they turn out (surprisingly) to be better than anticipated, they are invariably off even quicker to a team that can pay them more money.

Norris our much-hyped (and much over-valued) No.1 transfer target is now the most recent case in point. I know I have seen him play because I have checked my programmes - and yes he was indeed on the field at Ipswich v Plymouth games I have seen. But I don't remember him at all. Which led me to think initially he might not be that good really. ( I sure hope so for the money we are paying - at the rumoured £3million he is worth 3/8ths of the entire club - surely the most expensive player in football history).

But here's the thing - we already know he treats contracts with contempt and will probably want to leave as soon as more money is on the table. This doesn't auger well if say in 6 month's time Crystal Palace (or even Plymouth) get promoted and come knocking on Town's door.

There's nothing new in any of this of course. Players have always come and gone. They just seem to be moving in and out with ever increasing rapidity - unless their name is Dean Bowditch. But for a number of years now, I haven't felt able to name Town's 'first team'. Rather worryingly, I doubt Jim Magilton can either - despite all the recent comings and goings.