David Holdsworth: The current transfer window is nothing but sheer madness

Transfer deadline day is a chaotic time of year for footballers, managers and also agents and every year the debate rages on about the need for a window and the timing of it.

I feel we have to have a window because for the ambitious player it can motivate that move to the next step.

On the other side the player who has fallen out of contention at his current club can suddenly be given the break he needs.

Fulham boss Martin Jol criticised the transfer window claiming he wished it had been shut well before the season starts, and I fully respect what he said and agree with it.

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It is a bad situation when you are sat there three weeks into the season and everything you have worked towards can get pulled to pieces. Of course on the other side of it, if you have the purse to be putting the bids in then you will be happy with the set-up.

That said you could start becoming a very unpopular manager if you keep upsetting other teams with late bids.

Personally, I think there is the need for a window, but it's the timing of it which should be changed.

Maybe the window needs to be shut before the start of the season, but be opened midway before Christmas time. That would give you a chance to make changes when you have a better understanding of your squad, not in a rush in August.

I've experienced first-hand the drama of the day when I moved from Sheffield United to Birmingham. The bid came in the day before the deadline, but the move did not get finalised until the last few hours.

When the deal was put on the table I was very reluctant to leave Sheffield United. I had a lot of respect for the club, I was very loyal to them and I had a good relationship with the fans and the people around Bramall Lane.

I rejected the first offer as I was not willing to leave for the deal that had been tabled and I held out until I got what I wanted. But the move had to go ahead in the end because the deal ended up earning Sheffield United £1.25m and that was cash they couldn't afford to turn down.

Transfer deadline can do some crazy things to players as well. When I was at Birmingham one of the lads in the team had been the subject of a load of speculation that he was going to leave the club.

It was all over the national papers and as far as it seemed it was a done deal, he was just waiting for the call. So we were all laughing our heads off when he stepped out of the dressing room with his mobile phone strapped round his head with a load of tape.

The sad thing was that the call never came! His prospective club went and signed someone else.