Window pain

Because Blues had £40 million available, it didn't follow that they were obliged to spend it.

However, the very fact they didn't, and Alex McLeish's stated aim to sign a striker failed to come to fruition, has triggered a fair old debate.

Let's get one thing straight about the doubt over the transfer kitty: to my knowledge the money was there.

Last Friday Peter Pannu showed me a budget document concerning targets.

Listed were Michel, Craig Gardner, Roman Pavlyuchenko and Aruna Dindane and their fees plus wages over the length of contract. The total bill was £31 million.

Blues were prepared to pay that much, and perhaps more if another player cropped up late on. If they weren't, or the money wasn't there, they would have looked pretty daft making the bids they did.

No promises were ever broken because none were ever made.

The £40 million pledged by Carson Yeung, he made clear at the time, was for transfer fees and salaries.

I don't think we should be drawing comparisons with West Ham United in a 'them or us' type of ownership contest, as some have done.

Blues considered Mido but passed him up. He and Benni McCarthy were classic David Sullivan stop-gap signings. And Ilan, the dramatically touted, in classic Sullivan style, 'Brazilian signing'.

The Hammers are fighting a relegation battle. Blues are not.

Blues have never before been prepared to offer sums varying between £8 million - £11 million for players either in any window.

Out-going wise, I wouldn't have loaned Marcus Bent. Obviously he has no long-term future but he could do a decent enough turn if needed in an emergency.

As for the others who have departed - Damien Johnson, Martin Taylor, Gary McSheffrey, Krystian Pearce, not forgetting Giovanny Espinoza - there is certainly an element of risk in leaving the squad short.

McLeish was philosophical about the events up to and on deadline day when we spoke, but he understood some of the outcry.

He stuck to his guns in that he wouldn't pay inflated fees - and the market is ridiculous at present - and wouldn't bring someone in who he felt was not as good or an improvement on the options up front.

And, moreover, it proved far more difficult to reach agreement with the clubs Blues wanted to purchase from than they originally imagined.

Harry Redknapp and Rafa Benitez were wary of moving out Pavlyuchenko and Babel respectively and then watching them come back to haunt.

I have a feeling there's more to the collpase of the Dindane attempt than meets the eye, and he ended up staying at Lens after all.

Marc Janko was never a first choice but became a potential back-stop. However, negotiations proved complex there too and no loan materialised.

I have sympathy with Blues over Pavyluchenko as they met the £10 million asking price on Friday and then it was suddenly raised.

Dealing with Daniel Levy has given the Chinese owners an eye-opening taste of how business is done here, especially in the January window.

Only time will tell if McLeish and the club's decisions prove to be correct. Time after the summer window has shut.

There is immense pressure on Blues to deliver big names now and should they tail off during the remainder of the season, that will only increase.

The likes of Aiden McGeady, Charles N'Zogbia, Pavyluchenko will now have to keep.

I think it's a tad unfair to lob in accusations of procrastination and being over-cautious.

Sure enough Eck does like to be just so, sometime too much, before taking the plunge.

But you have to factor in that only those in the Wast Hills inner sanctum and boardroom know all the fine details of every player targeted, whether financial or other, and how deals fell down or were scrubbed. And those details are unlikely to slip too much into the public domain.

I think most of us would also have balked at £70k-a-week for Kenwyne Jones, ditto Kevin Kuranyi.

We can all forget that it's easier for us on the outside. It's black and white when it comes to buying players as if on the PlayStation or Xbox.

And the crazy way the January window has evolved, with Jim White and others working themselves up into an orgasmic frenzy, it's as if you have to buy, buy, buy.

Last year on deadline day there were seven deals of £10 million or more. This year less than £20 million in total was spent. The economic landscape has changed.

Blues league position, ability and durability - so far - of the side has lessened the need for panic signings, especially the stop-gaps.

When you are trying to up-grade the squad in quality it is naturally harder to sign the required type of players. And you don't want to take a punt and just hope it comes off.

This all adds to the irony in that I don't think I can ever recall Blues fans so opinionated and, in some quarters, so hostile about the lack of success on a new striker.

When Chris Sutton, DJ Campbell and Martin Latka came in that January 2006, the club's circumstances were different. The expectation, fuelled by the £40 million pledge, has rocketed.

Had McLeish brought in those types now, who would have been happy? And boy did Emile Heskey need help that season, more than was secured.

Blues may well fade the back-end of the season; the counter argument is that they have got this far without being prolific scorers in any case.

Time, indeed, will tell and as McLeish has asked to be trusted, considering he delivered promotion and then guided the team to exceed most dreams already this season, he deserves some slack, while the board - whose intentions have been honest and good since day one - will have learnt some lessons about window shopping.