sorry if posted. From .com
So in the end United just couldn't get anyone over the line, despite those countless scouting missions and expressions of wishful thinking from the manager.
Exactly what many feared when JFK reared his ugly head again has come to pass: a self-proclaimed Director of F***all role that was really minister of misinformation.
Like the idiots who let off flares at games, Kinnear's task was to create a smokescreen. Provoking all and sundry - be they players, punters or pundits - unsettling those already in post and misleading the masses into expecting some positive action to take the club forward.
The only tasks JFK doesn't look to have achieved yet are in seeing off the present manager and using those global contacts to attract a sufficiently large bid for Cabaye.
All the talk, all the planning, culminating in that seven hour meeting in France - when the only plan looks to have been hoping for a perfect, flawless season. That's one when the players avoid injury, suspension or loss of form and no off-field misfortunes befall them.
There's no need for strength in depth or cover - after all, it's not as if we'll have all of those unwanted extra Europa League ties? And why sign players for Pardew? he's done little with many of the previous signings and it was his fault we had to spend all that cash in January.
So why waste more wonga - he's going anyway. Stop up, take the cash, take the p*** out of those gullible Geordies. You almost want them to be proved wrong, that's how genuinely screwed up this place is.
For a club obsessed with saving money and reducing head count, there are two quick ways to trim the wage bill: abolish the roles of the Director of F***all and Chief Scout, on the basis they have no discernible purpose.
One signing, a loan arrival from a relegated club that was all but completed back in January and was a replacement for the departing Demba Ba. That's hardly great value for money considering all those telephone calls, air fares, hotel bills etc. never mind the two salaries.
The annoyance here is that we've seen this all before - and not just this time last year, when Pardew was persuaded to agree that his fringe players were strong enough to step up to the plate. They weren't.
The shortcomings of many previous seasons have been repeated in what may be the ultimate false economy and short-sighted piece of non-business.
So what do the coming months hold for JFK? a few more cringeworthy interviews or perhaps a well-earned family holiday. As he himself said recently: "When the transfer window shuts it’s back down to football and nothing else but results."
The window may be closed, but the clock is still ticking. Like a set of shirts, Pardew has been hung out to dry. And while this all plays out to a sorrowful conclusion over the coming months, the damage done to this club grows more incalculable - and the body count mounts.
