There are many dissenters of the transfer window system. Not least those of us who are in the business of generating football news stories. The intrigue surrounding the type of megadeals that used to happen mid-season was always a reliable way of filling column inches.

Andy Cole's move from Newcastle United to Manchester United in January 1995 had me and my university chums crowded rounded the only telly we knew with teletext while a year later my Toon-supporting pals were celebrating the arrival of Faustino Asprilla as the final piece in the jigsaw.

No such fun these days.The phrase "cutting your cloth accordingly" is one overused in football parlance but it's what clubs have to do. And the same goes for us in the reporting trade.

Once the transfer window has closed have you noticed that there are lots more stories which are just about people talking? Bored of an over-reliance on coverage of disciplinary matters?

Well, blame the transfer window for that. Since it was brought into compulsory effect by FIFA before the 2002-3 season all the gossip, intrigue and wild speculation that follows football transfers has been compressed into the summer months, when many are taking a rest from the game, or in January where, with apologies to the likes of Arshavin, Vidic and Anelka, very few big deals go through.

Over at Sky Sports News, they do their level best to make the transfer window as exciting as possible, though it was rather amusing to view the visual desolation among their presenters as the whole thing turned into a cash-concerned damp squib on its September closure.

At Soccernet, my colleagues and I will be doing our best to keep you up to date on the latest gossip through On The Move and our bespoke Transfers Index and it's proved to be a popular part of the site so perhaps I should set aside my own dissent. And point out that there is a group far less fortunate than us whingeing journos: the football managers.

It took until November 24 for the first Premier League boss to be given his cards, but Paul Hart was quickly trailed in the sack race by Mark Hughes and Gary Megson with Burnley soon to be looking for a new boss once Owen Coyle has stepped into Megson's shoes at Bolton. Meanwhile, Phil Brown seems to have escaped the clutches of a growing phenomena, the window of opportunity that has now opened for clubs to get rid of ailing and unwanted bosses.

Any boss whose team are struggling and has become the target for the boo-boys must now fear the festive season. See the removal of Megson on December 30 with the transfer window just 48 hours away. It was clear that Bolton needed reinforcements to maintain their jealously-guarded place in the Premier League cartel. Megson, after the rather dodgy signings of Johan Elmander, Danny Shittu and Zat Knight, was obviously not trusted with the warchest. Owen Coyle is now handed the chalice, though he has the added boon of being popular in Bolton.

In a different spending stratosphere are Manchester City. It appears they can afford to lose £92.6m in a year but could no longer bear to have Mark Hughes spending any more. In comes the tastefully scarfed Roberto Mancini, and, going back to the future, he sets his sights on first Juan Sebastian Veron and then Patrick Vieira, seemingly having found Sir Alex Ferguson's shopping list of the summer of 2001.

And a division below, in the Championship it's been a bloodbath. Brian Laws, at Sheffield Wednesday, Jim Magilton at QPR, Darren Ferguson at Peterborough, Alan Irvine at Preston, Paul Sturrock at Plymouth and Brendan Rogers at Reading have all been relieved of their duties in recent weeks. Most of them had suffered runs of poor results but the timing of the sackings can be regarded as no coincidence.

Few managers, with Guus Hiddink's spell at Chelsea last season a notable exception, would enter a club without being able to bring in their own players. Which means that, once January is approaching it is time for a boss whose team is underperforming to suffer sleepless nights and wonder whether his will be a jobless festive season.

So, Christmas is often not a time of forgiveness in the harsh old world of football. Happy new year? Not for some.