A 0-0 draw against Liverpool was the high point of a January that has been disappointing on all fronts otherwise. We’re still in the FA Cup, just, and we’ve made a couple of signings but they haven’t been the big names we were hoping for.

So I can’t help feeling underwhelmed by 2010 so far.

Gardener has gone to Birmingham after Jez refused to get in to a bidding war. The player revealed himself to be a Blues fan today anyway though so it was always going to be a losing battle.

Wolves were prepared to break the record £6.5 million paid for Doyle to get Adam Johnson. But a few of the big clubs sniffed around just enough to keep him at Middlesbrough until the end of the season when he can sign for one of them on a free. Why won’t the Teessiders cash in now? Because he’s under 24 so they’ll get compensated under the Bosman ruling.

As for Hunt, of course Hull don’t want to sell. Wolves are entering a final bid which is a bit above £3.5 million and the Tigers need cash. But let’s face it, they’re unlikely to stay up without him and relegation will cost them a hell of a lot more than £4 million. So I’m not optimistic there. I can’t help thinking we should be making them an offer they can’t refuse. £6 million is too much really, but we’ll recoup that if we stay up so why not go for it?

O’Hara would be a great signing but he wants to go back to Pompey, they want him back and their transfer ban has been lifted. No surprises what happens next.

So the four players I really wanted to see in old gold look like they’ll only be coming to Molineux as opposition.

We have signed players of course. It’s just that nobody has a clue who they are. Look up Adlene Guedioura and Geoffrey Mujangi Bia on YouTube if you want to get excited. But be warned – a montage of my best five-a-side efforts could make me look like a world beater too. What you don’t see is all of the crap in between.

But here’s the positive with these two from Charleroi. The same scouting machine that plucked them from Belgium also brought in Ward, Henry and Kightley from obscurity. Plus some of the Premier League’s best ever performers came from lesser known clubs on the continent – Sami Hyypia from Willem II, Eidur Gudjohnsen from KR Reykjavik, Peter Schmeichel from Brondby.

There is hope for these two, and January isn’t over yet.