THE last day of the transfer window turned out to be something of a damp squib.

The much hyped last chance to sign players, was once again shown to be anything but.

Like thousands of Saints supporters and football fans in general, I was eagerly digesting every titbit of information I could lay my hands on.

It’s hard to know which rumours were based in fact and which were plucked out of thin air – although the number of times people on the live chat section of the Echo’s website said they had seen Jermaine Beckford outside St Mary’s or the Airport made me want to bang my head against the desk.

What I would love to know is how much truth there was in the Marek Saganowski to Notts County rumour.

It certainly didn’t go down too well with the Saints faithful, that’s for sure.

Although the big day itself was a bit of a letdown, the window itself looks to have been a fairly decent one for Saints.

Rickie Lambert still seems to be a major coup for a club rooted to the bottom of the division, as does the capture of Radhi Jaidi.

I’ve been very impressed with Dan Harding and Dean Hammond so far and the loanees, Jacob Mellis and Neal Trotman, seem to be providing that bit of depth to the squad we had been sorely missing.

Of course, I don’t want to get carried away – well, I do, but it would be a stupid thing to do – but on paper at least we appear to have a squad that should be more than a match for most sides in this division.

Yes, it has been a disappointing start to the campaign, but alarm bells are far from ringing yet.

Our biggest problem now is the mental frailty we seem to have suffered from for a few years.

As soon as Pardew gets that sorted, we’ll be fine.

Trust me – I’m a journalist.

Do the Papa

FORGET John Terry’s mega wage deal or Pompey twice nearly going into administration, there has only been one topic of conversation amongst Saints fans this week – The Papa Waigo dance.

When news first broke of our new international signing, a flurry of Googling discovered the utterly fantastic videos of the Senegalese strike Papa Waigo N’Daiye celebrating the goals he had scored for Fiorentina.

One un-named member of the editorial staff had to have a rest after trying too hard to recreate his fluid moves.

Hopefully, it will be something we get to see quite regularly, without having to resort putting the Internet videos on repeat (or having colleagues recreate on drunken nights out).

Like most Saints fans, I know little about our new striker, but fingers crossed he will be just what we’re after.

Having spent his entire career in Serie A and Serie B, surely coming to League One will be a breeze?

Let’s hope Papa can show us the Wai-to-go (sorry).

First published in The Pink, Sept 5 2009