Be it last-minute deals, inflated prices or surprise signings, the window, and especially the final day, create enough material to last for days.

The latest incarnation was no different.

Dimitar Berbatov put an end to six weeks of pathetic claim and counter-claim by signing for Manchester United, Liverpool signed another foreigner they won't want in 12 months' time, Spurs spent millions to fill the vacuum created by the sale of nearly all their forward line and Manchester City shocked everyone – not least Chelsea – by somehow claiming the signature of Robinho.

And then there is Newcastle United.

If there is any drama going around, the Geordies are sure to be in the thick of it.

Time and again, the Magpies take up more than their fair share of column inches. By now, you think they would've learned.

Everybody went to school with someone who, no matter what the situation, could create a mountain out of a molehill. In the Premier League, Newcastle are that person.

It takes a good effort to knock a pair of £30m-plus signings off the back pages, but Newcastle managed it all too easily this week.

The sad thing is, it's nearly always of their own doing. If it isn't ill-advised managerial appointments, it's boardroom shenanigans.

If it isn't off-field fracas, it's on-field fiascos.

Effective leadership seems to be in such short supply that it isn't difficult to wonder if any actually exists at all.

The will he, won't he saga regarding Kevin Keegan is all too symptomatic of the problems that continue to afflict Newcastle.

While Keegan has a history of leaving in a hurry when things don't go to plan, in this instance he is the unwitting victim of an infrastructure that makes a mockery of the big business it's supposed to be running.

Little input into player acquisitions, minimal say in who stays or goes, marginal influence in contract negotiations. Keegan seems to be the manager in name only.

The irony of the situation is that Keegan is judged on the results he gets without being able to have direct control over those results.

And the outcome is that a club that should be at the top end of the game continues to lurch around like a drunk with no obvious sense of direction.