Bolton boss Megson bemoans pressure of 'barmy' transfer window

At a time when a host of clubs are fighting for their futures after suffering financial meltdown as a result of their expensive but failed attempts to stay in the top flight, Megson believes the presence of two brief windows for transfer activity effectively forces teams to gamble with their very existence.

Megson: Slammed the transfer window

For his part, the Trotters boss has lavished around £18million so far this summer on striker Johan Elmander, combative midfielder Fabrice Muamba and defender Danny Shittu, as he seeks to avoid a repeat of last season's brush with relegation.

Just a single point separated Bolton from third-bottom Reading last time around.

But he believes that the window now forces clubs to choose between spending the millions that might secure another lucrative season in the world's richest competition or the very public embarrassment that could ensue if they opt for financial prudence.

'This barmy window that we've got, it forces you to either put the club at risk financially or put it at risk football-wise if you're not one of the big four clubs,' he said.

'We're not and we try to do our best in every aspect without putting the club at risk. We haven't got the resources of some of the huge Premier League clubs.

'What this window does in crazy. The sooner they get rid of that the better.'

Megson insists there is a 'buoyant' mood in his squad as they approach the new season and Saturday's opener against promoted Stoke - one of his former clubs - at the Reebok Stadium.

In addition to the new signings, the club managed to commit key men Jussi Jaaskelainen and Ricardo Gardner to new contracts over the summer, while there
could yet be more arrivals before the end of August.

'We've got offers in for two players, one of which has been in for a long time - I would presume we've got to move on from that one,' Megson said.

'With the other offer, we're hopeful that will come off but if it doesn't we'll go with what we've got.

'But we won't just bring players in for the sake of it.'

Just as Megson is minded to be conservative with Bolton owner Eddie Davies' millions, so he is refusing to set his players any targets for the season ahead which could come back to haunt everybody at the Lancashire club.

The former West Brom boss is adamant that, aside from the Premier League's 'big four', any club could realistically expect to claim a place in the UEFA Cup or a berth in the Coca-Cola Championship for 2009/10.

Megson will therefore be more than happy to limit his aspirations to the 40 points that would almost certainly see Wanderers safe for another year - they achieved only 37 last season.

'There's been no targets set, no aims, other than the short term aim to beat Stoke,' he added.

'We want to get to 40 points as quickly as we can and when we do that we can reassess from that point. But last year we didn't even manage that.'