Bruce slams transfer window

Birmingham manager Steve Bruce believes the transfer window handicaps smaller clubs.

The Blues boss believes that the system leaves clubs like Birmingham in the unenviable position of overloading their squad with too many players or risking being left short by injury problems.

The first window of the 2007/08 season closed last night at midnight and while Bruce was one of a host of Premier League managers to make some last-minute additions to his squad, bringing in Borja Oubina and Wilson Palacios on loan deals, he is not a fan of the system.

Bruce told Radio Five Live: "It gets stressful, of course it does. It's not just the managers, though, it's the club secretary who's worked until midnight pushing things through.

"Thankfully now it's gone away. It's a huge disadvantage to a club of our stature.

"You have to keep players happy and carry bigger squads (than you would like) because if you do get an injury you need them.

"Last time we were in the Premier League we had four or five big players getting injured. We couldn't cope because you can't bring anybody else in (during the season)."

Despite his reservations Bruce took advantage of the late scramble, making up for losing out on Atletico Madrid's Peter Luccin to sign Oubina after a move to Portuguese side Benfica fell through.

"There was big talk that he (Oubina) was going to Benfica for 10million euros, but that collapses and we've brought a very good player to the club.

"Up until Thursday night we thought we had a done deal for Luccin, we were told he was definitely coming to us. Then he doesn't and you are chasing around a bit."

While both his deadline-day signings were overseas players - Oubina comes from Spain and Palacios is a Honduran international - Bruce would have preferred to invest in young British talent.

But he is sceptical about both the cost and quality of such players.

"I would have loved to pick up four or five young players from the lower leagues and said 'here's your chance', but the simple fact is that when you chase a young British talent they are very expensive because we aren't producing that many.

"We're all spending big, big money on youth academies but the truth is we're not producing (top players)."