The lead-up to and the anti‑climax of this January transfer window only reinforced my view that it’s a bad, bad system.

The most disappointing aspect of a miserable day was having to call Carlton Cole, who was still at West Brom’s training ground, at 10.55pm and say to him: “Sorry, you’re going to have to come back.”

I really did feel for the boy but it was a necessity based on what hadn’t happened earlier. David Sullivan and I had recognised he needed to go but circumstances dictated otherwise.

It has been reported that Carlton had a rant at me on the phone and that was right. There’s nothing wrong with that — he was entitled to give us a b*****king. He’d just been offered a long-term deal at West Brom while his contract with us is up this summer and he doesn’t know whether he will be given another one.

Add to that he would probably have played a lot more football at West Brom than he would have done here.

Matt Jarvis, at one stage, could have gone to QPR but didn’t and that’s one reason for me, why I have absolutely no time for this transfer window, it disturbs so many people midway through a season.

In the end though, both players are good professionals. Carlton came to see me on Wednesday and said: “I’m going to have to get on with it.” That’s the right attitude and the same for Matt. He will get another chance this season and he has to try and take it better than the others he has had so far this season.

What has happened over the last couple of weeks shows how quickly things can change in football. Going into the Bristol City game there was no real necessity to really bother with the wretched window.

All of a sudden we picked up a couple of injuries in that game, followed by three more against Liverpool last weekend.

That meant there wasn’t much time and despite all our efforts, we weren’t able to secure anybody before the window closed.

It was all a bit scary the speed with which it changed, particularly with the three centre-halves all being injured. If that wasn’t enough, two of our young defenders, Doneil Henry and Reece Burke, are also sidelined, bringing the total to five.

Quite frankly, deadline day for me was terrible. I was on the telephone all day — in fact most of the weekend after the Liverpool game — the problem was that either the deals were too expensive or the players we were interested in wanted permanent deals rather than loans, which the club favoured. Loans, up until now, have always been more straightforward because clubs have wanted to unload certain players. This time though — and it looked like it was across the board and not just us — the players wanted permanent deals.

Another factor was that there weren’t as many players available – full stop. Because of the way things are going, clubs are more inclined to hang onto their players now, rather than sell them.

Going out and replacing players has always been difficult but never more than now because the pool of talent is shrinking — you have to cast the net wider — for less reward at this level. Demand far exceeds the supply.

Our failure to sign Emmanuel Adebayor was particularly disappointing. He may divide opinion but he is a player of proven quality and ability who has made an immediate impact wherever he has played. If there have been any problems, they’ve usually occurred further down the line.

His renaissance at Tottenham was under Tim Sherwood and was a major factor why the team improved.

Emmanuel wanted to come here and one of the reasons was that his big mate is Alex Song and when you have a player like Alex at your club, it attracts other good players.

But we didn’t get Emmanuel so we move on and focus on the rest of the season.

A lot of the players here are experiencing pressure unlike anything they have felt before. My question to them is: “Can you deal with it?”

As most people know, I break up the season into phases and although we have had a little blip, we can get back on track if we can beat Manchester United on Sunday because that will give us 11 points from eight games in phase three. If we don’t, it will be below par, compared to the first two phases this season. We just need to lift ourselves a bit to make it three phases where we have finished eighth or higher on points.

There is no margin for error which was why I thought our defeat at Liverpool was one of the worst of the season in terms of goals conceded. That can’t happen again because we will waste all our hard work of the season if we defend like kids again.

The goals didn’t come as a result of great moves from Liverpool but more because of our own inefficiency which was the sad part for me. We let them off the hook and I’m not looking for excuses with our injuries.

These are the mental challenges and some of our players have never before been asked to perform so consistently. A few have — Alex with Arsenal and Barcelona, Kevin Nolan at Bolton, Stewart Downing when Aston Villa were doing well under Martin O’Neill.

‎I would like to personally welcome West Ham's new principal sponsor, Betway, to the Club. They, like us, are an ambitious, forward thinking company and join the Club for what promises to be an incredibly exciting few years.

The top 10 most tweeted about transfer rumours in January 2015 7 show all The top 10 most tweeted about transfer rumours in January 2015 1/7 10. Winston Reid to Arsenal Arsenal needed a centre back in January and West Ham's Winston Reid is out of contract in the summer leading to speculation that Arsene Wenger could move for the New Zealander. However the Gunners ended up swooping for Gabriel Paulista instead. Getty 2/7 9. Morgan Schneiderlin to Arsenal Southampton's midfield lynchpin has received admiring glances from a certain Mr Wenger and an exit seemed likely after he expressed a desire to leave St Mary's in the summer. However the France international decided to stay with Ronald Koeman's team as they bid to finish in the top 4. 3/7 8. Danny Ings to Liverpool At one point it seemed inevitable that Brendan Rodgers would need to address Liverpool's misfiring strike force. But Raheem Sterling's emergence as a 'false nine' and Daniel Sturridge's return from injury means the Reds boss can hold off any move for the highly rated Burnley forward until the summer. Getty 4/7 7. Rickie Lambert to Aston Villa Liverpool accepted a £5m deadline day bid for the England striker from goal-shy Villa, but the boyhood Reds fan opted to stay at Anfield and fight for his place. John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images 5/7 5. Gareth Bale to Manchester United The Welshman has an uneasy relationship with Real Madrid's demanding fans fuelling speculation that he could quit the Bernabeu after his record £85m move in 2013. Manchester United are long term admirers and have the cash to make it happen but the Spanish giants see him as the future of their team. 6/7 4. Paul Pogba to Chelsea The Juventus midfielder has a classy touch and, in Mino Raiola, an agent who likes to keep his players on the move. The 21 year-old has thrived at the Italian champions and is highly rated by Jose Mourinho. Expect a bidding war for his services this summer. GETTY 7/7 1. Lionel Messi to Chelsea Lionel Messi's slightly strained relationship with Barcelona boss Luis Enrique sparked rumours this month that the Argentine could sensationally quit the Camp Nou. Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich would love to capture the four time Ballon d'Or winner but Blues assistant coach Steve Holland admitted in January: "When you look at the numbers being mentioned around Messi, I would think it's an impossible deal for any club working within the Financial Fair Play rules." Getty 1/7 10. Winston Reid to Arsenal Arsenal needed a centre back in January and West Ham's Winston Reid is out of contract in the summer leading to speculation that Arsene Wenger could move for the New Zealander. However the Gunners ended up swooping for Gabriel Paulista instead. Getty 2/7 9. Morgan Schneiderlin to Arsenal Southampton's midfield lynchpin has received admiring glances from a certain Mr Wenger and an exit seemed likely after he expressed a desire to leave St Mary's in the summer. However the France international decided to stay with Ronald Koeman's team as they bid to finish in the top 4. 3/7 8. Danny Ings to Liverpool At one point it seemed inevitable that Brendan Rodgers would need to address Liverpool's misfiring strike force. But Raheem Sterling's emergence as a 'false nine' and Daniel Sturridge's return from injury means the Reds boss can hold off any move for the highly rated Burnley forward until the summer. Getty 4/7 7. Rickie Lambert to Aston Villa Liverpool accepted a £5m deadline day bid for the England striker from goal-shy Villa, but the boyhood Reds fan opted to stay at Anfield and fight for his place. John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images 5/7 5. Gareth Bale to Manchester United The Welshman has an uneasy relationship with Real Madrid's demanding fans fuelling speculation that he could quit the Bernabeu after his record £85m move in 2013. Manchester United are long term admirers and have the cash to make it happen but the Spanish giants see him as the future of their team. 6/7 4. Paul Pogba to Chelsea The Juventus midfielder has a classy touch and, in Mino Raiola, an agent who likes to keep his players on the move. The 21 year-old has thrived at the Italian champions and is highly rated by Jose Mourinho. Expect a bidding war for his services this summer. GETTY 7/7 1. Lionel Messi to Chelsea Lionel Messi's slightly strained relationship with Barcelona boss Luis Enrique sparked rumours this month that the Argentine could sensationally quit the Camp Nou. Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich would love to capture the four time Ballon d'Or winner but Blues assistant coach Steve Holland admitted in January: "When you look at the numbers being mentioned around Messi, I would think it's an impossible deal for any club working within the Financial Fair Play rules." Getty

The pressure on Harry was enormous

I feel for Harry Redknapp. Bad knees are an occupational hazard for former players. One of mine is giving me problems which might necessitate an operation at some time.

As far as Queens Park Rangers and Harry are concerned, a parting of the ways did look inevitable, not least because most of the staff who worked with Tim Sherwood at Tottenham are already at Loftus Road.

If Tim doesn’t get the job, though, then we’ve all misread the situation.

Perhaps Harry has looked at things, decided it looked ominous — and thought: “What’s the point of putting myself and my wife, Sandra, through more of this?”

Whatever anyone says, the owners, the staff, the fans, it is the manager who suffers the most because you are responsible more than most. It is the manager who worries the most and loses the most sleep when your team is in the relegation zone. The pressure is enormous.

Harry says he will be back and I am sure somebody will make him an offer based on his past experience and know-how.

I haven’t got a clue what LVG will do

We're looking forward to pitting our wits against Manchester United at the Boleyn Ground on Sunday.

We were extremely unlucky not to get at least a point up at Old Trafford and our home form has been good.

United have only lost once since November 2 which I find quite surprising considering the amount of criticism they have received, especially directed at their defence.

In spite of that they are only three points better off than at this stage last season under David Moyes.

Louis van Gaal has talked about his philosophy but I’m struggling to see exactly what it is because he changes things nearly every week.

Sometimes it’s a back four, other times it’s a three, sometimes it changes at half-time.

It can be a diamond, 4-3-3, 4-4-1-1 — he’s tinkering but in fairness, it seems to be working.

With our injuries, we’re not in the best of shape but there’s no need for panic, we’ve accumulated the most points — 36 — any West Ham team have managed at this stage of the season since the inception of the Premier League.