Sunderland boss Steve Bruce has ruled out breaking the bank on a big-name replacement for Darren Bent.

Bent, the club’s leading goal-scorer so far this season, left Sunderland for Aston Villa on Tuesday in a record transfer worth an initial 17 million pounds, rising to 24 million with add-ons.

And Bruce has moved quickly to quash expectations that the bulk of the funds will be reinvested in a direct replacement for the former Charlton and Tottenham Hotspur striker.

“I have to tell all the Sunderland fans if they think I am going to go out for a marquee signing and spend 20 million pounds, it’s not going to happen,” Bruce said.

“We have got to look and make sure we are patient and hope. I will try to bring in a couple of bodies that will help us in the short term, and look to go again in the summer.”

“We are looking … but it is like puppies at Christmas – you don’t just go and buy one for the sake of it because they do need nurturing and looking after.”

“We will make sure we try to do our homework. We have got a couple of irons in the fire and we will bring the right people to the club.”

“Of course, people will try to take my pants down and try to give me a smacking, but we will be okay with that.”

“I am sure people will try it on, but I’m a bit long in the tooth for that.”

Bruce has been closely linked with a move for Stoke City forward Ricardo Fuller, who may struggle for first-team opportunities if Villa’s John Carew arrives at the Britannia Stadium.

“To be fair, we are putting the net far and we know there are certain individuals who could be available.”

“Ricardo Fuller could be one of those, but we have got the irons in the fire, four or five as we speak.”

“I like Ricardo Fuller, I think he has been a very good player in the Premier League, and we will see.”

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“Just watch this space for the next 24, 48 hours.”

Bruce also confirmed that Paris Saint-Germaine forward Stephane Sessegnon could be on his way to the Stadium of Light.

“That is a possibility as we speak – but it has been a possibility for two weeks, so we are hoping.”

“We are trying now to exhaust every avenue and see what is available at this particular time.”

At the turn of the year, Tottenham were being discussed as genuine title contenders. Now, only a month on, the club have a long way to go to achieve Champions League football next season. Any title challenge would appear to have evaporated.

But what are the reasons for this sudden change? The 4-0 humbling at Craven Cottage in the 4th round of the FA Cup continued a worrying goal drought and was the sort of team performance not seen since Juande Ramos was in charge at White Hart Lane.

Have Spurs’ high-flying players begun to listen to the plaudits directed at them in the press? It seems many of the key protagonists over the last few weeks have really struggled to maintain the standards they set themselves during the autumn.

It is a sad reality of the British media, but the acclaim directed at players such as Gareth Bale, Rafael van der Vaart and Luka Modric has been a little far fetched. Bale in particular has seen his stock rise from an unpredictable left-back, a statistical anomaly on the fringes of the Tottenham squad, to a player rated as one of the best in Europe, almost exclusively because he can run fast.

His hat trick against Inter Milan and performance in the return fixture looks likely to win him a nomination for the PFA player of the year award, even though European exploits shouldn’t strictly be included in consideration for the accolade.

As Bale steamed past the Inter right back, Maicon, that night in the San Siro, pundits were quick to pronounce the Tottenham star as having the beating of “the best right back in the world.” Really? The Brazilian looked that night to possess all the pace and desire of a curry filled Kevin Pressman without hamstrings.

This is of course not Bale’s fault, and he has shown enough growth and promise to suggest he can be something very special, but praise of the nature he has received would affect even the most level-headed of players.

Many of Tottenham’s players have failed to quite deliver in the league games that have mattered most. The come-from-behind win at the Emirates was brilliant, but Spurs should have put a shaky Chelsea side away at White Hart Lane before Christmas and have undone much of their early season work by dropping points at St James’ Park and losing away at Everton.

The biggest disappointment was the negative performance against Manchester United, when the league leaders came to town in January. One Peter Crouch effort aside, Spurs looked listless going forward and in the biggest test of the club’s attacking flair, only Luka Modric’s endeavour and industry came out of the fixture with much credit.

The exultant praise is, however, not limited to the players. Harry Redknapp already appears a nailed on certainty to be Fabio Capello’s successor as England manager, the former concerns about the Spurs boss forgotten in a wave of sycophantic euphoria. Many plaudits have also forgotten the quite incredible amount of money Redknapp has been credited with which to build his squad. Imagine if David Moyes, for example, was allowed half those funds to spend at Goodison Park.

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Fans of the club will point to the lack of goals coming from the team’s front men. Each of Jermain Defoe, Peter Crouch and Roman Pavlyuchenko have failed to match the endeavours of the creative players around them and would suggest it is this rather than the squad’s leading lights resting on their laurels that has cost Spurs over the last few weeks.

Whatever the reason for Tottenham’s recent dip in performance, there remains a massive amount for followers of the North London club to be optimistic about. Whilst the January transfer window may have promised much but delivered little, Spurs have a very fine squad with which to tackle the key fixtures at home and abroad during the remainder of the campaign. This is a group of players capable of significant European glory. Harry Redknapp may do well, however, to stop his players reading the papers over the next few weeks in an effort to keep their feet on the ground, at least for now.

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Manchester United have the advantage in their Champions League tie with Marseille despite a goalless draw in the first leg on Wednesday.Alex Ferguson’s side had the better chances to win the game but United will be confident of overcoming their French opponents when the two meet at Old Trafford on March 15 – even without finding a crucial away goal at the Stade Velodrome.The visitors made the brighter start to the game and attacked with purpose, with Nani shooting wide after Dimitar Berbatov’s neat lay-off and Darren Fletcher and Wayne Rooney sending in menacing crosses which United failed to capitalise on.Nani then earned a free-kick after theatrically throwing himself to the turf following Souleymane Diawara’s foul.And while the Portuguese winger sent the ball straight into the wall, Fletcher’s follow-up drive forced Marseille goalkeeper Steve Mandana into a smart save low down to his right.Both sides tried to stamp their authority on the game with extended periods of possession but neither United nor Marseille created much in the way of chances.Gabriel Heinze, who played under Ferguson for three years and left United in 2007, clipped in a cross that Brazilian striker Brandao acrobatically sent towards goals but it proved no trouble for Edwin van der Sar.Striker Andre Ayew then caught van der Sar napping as his corner almost flew directly in at the near post, but the veteran Dutchman recovered to smother the ball as the first half petered out.Marseille began the second 45 minutes with more intent, knowing they had to make the most of their home advantage in front of a vocal crowd inside the Stade Velodrome.Brandao stooped to connect with Lucho Gonzalez’s cross but could only direct his header straight at van der Sar, while moments later the striker was inches away from connecting with Ayew’s powerful low cross.United were on the back-foot and their midfield struggled to contain the lively Gonzalez, who was pulling all the strings for the hosts – but the Argentine just couldn’t find the killer pass.Ayew pulled a left-foot strike across goal in the 62nd minute, but it went well wide of lurking team-mate Brandao at the far post.The injection of veteran Paul Scholes to replace Darron Gibson in midfield with 20 minutes remaining inevitably had little effect on the scoreline.Berbatov tried his luck from distance as the visitors looked to get back into the match, while Frenchman Patrice Evra – booed throughout after his involvement in France’s World Cup fiasco – threatened down the left.But while the Premier League side nor Marseille could break the deadlock, advantage belongs to United for the second leg as their dreams of another treble-winning season continue.

Bobby Zamora came off the bench to hit his first league goal at Craven Cottage in over a year to settle Fulham’s clash with Blackburn 3-2.

Former Blackburn favourite Damien Duff had struck twice for Fulham but Mark Hughes’ side were unable to hold on to their lead in the English Premier League encounter, with Grant Hanley and David Hoilett twice equalising for Rovers.

But Zamora, in his first league appearance since recovering from a broken leg, slid home the winner in the very last minute from the penalty spot.

Before the game, Fulham manager Mark Hughes insisted that his side was looking upwards and not downwards in the Premier League.

Blackburn, who started the day level on points with the West Londoners, will also be highly confident of beating the drop this season.

But safety is still some way from being confirmed for either side, though both teams seemed to be simply going through the motions with precious little goalmouth action in the uninspired opening stages at Craven Cottage.

It was not until the half-hour mark that either could fashion a chance, when Blackburn keeper Paul Robinson stopped smartly from midfielder Dickson Etuhu’s low effort.

It was Etuhu who set up Fulham’s opener seven minutes later when he picked out Damien Duff.

The winger, who spent seven years as a Blackburn player, cut on to his favoured left foot and drilled a fierce strike past Robinson with the aid of a deflection.

The home side’s lead lasted less than eight minutes, however, as Blackburn equalized on the stroke of half-time through Grant Hanley.

The Cottagers failed to clear from a corner, and Hanley’s deflected strike completely wrong-footed Mark Schwarzer and flew into the corner.

But his defensive partner Chris Samba almost handed Fulham the lead within three minutes of the re-start.

Samba got it all wrong when Duff fizzed in a low cross and only managed to slice it towards his own goal.

But with Robinson beaten, the ball bounced off the crossbar and out for a corner.

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Duff put his side back in front in the 59th minute.

Again, Robinson might have done better with the snap shot, which flew inside his near post.

As before, the lead lasted less than 10 minutes as Blackburn drew level through David Hoilett who, teed-up by Jason Roberts, smashed a volley past Schwarzer.

But Fulham finally landed their knockout punch when Bobby Zamora made no mistake from the penalty spot with less than sixty seconds left on the clock.

Recently Norwich City were involved in complicated transfer negotiations with Peterborough United regarding their star striker Craig McKail-Smith. That sentence alone may lead to confusion, because the transfer window closed at the end of January. However, the loan window remained open until as recently as this Thursday. But loan deals should not be complicated and at no point should transfer fees be discussed.

A problem may present itself when the parent club doesn’t really want to loan the player out. When this happens a transfer may effectively be agreed with the player joining initially on loan. Sometimes these types of deals are called loans with a view to a permanent transfer, but more often than not the transfer has already been agreed.

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The situation is understandable from the parent club, but why should the club getting the loan player in be committed to signing that player for a set fee in the summer? This appeared to be what Peterborough were attempting to engineer. The fact is they very nearly managed to do it, but they decided to up their demands at the last minute and the deal was off. That level of greed may come back at them, because the player’s contract is up in summer 2012 and they may end up selling for a small fee this summer.

I can’t help thinking that a loan deal should always be a loan deal and nothing more; if deals like this continue to be made then the name may have to be changed from emergency loan window to covert transfer window. It appears though that there can sometimes be a get out clause and an example of that would be Shola Ameobi’s proposed move to Stoke. When Stoke were still a Championship club Shola arrived on loan and the transfer was said to agreed, but in the summer the deal was called off. In many ways this is a concept behind some loan deals and it can be a try before you buy opportunity. There is really no need for commitment beyond the length of the loan.

The fact of the matter is a player should either be available for loan or not and transfers should not be arranged until the summer. There is also the argument that a player should not be allowed to join a club on loan, if they are already due to join that same club when the transfer window opens. Loan deals can be complicated enough with loan fees and portion of wages for transfer agreements to be included as well.

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Newcastle and Wolves head into their English Premier League clash at St James’ Park on the back of contrasting runs of form.

For Alan Pardew’s Newcastle, March was a month they would rather forget with two losses from their only two fixtures, including a 4-0 mauling at the hands of Stoke at Britannia Stadium.

More troubling for Pardew is the fact his side have won just once in their past nine league games, and are 11th on the table, just four points clear of the relegation zone.

The relegation zone is where Mick McCarthy’s Wolves side have spent the bulk of the 2010-11 season, but they head into Saturday’s game on the back of their most promising form of the campaign.

Wolves are unbeaten in their past four league games and have claimed 11 out of a possible 18 points since February 5 – the day they memorably snapped Manchester United’s 29-game unbeaten streak with a gritty 2-1 win at Molineux.

For Newcastle, Pardew is sweating on the fitness of left-back Jose Enrique, after the Spaniard limped off during the drubbing at Stoke with a hamstring injury.

Striker Leon Best is a chance to return from an ankle problem, while Argentine winger Jonas Gutierrez is also under a cloud with a thigh strain. Cheik Tiote misses out through suspension.

Wolves, meanwhile, will be without Kevin Doyle after the Irish international injured knee ligaments in his country’s 2-1 win over Macedonia in Euro 2012 qualifying over the weekend.

Irish winger Stephen Hunt is a chance to resume after overcoming a calf strain, and defender Michael Mancienne is making good progress after a knee injury.

Wolves manager Mick McCarthy insists star winger Matt Jarvis was already a marked man before his recent England debut.The 24-year-old made his full international bow in the recent 1-1 draw with Ghana, but McCarthy says Saturday’s opposition Everton will already know all about Jarvis.

“He’s played against everyone and he’s skinned every one of them at some stage,” McCarthy said. “He’s had better success against some than others but he’s played well all season long.”

“I don’t think there will be any surprises from any full-back over the next seven games and people saying ‘I didn’t realise he was that good.’ He’s been a marked man all season because of his performances.”

“He will get that spring in his step, no question, because you do. I don’t know how it works but you get that bit more belief in you.”

“I know it does because it happened to me – I felt a better player for playing for Ireland. You watch, listen and learn and pick things up, you become like a sponge, soaking it all up.”

“And Jarvis will. I guess being recognised as a top player by the top manager can’t do you any harm at all.”

Despite Wolves going down to a heavy 4-1 defeat at Newcastle last week, McCarthy says the 4-4-2 formation used in that game could be adopted.

Wolves had previously used a 3-5-1 system, but the former Republic of Ireland manager hinted he might stick with two up front.

“I guess how well 4-4-2 works is determined by how well the two centre-forwards play,” McCarthy said.

“Steven Fletcher and Sylvan Ebanks-Blake were our best two players on Saturday. I thought the pair of them worked really well.”

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“I thought the two up front played very well together. We will see – everything is up for consideration. I haven’t had one system set in stone that I’ve played all season. If I’ve needed to change it, I’ve changed it.”

“The lads have all played 4-4-2 – but I wouldn’t say it’s easier because they have played both ways, with three in the middle or two in the middle.”

Defender Ronald Zubar (back) and forward Kevin Doyle (knee) are definitely out.

Steve Kean has insisted he will not quit as Blackburn manager, despite speculation surrounding his future.Since Kean took over the club, Rovers have dropped down the table and are now just two points clear of the relegation zone.

Kean has been criticised in the press for his lack of experience but insists he will remain in charge.

“Do I think about quitting? Not for a day, not for a second. It just makes me more determined to go out and win,” Kean said.

“I think the criticism has been harsh. There was little written or said when we got a point at Arsenal.”

“Then the whole world is going to end because we have drawn a game at home to Birmingham.”

“It has been difficult to take. It’s in your face all the time and even the local paper is negative.”

“The lads don’t like it. David Dunn and Phil Jones are from around here and they feel it is harsh.”

“I can understand the frustration of the fans. We are sharing it too. But we are going to use it and harness it in our favour.”

“There have been too many draws but it is very fine margins and we have more points away from home than we did last season.”

“The flak goes with the job. You have to have broad shoulders and hopefully the fans will see we mean business from the first whistle.”

Forward Junior Hoilett should be back after recovering from a hamstring strain which kept him out of last weekend’s 2-0 loss to Everton.

Kean said the 20-year-old has been a revelation during his time in charge.

“He’s exploded onto the scene this season with dazzling performances at times,” Kean said.

“We are going to sit down and talk with him about his future – but I mentioned to the directors and the owners of the importance not to take the focus away from the games and his performances.”

Tottenham Hotspur’s problems in the final third have been so well documented that I’m sure even Osama Bin Laden knew of them in his hideout in Pakistan; these problems have caused Spurs to be linked with every player under the sun, so much so that I wouldn’t be surprised tomorrow to be reading “’Arry plots £10 million raid for Dean Windass”. The latest striker to be reportedly on Redknapp’s radar is £12m rated Espanyol’s Pablo Osvaldo. (Don’t worry, I thought the same thing as you, “who?”)

Osvaldo is of duel nationality, Italian and Argentinian, an incredible blend of nationalities with a sound footballing pedigree. After averaging a goal every three games for Argentinian second divison club Atletico Huracan, the forward joined Serie B side Atalanta. He earned only three appearances but still managed to bag himself a goal, yet after this relatively disappointing season Atalanta agreed a co-ownership deal with fellow Serie B side Lecce, and Osvaldo achieved a very healthy 18 goals in 31 games, catching the attention of Fiorentina, who signed the Italian Argentine for 4.5 million Euro’s. Osvaldo repaid them instantly with a brace on his debut, however, after two seasons and only five goals later, Osvaldo was on the move again to fellow Italian side Bologna, where he failed to even beat his Fiorentina tally of five goals and was quickly loaned out to La Liga outfit Espanyol. Finally, after years of living out of a suitcase, Osvaldo found his ‘footballing home’; seven goals in 20 games meant that Espanyol snapped up the chance of a permanent move for the striker and the former Lecce ace continued his loan form on, so far this season having scored 11 goals in 20 games. This level of quality and consistency is why the boys down White Hart Lane are said to be interested in obtaining his services.

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Should media reports be true (cough cough) that Osvaldo is all set for a move to White Hart Lane, where would he fit, if at all, into Harry Redknapp’s starting eleven? Tottenham’s frontline is no doubt in need of a shake-up, and with Redknapp apparently at the end of his tether with his forwards, especially Pavlyuchenko, who may be collecting his P45 very soon, there is definitely place for Osvaldo at ‘The Lane.’ Spurs’ manager, though, isn’t looking for another ten goal-a-season striker, and, let’s be honest, the stats demonstrate that Osvaldo is merely that.

Verdict: Look elsewhere first Harry.

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Listen to the latest episode of our award nominee podcast – The Football FanCast. – Featuring Razor Ruddock, Gary O’Reilly and King Jacks! Don’t forget to help Razor and O’Reilly become award winners in the 2011 EPL Awards

Alex McLeish insists he is capable of leading Birmingham straight back to the English Premier League after they were relegated on Sunday.McLeish’s men were beaten 2-1 by Spurs at White Hart Lane, with a Roman Pavlyuchenko brace doing the damage for the Londoners and meaning Birmingham finished one point short of safety behind Wolves.

It was a season of contrasting fortunes for Birmingham, with their Carling Cup win over Arsenal at Wembley in February the undisputed high point.

But their league form dropped off badly after that triumph to see them become the first side since Norwich in 1985 to be relegated in the same season in which they lifted the league cup.

Nevertheless, McLeish insists he is the right man for the job and said he will rise to the challenge of life in the Championship when asked if he plans on staying at St Andrew’s.

“I don’t see why not,” McLeish told Sky Sports.

“I’ve been knocked down today but it’s not fatal and I’m going to rise to it again and pick myself up.”

“It’s going to be a pretty horrible few days – and whole summer I suppose – but I’ve got to get down to work to try and get Birmingham back into the Barclays Premier League.”

“I’ll chat with the chairman (Carsen Yeung) in midweek and see where we go from there. We know to get back (into the Premier League) we have to maintain the quality factor.”

“The players have got to fight on and rise to the next challenge. It’s not fatal. They’ve got to pick themselves up again; we as a club and a team have to do that as well.”

Spurs boss Redknapp, meanwhile, has hailed a terrific campaign from his men that saw them finish fifth in the league and enjoy a fantastic debut in the Champions League, progressing to the quarter-finals.

“It’s been an incredible season – the European adventure, beating Arsenal (away) for the first time (since 1993), going to Liverpool and winning.”

“We’ve had great games and this has been far and away the best season in the Premier League that Tottenham has had.”

“We have had an amazing season – it won’t get any better, enjoy it. This is good as it can get.”

“We have got to try again next year. We have got to improve the squad and go again next time but no one can complain at what they’ve seen.”

“Anyone who has got any brains will know it’s been an amazing season at Tottenham and that we’ve played great football. Anyone that does not enjoy it should go and support someone else.”