Excuse me; you've caught me chatting with my mouth full.

For the last few days I've been helping myself to servings of humble pie. After predicting the demise of Roberto Martinez's Wigan Athletic on their travel to White Hart Lane last weekend, it seemed inevitable that The Latics would defy predictions of doom and produce a result and that's exactly what they did.

Their 1-0 win over ‘Arry's Spurs gave them a vital three points and almost as importantly, provided a clean sheet at the back - something that has been as rare for Wigan as a tax refund for Paul Hogan. 

As for flash ‘Arry and Spurs, it was a rude shock after the Champions League romp against Swiss team Young Boys. Tottenham are about to discover that making the Champions League is one thing, fighting a successful campaign both domestically and in Europe to stay part of Europe's premier competition is a giant step up. And it seems the pressure is already getting to Redknapp. Check out his Naomi Campbellesque post match tantrum after The Wigan defeat - surely a man of the match performance! 

"The Football Manager" has wheeled and dealed and it seems he's about to land another bargain, with Spurs fans sweating on the arrival of Dutch midfielder Rafael Van Der Vaart. It remains to be seen if Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy has slipped the paperwork across the counter on time or if he got his fingers stuck in the transfer window as it slammed shut.

The other team that gave business as usual a swift kick in the plums on the weekend was Sunderland.

The Black Cats hosted Roberto Mancini's million dollar men from Manchester City and in a delightful Robin Hood-in-footy-boots smash-and-grab took all three points with a last minute Darren Bent penalty. Mancini and friends can console themselves by sleeping on a soft bed of shredded 100 pound notes at night, but it seems no amount of cash can buy the desire to work hard. We said last week that ego might be Mancini's greatest enemy and on that evidence he has plenty of work to do.

Steve Bruce, however, might have pulled off one of the great heists in this transfer window with the arrival of powerful Ghanaian striker Asamoah Gyan from Rennes in France.

Gyan put in a number of eye-catching performances at the World Cup in South Africa and is built for the hurly burly of the Premier League. Having lost Kenwyne Jones to Stoke, Gyan's arrival shores up Sunderland's strike force as they set their sights on European football in 2011.

Overall though, the transfer window provided nothing but fantasy football wish lists, more wild rumours than Paris Hilton and more heartburn for Arsenal fans who are now considering simply bricking up the goal they're defending each week and saying to hell with having a ‘keeper all together.

Mark Schwarzer's long running switch across London to Fulham got lost in the cab across town as Mark Hughes couldn't find a replacement for The Aussie No.1 and so he's left to see out his playing days down by the Thames.

Shay Given remains cuckolded at Manchester City after accepting a salary increase that would make him the highest paid man on the planet for sitting down with a blanket over his knees. Liverpool almost managed to prise Carlton Cole from West Ham whilst at the same time trying to pawn Ryan Babel at ‘Arry's cash and carry on The Seven Sisters Road. That deal came crashing down before deadline as well.

Birmingham snared former Arsenal wastrel Alexander Hleb who has had more loans in the last few years than the Commonwealth Bank. Stoke have gone for a bit of retro action with the arrival of former Chelsea and Barcelona hero Eidur Gudjohnsen and mister MIA, Jermaine Pennant who returns to the UK from a spell in Spain.

The bottom line speaks for itself though. Premier League clubs spent just under a quarter of what they did in the corresponding transfer window last year. Other than City's reservoirs of cash, football, like the real world, is feeling the pinch of a financial hangover that just won't go away.

Here at home, it's not finances taking a tumble that are causing headaches, but players.

The FFA's decision to penalize two players for "simulation" after last weekends' round of the Hyundai A-League sends a clear message that divers have no place in the game. Patricio Perez of the Central Coast Mariners and Michael Baird of Perth Glory both won dubious penalties that saved a point for their teams on the weekend but they've paid a heavy price by being banned for two matches and being branded cheats.

Baird's case seems pretty clear cut. His dive belonged in the old glasshouse just down the road from AAMI stadium where the 1956 Olympic swimming events took place. I believe Melbourne Heart were robbed of their first ever victory by his cynical actions, but it doesn't mean he shouldn't have the chance to put his case.

Perez, the young Argentine, has every right to feel the injustice even more keenly as the vision was far from conclusive about his penalty shout. During the game against Sydney FC, Perez showed glimpses of brilliance that could see him dragging people through the gates in Gosford by the truckload. The A-League needs players like Patricio Perez.

Yet, without the right to challenge the charge and put his case, he has been sanctioned. These suspensions are rough justice indeed and simple failure of due process.

Whilst the FFA is keen to win the battle for hearts and minds in the increasingly competitive sports marketplace and it wants to be seen to be tough on divers (something that critics of the game love to use as against the sport) it shouldn't do so by trampling all over the right for players to be treated fairly.

No one likes a cheat. Equally, no one likes to be cheated when it comes to being judged.