It was a quiet transfer window but some astute signings could prove the difference between staying up or going down

Sébastien Bassong

Tottenham to Wolves, loan

The Tottenham Hotspur centre-half has gone on loan to Wolverhampton Wanderers and Mick McCarthy’s craving for new blood in the middle of the back four is understandable. The situation is delicate since Roger Johnson is captain and, in theory, mainstay. In practice, his form has been uneven and Wolves are in too much trouble to exercise patience indefinitely. Bassong will be a rival if not a replacement. This area of the side is critical for those at risk since it is unlikely they will save themselves from relegation by embarking on a scoring spree. McCarthy, a pragmatist by nature and circumstance, will see that a little improvement in the back four could bring great dividends.

Gary Cahill

Bolton to Chelsea, £7m

The very notion of Chelsea being worried about the core of the defence is disconcerting at a club who once prided themselves on security. Wear and tear were bound to take their toll of John Terry to a degree and David Luiz, for all his talent, does not always look so accomplished when dealing with the basics. Cahill has a far less prestigious background and no one feted him, even if £7m was a notable fee for a Bolton Wanderers player with only half a season left on his contract. With luck, the absence of expectation will allow him peace to show he can be an effective if low-profile figure at Stamford Bridge.

Papiss Cissé

Freiburg to Newcastle, £10m

It is natural for Papiss Cissé to have been overlooked since the forward’s debut for Newcastle United could only take place once Senegal’s Africa Cup of Nations campaign was at an end, as it now is. The club’s faith must be great since a £10m fee was agreed. The statistics are impressive, particularly when he was averaging better than a goal every two games for Freiburg. That record also attracted attention because the German side are far from being an established force and, at present, are bottom of the Bundesliga. On Tyneside, there will be hope of concerted impact by Cissé and his compatriot Demba Ba, who moved from West Ham to Newcastle last summer.

Nikica Jelavic

Rangers to Everton, £5.5m

There is no mystery about the restrictions that affect Everton. You have to run your eye all the way down the Premier League table to West Brom, in 15th place, before you find a side that have scored fewer than the 23 goals accumulated by David Moyes’ team. The manager, considering the limited budget, is obliged to emphasise organisation over flair. The approach worked well enough for Manchester City to be beaten on Tuesday night, but a natural finisher such as the Croatia international Jelavic could lift some of the strain. For this club and this time, when extravagance is out of fashion, the £5.5m paid to Rangers is a substantial sum. It remains to be seen whether the incisiveness shown in Scotland can be repeated in England.

Ravel Morrison

Manchester United to West Ham, £650,000

One can only admire the self-confidence of Sam Allardyce at West Ham United. He stumped up an initial £650,000 for a player whom Sir Alex Ferguson could not turn into a reliable professional at Manchester United. Morrison was found guilty of witness intimidation and generally seemed ungovernable. His talent is thought to be vast, however, and others may feel that a change of scene will benefit him. Assumptions are hard to make in Morrison’s case, but it is just possible that parting from Old Trafford to drop a division will give him new purpose. He must, at least, wish to prove that he has not squandered his career already. Playing reliably at a lower level could also bring structure to his life.

Bobby Zamora

Fulham to QPR, £6m

The January transfer market is dangerous. With leading players unlikely to be for sale in mid-season, there is even less of a guarantee that newcomers will make a great difference. Bobby Zamora, switching from Fulham to Queens Park Rangers for £6m, does at least not have the burden of expectation put on natural scorers. There will be no spate of goals from him but the 31-year-old will be well worth having in Mark Hughes’s eye because he should link perfectly with the elusive Djibril Cissé, who has arrived from Lazio. That sort of partnership is a cliche but the stereotype is familiar because it has so often worked over the decades.

Transfer windowNewcastle UnitedChelseaQPRWest Ham UnitedEvertonWolverhampton WanderersKevin McCarra
guardian.co.uk

After the phantom handshake, this FA Cup tie barely lit up and had only one potential powder-keg moment, which was happily a good old-fashioned football incident: the disputed Juan Mata penalty that won the game.

The Football Association had called off the pre-match handshake between the sides after learning Queens Park Rangers would unilaterally ignore the convention in solidarity with Anton Ferdinand. This meant that the only shake from the players was between Joey Barton and John Terry at the coin toss – the matter an issue due to the Chelsea captain’s court appearance on Wednesday to answer the charge that he racially abused Ferdinand earlier in the season, which he denies.

On an incessantly sour and hostile afternoon, it was Daniel Sturridge who caused the sole true moment of on-field acrimony. When he went down close to Clint Hill in the area from a Mata cross just after the hour Mike Dean pointed to the spot. But the left-back’s furious volley at Sturridge plus subsequent replays suggested that the forward had fashioned a swallow dive and, as Barton continued to debate the matter with the forward, Mata stepped up to slot home.

“Cheat! Cheat!” was the livid cry from the home congregation, the latest choral offering in a tie that was peppered with the obscene chants and boos that can form the alternative soundtrack to Terry’s fine football career.

Luke Young had made the first mistake of many in QPR’s mediocre showing when a cleared Barton free-kick came back to him and his attempted return of the ball to the Chelsea area found only Fernando Torres. The striker instantly passed to Mata and though this was short Young compounded his initial error by sliding and failing to clear the danger. This allowed the Spaniard to zoom at Paddy Kenny’s goal before he let fly a shot that the keeper parried well.

QPR’s attack strategy had been to punt and hope and against Chelsea’s band of classy operators this proved futile. The right result, then, but a questionable route to it. But with little off-field incident apparently occurring perhaps Ferdinand, Terry and company can now move on.

At the close the players did embrace and Ferdinand did a mini-lap to clap his support.

FA Cup 2011-12QPRChelseaFA CupJamie Jackson
guardian.co.uk