Looks like we're going to the wire, again.

As another transfer window approaches its grande finale it's finale Newcastle are still left with two positions to fill.

The left-back and striker positions have needed filling for some time now, but with just one week to go the signs would seem to suggest that we'll be continuing our quest of filling those two positions right up until the end of the transfer window.

This is not good news in my opinion as the nearer we get to transfer deadline day the higher the price tends to be as more clubs enter the market place. Also it's worth bearing in mind that we hardly have a sparkling record of doing deals in towards the end of a transfer window, especially on the final day of the transfer window.

There is an awful lot of brinksmanship going on at the minute and clubs will be bartering against each other to try and get the best deal for themselves. This is of course all part and parcel of the art of negotiation with the latest titbit of news suggesting that Newcastle and PSV are currently haggling over the price of Erik Pieters, with one side wanting £7 million and the other only wanting to pay £5 million.

Now I don't have a problem with the club trying to get best deal possible. In fact I do much the same myself with everything in real life and use the same tactic when I've had to negotiate things at work in the past. The difference is recognising that sometimes you just have to pay the going rate to get the goods you want.

This is where my main issues is with the board. They simply fail to recognise this and try to drive the hardest bargain imaginable all of the time even if it means missing out on players. This is where my opinion on bids made for players like Charles N'Zogbia differ from those who say that we don't actually bid at all. We do bid, but it's on our terms and we don't budge from them.

There is only one week to wait before we can fully reflect on yet another transfer window. I've enjoyed a bit of speculation and read most of the reports of players that we've been linked with, but it's only when the window slams shut that we can fully reflect on what has gone on.

I've resisted the urge to have a pop at the club as I prefer to wait and see what happens, but if we don't get the two players in that Alan Pardew wants then there will be no excuses in my book. We have the money and we had the time. It's not like January where we didn't have an influx of cash until two hours before the end of the window. We've had it all summer. There is no excuse.

It's odd really as signing a decent left-back and a striker is all it would take to change a lot of opinions and make more people reasonably happy with the squad. If we can do that then I think we'll end with a fairly balanced squad that still needs work done to it but also ensures that we are covered in every position.

On the plus side I'm struggling to recall a time when the club have been so vocal about getting players in this late in the window, but with only a week to go we don't have long to wait to determine whether this is an actual statement of intent or whether they are just more empty promises.

I'm prepared either way to be honest.