Football FanCast columnist Matt Williams looks at the catch-22 situation that many clubs face in the transfer window.

In the classic episode of the Simpsons ‘In Marge we Trust', Marge tells everyone to "calm down, you're wrinkling your church clothes". The family don't seem to mind. "Who cares?" they reply, "this is the best part of the week; it's the longest possible time before more church!"

This is how I think Derby County fans must have felt at 5pm every Saturday for the majority of last season. "Why are you so happy darling, you just lost 4-0?", "Because it's the longest possible time before I have to go to Pride Park again!"

There was an advantage to Derby being so bad though. The fact they were basically relegated by Christmas means that Paul Jewell had much longer than most to plan for next season. As a result, Derby are well ahead in the transfer market, making Liam Dickinson they're ninth summer signing on Tuesday.

Now Dickinson has been one of the outstanding players in League Two last season, and would have been a great addition to any Championship club, but Derby seemed the one prepared to bid early and secure their man. With the Rams also capturing signings like Nathan Ellington, Jordan Stewart and Kris Commons, they're shaping a fairly promising squad for next season.

Compare this with fellow relegated clubs Reading and Birmingham, and the difference in summer activity is startling. With their Premiership status going all the way down to the last day, these clubs couldn't prepare for the summer in the same way. Were they going to need experienced heads to again try and keep themselves in the Premiership, or would they require enthusiastic youngsters to help get them out of the Championship? They just did not know, and the lack of summer signings, are proof of this.

It's the same for many other clubs whose seasons work was not determined until very late on. Gianni Zuiverloon for example, is the only player so far to be signed by any of three teams promoted to the Premiership, barring some loan deals that have been made permanent.

With the gap between the Premiership and Championship widening at an impossible speed, and the fact that players are seemingly in control of their contracts, clubs will always be stuck with this problem. Reading and Birmingham are in a catch-22 situation, in which they cannot sell players until they know which of their high-earners will be poached by Premier League clubs.

Reading could not go for Dickinson, because if Dave Kitson and Kevin Doyle both stay, then they'll be stuck with too many strikers. If both forwards now leave, then Dickinson will be one they'll be gutted to miss out on.

For the promoted clubs, they too are finding it difficult, as they have to acknowledge that the players who got them promotion will not cut it in the top league. But it's harder than you'd think to get rid of a player who wants to play in the Premiership, and no-one else can be signed until the squad is trimmed.

Some of the biggest clubs in the world it seems cannot even escape this situation. Reports in this week's newspapers have suggested that Real Madrid will have to wait until they offload Robinho, before bringing Cristiano Ronaldo to the club.

Until clubs rectify this situation by adopting a ‘brick-by-brick' approach rather than a reactionary one, then this problem will not go away. Clubs will continue to pay well over the odds for their targets every transfer deadline day. Chairman will continue to offer players extortionate wages in order to secure their services. And managers will continue to panic buy Ade Akinbiyi. And that's really not on.