The transfer window shut at 11pm last night.
It was tempting to close the curtains a few hours earlier.
There was plenty of money changing hands in England once again but the practice of watching players being unveiled by new clubs would come to have the same effect as counting sheep; Kim Kallstron was signed by Arsenal on loan from Spartak Moscow; Lewis Holtby swapped Tottenham Hotspur for Fulham; Kurt Zuma agreed a deal at Chelsea and left Saint-Etienne; Wilfried Zaha reminded everyone that he was at Manchester United, by leaving them and signing on loan at Cardiff City. Even the Sky Sports News ticker seemed to grow drowsy.
It would splutter into action again once Jim White - resplendent once more in a garish yellow tie - gave it a stiff kick under the desk. Even then it would only reveal that Philippe Senderos had moved to Valencia, leaving a hole in the Fulham defence. Plus ca change, as the Swiss might say.
Admittedly, the incessant countdown might only have started to grate as Celtic supporters were made to wait until after the window closed for confirmation that Joe Ledley had left to sign for Crystal Palace, while the some of the other pertinent news for Scottish football fans had been broken quite early, while. It is still worth picking up the pieces and trying to fit them all together again - Liam Bridcutt the only Scot to make a dash for the Barclays Premier League when he agreed to a £3m transfer to Sunderland and duly made his way from Brighton & Hove Albion.
That transfer had been mentioned some time earlier and will have entered into the conversation in Scotland last night, since the midfielder will harbour ambitions of taking position in Gordon Strachan's squad ahead of the qualifiers for the 2016 European Championships. He will have a better chance if his new club remain in the Premier League, with Bridcutt likely to make his debut today in the derby with Newcastle United.
"The aim now for everyone is to stay up so that Gus [Poyet, the Sunderland manager] can put in place what he wants next season in the Premier League," said the Scot, who has signed a three-year contract. "We've got a great team and some great players and this is a massive chance for me. I'd love to make my debut in the derby and get straight in at the deep end.
"The role I play as a holding midfielder is all about controlling the game and reading the game and Gus has helped me tremendously in that role [when the pair worked together at Brighton]. I know how he wants it done and I've been taught his philosophy since I was a youngster at Chelsea."
There are those who are more content to go their own way. It was perhaps little surprise to see Dimitar Berbatov swanning over to Monaco to sign a contract with the Ligue 1 club after leaving Fulham, a designer hold-all in tow and not a hair out of place.
The Bulgarian is not easily disturbed and he remained aloof as the rest of England's transfer business was forced through the window before the deadline. His former club would later add Greek striker Kostas Mitroglou in his stead, while across London, Palace killed time waiting for Ledley by first adding Scott Dann and Jason Puncheon on permanent contracts.
It had been a hectic day. For them, at least.
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