THE transfer window came and went writes Mick Jones

How was it for you?

For most people it was fairly quiet apart from the odd loan deal for the 'next big thing' who is more likely to become the next free transfer.

There were exceptions, some close to home, but over all it was drab and dull.

Even the gossip was tedious. Now we have a long time until the end of the season and the gossip really starts again.

I know we have got other things like titles and relegation to talk about but, let's face it, you will always jump to the made-up story about the superstar who is 'definitely' signing.

So what happened? Well, Michael Ricketts went for just a fraction of his previously quoted value - proof that the days of silly fees have gone for now.

Kevin Keegan signed another striker and left us wondering how many he could have signed without a transfer window.

Robbie Fowler's on-off deal had more episodes than Emmerdale.

Afterwards, Keegan described the ex-Liverpool forward as a "deep thinker" - there's a description you never thought you would hear.

Strange things happened over at the Old Ridsdale Place in Leeds. Players were going through the doors at Leeds like the first shoppers in a Harrods sale.

They are not so much a selling club as a one-stop shop for a ready made first XI. I am sure there are a few ambitious Sunday League clubs who are pooling the subs money to see if they can afford Harry Kewell.

One of the benefits has been that clubs could not buy their way out of trouble. Would John O'Shea have had as many games as he did?

In the past, he would have hoped for the Worthington Cup and a loan spell at Watford for a taste of the action. A few injuries in the United defence and now he is almost a fixture.

It has even kept some players in a job too. Would David Seaman still be a first choice at Arsenal if they had been able to sign a replacement earlier in the season? How much longer would Emile Heskey have been able to keep hitting the corner flag and still got paid for it?

So has the market crashed? It certainly looks like it but it is too early to tell. Rio Ferdinand's transfer record of £30 million looks like it will stand for a long time and we may not see many like it around Europe for a long time.

The only clubs with the money to sign the big names will be United and Arsenal. The rest will be reduced to phoning honest Peter in Leeds for a cheap deal or trying to loan one of City's army of strikers.