YOU half expected to wake up feeling different. Surely with all the hype, countdown, speculation and ultimately the chimes of Big Ben, life post-deadline day was never going to be the same.

Funny how things are still remarkably similar though isn’t it?

Much like the supposed Millennium bug back at the turn of the last century, the morning after was almost an anti-climax with all the promised changes not materialising and all the expectations dashed.

It wasn’t just at Blackburn Rovers that Monday’s 5pm shutting of the window came and went with relatively little fuss though – with January 2010 marking the least spent in a mid season break since the introduction of the mid-season window in 2003.

Compared to the £170million spent this time last season, just an estimated £30m was splashed this time round – an 80 per cent drop – as clubs finally begin to realise they can’t keep gambling with their own financial future.

Sure, some still paid over the odds and others did their best to carry out some crazy transfer moves.

West Ham’s £2million for a 32-year-old Benni McCarthy seems a trifle odd, while Wolves’ failed attempts to sign Stephen Hunt for £5m were just lubricous.

But for the majority, sense has at last returned to football - with Mido’s agreement to play for ‘just’ £1,000 a week suggesting player power is at last on the wane.

On first glance, Rovers’ own transfer dealings seem disappointing after their last-ditch failed attempts to sign a striker to replace McCarthy.

First Benjani, then Dindane – it just wasn’t to be for a frustrated Sam Allardyce.

On reflection though was it such a bad thing? Both appeared to be very short term solutions and, with Nikola Kalinic showing signs of repaying his £6m tag, Allardyce’s transfer kitty could be better off being held for another day.

His recent 4-5-1 system has breathed new life into Rovers’ Premier League season, leaving question marks as to where a new striker would actually fit in – especially with the likes of David Dunn and Basturk still to be fitted into the team.

Imagine the outcry if Kalinic had been dropped to make room for an incoming striker.

Fair enough, the young Croatian needed time to adjust to the Premier League but he has done more than enough to warrant his starting place now.

And if he does suffer a dip in form, which could happen, then Allardyce still has Franco Di Santo and Jason Roberts to call upon.

Both strikers who have proved their worth in the past.

Di Santo became a fans favourite earlier this season with his work rate and touch – he was just perhaps a little unfortunate he was in the side during Rovers’ sticky patch.

Then you have Roberts. The striker, along with McCarthy, helped keep Rovers up last season and showed on Saturday the strength, desire and ability to make a big impression towards the end of the campaign.

Yes, he should have bagged the winner at West Ham but his cameo as a substitute scared the Hammers’ defence to death.

The window has also seen Allardyce continue his impressive youth policy, with young Algerian Amine Linganzi brought in.

Added to that is the bonus buy of Turkish veteran Basturk.

We don’t quite know what we are going to get from him but anything like the master he used to be and we are in for a treat.