Thank goodness that is over. But what's not to like about the transfer window, anyway?

Wolves insisted they would not sell Jorgen Strand Larsen, and didn't - and they brought in back-up too. Yes, senior players left, but none unexpectedly or cheaply, and the credit ledger was boosted by cash for Fabio Silva, who many had effectively written off as a bad debt.

Letting go of big earners well into the later stage of their careers freed up money to invest in the wages of players on the way up. Wolves found a young player to fit each of the gaps in their squad left by a departure - including, in Jhon Arias, a man who was the talk of the summer, at least if you were watching the Club World Cup.

All of the above ought to be elements of a good window. In isolation there is merit, or at least logic, to each of those deals. All look good business.

Yet, on Saturday night, Vitor Pereira - whose sunny demeanour was a torch for Wolves to follow on their march out of trouble last season - was saying his team would be "struggling" if they failed to sign a midfielder in the final hours of the window, which they didn't.

Many others present on Saturday expressed their concerns in rather more blunt terms. Notwithstanding the retention of Larsen - an outcome that reflected well on both the club and Larsen himself, in a summer when some players looking for moves appeared to show rather less grace - the general feeling is that Wolves are weaker after the window than they were before it. Even the kindest judges say the jury is out.

Wolves have lost things that are hard to count. A succession of leaders have left in recent windows, experienced players with Premier League nous. They leave behind a squad full of players who could be good, or have been promising elsewhere, but are largely unproven in this environment.

That was felt on the field in the defeat by Everton. Wolves put in their usual dogged effort, rewarded twice by good goals when the Toffees dozed off. But for long spells they seemed to be rushing in circles to no effect, while Jack Grealish and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall picked them off for sport.

The worrying sense was of a squad, assembled at significant cost, collectively worth less than the sum of its parts.

"Full attention can now be given to the football," notes writer and broadcaster Johnny Phillips in his thorough Substack survey, external of Wolves' transfer business.

After Everton, giving attention to the football is not such a comforting thought.