The Night Before

Last night spiralled out into a drunken stupor, as many a Saturday night does, and it became easy to forget that the Mighty Blues had failed to beat a struggling team two divisions below them. But, as morning comes with the inevitable juddering of reality, so too does the fact that we did not progress yesterday. So too that we sit 6th in the table when we should be at least a couple of places higher. And all of this hurts worse than the boozy headache.

As I woke confused, my mind flipped back to the year we finished 4th, the last time the "top 4" (whatever that means) monopoly was broken. Yes, I’m prone to gazing longingly out of my bedroom window recalling Kilbane’s mane. But I also got to thinking about mentality. It is one of those buzz-words that we hear bandied around by the media and champions of Moyes. It was the kind of word that we may have often shunned, feeling as though there were no appreciative comments about the way we played football, that grit and diligence were our only tools. And yet mentality seems to be exactly what we have lacked this season.

Have there been injuries? Yes, and to players like Mirallas and Gibson who seem to have an influence on our style of play. Have we been unlucky? Yes, I cannot remember a season where so many poor, poor performances from officials went against us. Have we lacked investment? Without a doubt! January would have been the perfect time for sofas, coat pockets and collections of West End programmes to be raided, and yet we bought an unknown, though promising, full-back who is unlikely to play this season.

These things and more have transpired against us. And yet mentality is lacking. Heightened expectations, years of a bare trophy cabinet, the dour predictions of our manager have all led us to believe that we should be better off. And yet the team that DID challenge the hierarchy last was comprised of players who we would smirk at now. Would we swap Bent for Jelavic? Of course not! But how many results were ground out through determination and desire? I always think back to Tim Cahill bulleting a header in the dying embers of a game away at Sunderland. We had rode our luck and never looked like winning the game... but we did. I cannot imagine us doing that this season.

Even the times where we have showed this "character" — that the media often places upon us — seem to have felt flat. I punched the air when we made it 3 - 3 with Villa the other week but there was no overall satisfaction. A team we should have beaten comfortably had pushed us to the brink and drawing level was a small victory. We all would have taken a scrappy, battled 1 - 0 win, maybe Distin bundling one in off his arse. But instead, we are left feeling lucky to be leaving with a point against a team who the week prior to playing us had been beaten by Bradford and Millwall.

Beyond this frustration also stems a disbelief at problems that are easily spotted but wholly ignored. None of us are football managers, and it is easy to spout mutterings about no money and "we just need 3 or 4 players" when even free trasnsfers cost serious money... (Was "the new Scottish Rooney" Steven Naismith really free?) And yet, this season, failings that have been discussed for years seem to have gone unchecked.

With reference to last night’s game, how on earth is a new contract being contemplated for Philip ’Pip’ Neville? His lack of composure is embarrassing in the top flight but against Oldham it stank to high heaven. Our first goal came about because Jagielka had seen him gift possession too many times. That lonely punt up field would have been a success even if Jelavic hadn’t got on the end of it, for the simple fact that it would not have been another aimless drifting of the ball for a throw-in, from a player whose experience is sold to us almost daily, like a mate who tells us his girlfriend is lovely and a proper laugh but is as funny as stubbing your toe.

Other issues have lingered. I met a mate of mine last night from Stoke (good Saturday night entertainment obviously). We’d spoken about Jack Butland a few weeks back when Begovic was linked with a move to Man Utd, and I had said he was just the kind of player we needed. Tim Howard actually made a few good saves the other day but, whether it be age, lack of competition, or even that mentality already mentioned, he has had a poor season. How many points have we gifted through nervous goalkeeping? I even thought he should have done better on Oldham’s equaliser. With Mucha obviously not up to scratch surely investing in a goalkeeper with potential like Butland’s would have made sense. It wouldn’t have cost the earth if Stoke managed to land him. Maybe it boils down to "loyalty," another magic word that has begun to turn sour. These words ring hollow, in a similar fashion to a government who uses terms like "big society" to lull us into a false sense of belief that "we’re all in this together."

I do worry about the summer, because the grass isn’t always greener. I can see Roberto Martinez coming in, making Emerson Boyce his marquee signing and then calling our 4 - 0 trouncing against Norwich as "like a victory," blaming the linesman and then making a cryptic remark. And yet stagnancy seems to have set in. Some kind of vibrancy is needed. Character can be built but it can also ebb away. That lovely wife you’re married to for 25 years is bound to piss you off royally after a while — however nice she was at first.

As my hangover really starts to kick in, I look over not just last night but a league table that should appear more comfortable. I think of hearing things like "Thomas Hitzlsperger is like a new signing." I think of Jealvic’s lost confidence — a beauty queen newly scarred. Even without worrying about finances, stadiums, a board continually looking for investment and finding nothing, I feel concern. Maybe it’s the hangover. Maybe it’s picturing Phil Neville talking about his disappointments with the team when the blame lies so often at his own feet. Or maybe we’ve reached our glass ceiling. Maybe 6th is our limit.

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