The Fulham game: A microcosm of our season

So there we are. After 37 games of the season we find ourselves back in the dead-zone with West Brom and the Smogs, as our Premier League status relies on our own ability to get something against Aston Villa and more than what Boro and Hull manage against West Ham and Man Utd reserves respectively.

As with the title of the article, the Fulham game summed the preceding 3240 minutes of the league campaign up quite perfectly:

• Pre match week - the usual hype, hyperbole and false promises from the players in the Chronicle;

• Pre match morning - Owen, Enrique and Smith ruled out through injury, Duff played out of position at left back and the dreaded sight of Ameobi on the bench;

• The match itself - another home debacle as we end with a shocking 5 wins out of 19, a sending off (our 7th of this rotten season and the most I can remember for a long time), a shocking disallowed goal decision and a keeper in the form of his life. The gods were seemingly against us. Add to that the fact our new kit looks as if it`s been designed by the School for the Blind and it`s a shocker all round;

• Post match - repeat as per pre match week.

As a club we`ve become utterly predictable both on the pitch and off it. The same usual suspects trot out the same old tired footballing clichés whilst failing to back it up with anything on the pitch. It`s this sort of tedium that has seen our crowds dipping below 50k for the first time since 2000 and has seen fans going to the match out of sheer bloody mindedness rather than genuine excitement.

As the Championship beckons, perhaps the thrill of something and somewhere new might bring a cathartic cure and some fresh impetus.

Probably not though.

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