It's been emotional

[Southbank Old Boy]

I'm not so dejected by the thought of relegation and Championship football next season but I am dejected by the manner in which we've just given up over the last 12 months.

There seems to have been a total lack of effort to grasp this opportunity to take the club forward. Instead we're meekly drifting along accepting mediocrity and not doing enough to carry on the brick by brick approach thats worked so well over the last 10 years. It's as if the walls have been built but we just can't be bothered to invest in a roof.

[Man Friday]

Steve has been saying that the players have given their all. Supreme effort has certainly not been defined by the performances I've seen. I can forgive lack of application (e.g. yesterday - Leroy's shot, Liam's cross) but not lack of effort. For ages this season we've heard the bollo* about Oster being too good for his teammates with the suggestion that he doesn't need to "get stuck in as much as his 'less skillful' teammates". Watch Ronaldo, Rooney, Drogba, Gerrard - the best players in the PL - and watch how they compete for every ball, how they throw themselves in the way of shots when defending. Rosenior's done it a few times but no one's gonna tell me that the players have given 100% every match, especially recently. That is where we've gone wrong IMO. The players just haven't wanted it enough compared to Fulham, Bolton, Wigan, etc. It's hard to say, but it's true.