The Blurst of Times

It is the blurst of times. The word 'meh' is perhaps the best way to describe it.
 

This week's TTFE-L game has given me some real food for thought. To summarise, we conceded against the run of play, then went 3 goals down, strewn chance after chance and were humbled by a side we beat 12-2 in a reverse fixture. Losing 3-1, it was a match which could have unearthed as many footballing cliches as a Mick McCarthy post match interview, but above all we just didn't take our chances.

Games like these should make it think that some teams, maybe all, just have a bad day at the office. But maybe I delude myself in thinking that we are often better than we are, or perhaps, I am better than what I am. We all make mistakes - but I often think I don't learn from them enough and that is what is most important (great, another cliche).

Were we bad? Perhaps. We should be playing better with a full squad against a bare five side and now we've had a while to gel, teething problems are no excuse. It was a far cry from last week, summed up nicely by Riv (and honestly, it isn't because of the kudos I got). Is it OTT to say this result was a backward step?

I think above all, games like these often make me think about the performance too much. When I go on a gut feeling and strip the result from the equation, the lads put in a good shift. The thoughts after the game seemed to sum up just that. I just can't decide whether the result was good or bad really, avoiding the obvious nature of a loss denoting some kind of negativity. It's just meh.

Kind of the way I feel about Copenhagen too which starts tomorrow. I really can't get excited about it, nor think of it as some kind of lost cause just yet. It certainly has relevance for raising the issue of climate change, in fact it should actually do something about it. But I just can't muster the enthusaism to think it will actually do anything at all useful. It feels almost like the last roll of the dice on a global scale and I hope it wont be just another giant white elephant gesture just like Kyoto. Meh. 

Going down

On the same day in which Fulham completed their great escape from the perils of Premiership demotion, the hope remained that a small amateur 5-a-side team from Cardiff could do the same. Football and fate however, are not necessarily willing bedfellows.

Tonight my beleaguered TTFE team suffered a second consecutive relegation after a 2-2 draw was not enough to keep away the jaws of doom. My knee bleeds from a broken scab, my throat sore from incessant shouting and my heart firmly on my sleeve. I still ask myself - why do I care so much?!

I wish I knew. I guess when it comes down to it, I love to be the underdog and win against the odds. With nothing to lose and everything to gain, the reward is ever so sweet. And with such hope, it can be a great thing to be an optimist. But now that hope is dashed I feel really deflated. Crushed. Tired. Rueful.

We didn't help ourselves all season with some shoddy performances and we didn't help ourselves tonight in a game which did not have any spark or vigour seen in the title winning campaign only last Autumn. I'm not going to go into the reason why we have dropped from Division Three to Five quicker than you can say 'offside', but as a trusty blog, I reserve the right to have a good moan about it. So here you are.