Less then a week ago, most of us were clinging to the hope that past transfer window activity was proof that our owner would sanction the necessary spending to give the squad the defensive boost it so desperately needed.
Another game later, where our deficiencies were again highlighted and that hope has pretty much disappeared. Randy has taken away that final glimmer, by keeping the purse strings tight, in quite possibly the most vital moment of the last 20 years. Where we had hope, we now have chance.
Put twenty corners or free kicks aimed at Felliani and the odds are he is going to score one of them. Those odds dramatically increase when he is being marked by a guy a good couple of inches shorter than him.
Ron Vlaar may have looked badly at fault for the Everton equaliser, but Felliani scoring, given the odds, was only a matter of time.
In my view the odds are now stacked against us surviving another season in the Premier League. Despite some renewed vigour in our last game, it's now a game of chance. If we get the rub of the green, or the paint of a post in the remainder of the season, it's possible, but by no means a certainty.
It shouldn’t be this way, but it is
Every team, football pundit and supporter in the country knows our weakness and without the purchase of a strong commanding center half in the window, opposition teams can now spend a little more time, in the build up to a match against us, pinging crosses into their tall guys at set pieces.
There are three Irishmen sitting on our bench at the moment, as luck would have it. Lets hope its not a bad omen.