I don't know what to write to make the other night go away and be forgotten. I know what I will end up writing, so I'm going to try my best to not go there. Instead, I'm going to start with we are not a one man team.
Don't get me wrong, Jack is our standout player and would make a difference in any team and having him in the middle would have meant there was less long balls the other night and more chances created, but if that is everything we are about, we might as well give up now.
It has to be more than one player and for the love of everything that is claret and blue, we have to have a plan for when that one player isn't available. We were basically lucky to get a point against Newcastle the other night and we were minutes away from winning. Think about that for a moment.
I wrote before the match that I thought we'd have a clear approach to the game, but I was wrong. It was like the players were sent out and told to chase the ball down, but not really and when you get the ball look for a man, but if you can't find him, hit long. I don't think anyone told them to keep the ball. I don't think there was any discussion about movement or running off the ball.
And don't get me started on El Ghazi. Actually, I've started and just like Mark Delaney was done for me when I saw him laughing with a player from the other side just after they had scored, El Ghazi is done for me now after he starts signaling to be subbed and you hear people shouting at him to get up and I'm convinced one of them was the manager.
Now, El Ghazi could be injured and he might have been in a bit of pain, but you don't fall over and then instantly ask to be subbed. You get up and try to run it off because you are part of a team and you want to play for the Club. That he could get up and run around tells me all I need to know. Sorry, but a leopard doesn't change it's spots and I can assure you I'm not the only one that thinks this and that there will be people at the Club that think it too.
So, all that written, it's important to remember that we've had an excellent season. We've still got a game in hand on Liverpool (as of today) and if we were to win it, we go above them and we're ahead of Arsenal and every other side from the Midlands. It's not so bad and things are only going to get better.