[Amelia Chaffinch]

Time for a little rant. The atmosphere is becoming increasingly morose. What went wrong? Well, when David first came in, we survived. Then he made some signings and took them all away to the summer camp. They looked like a real team, playing for each other and for us, and started winning. Let the good times roll. We made it to the play-offs and we got to the final ... without scoring a goal! We only went and won it ... without scoring a goal! The majority of us couldn't believe it and majority of that majority decided to enjoy the ride. The team looked impressive, despite being up against superior opposition most of the time, and we had fun. We sang whether we were winning or losing, we were gathering a reputation for being the best fans in the premier league. If we were losing, we sang "don't worry about a thing...". All was well. We avoided relegation despite just about all the so-called experts tipping us for it week after week after week. THEN, some of our fans expected Deano to spend, spend, spend like he'd never done before. Why would he do that? He promised a long time ago that he would never put us at risk. As well as that, it sounds like he's been ill and possibly not in a position to do what some moaners expected him to do. But, whatever the reason, I can see that it would be out of character for him to splash silly money about. I agree that our strikers haven't stepped up but I can also see brilliant effort time and again from the likes of Schindler, Mooy, Hogg, Kongolo, Zanka amongst others. The players continue to respect the fans except for one occasion against Bristol City, Even then, the stalwarts went over. I still think that DW became disillusioned by reffing decisions. I do think that refs are influenced by big clubs and players. Pundits continually condone "top" players whilst not criticising us for the equivalent. There is an unfairness to the premier league. I really believe that. BUT, despite all the disappointments, I think the greatest damage has been done to the atmosphere by ourselves. Expectation has been the enemy. As DW said, we shouldn't expect the extraordinary to be the ordinary or the unusual to be usual... or words to that effect.