[0762]

Same of the same Fredster! Go back 3-4 years and it's a set dialogue that they rigidly stick to. As you say, if it was another football club they'd be in their irritatingly best form but unfortunately the nightmare scenario applied to their cherished footie club - hard to take 'on the chin'. Hence the defensive claptrap. I'd call it their 'fallback position',  which has been unimpressive for long enough and this forum is not the only one where they've played the same poor 'card hand' to an unimpressed audience.