The definition of midfield....

"Players who line up in front of defenders and behind strikers; creative members of the team whose role is to link the forwards and defense. "

Perhaps the seven players that comprised the 'midfield' at various points this evening could be persuaded to learn this definition. We were simply awful, and if ever a point was 'gained' as opposed to two points lost, this was that point. Jon Fortune is perhaps the only player who can come out of the game with his head held high, though Deano made a great save from Delap at a vital juncture to be fair to him. Robbie Earle on Sky made several comments concerning Kiely's failure to leave his goalline at set pieces and whilst I had never noticed this tendency before, we looked highly vulnerable every time they had a corner or Delap delivered a long throw, a fact not helped perhaps by Perry's lack of height.

Curbs experimented with about six different midfield fours during the game and they all looked equally disjointed. Murphy was poor but his frustration was probably enhanced by the inadequacy he witnessed around him - this is the guy who partnered Steven Gerrard last season after all! Because we lacked a midfielder with the pace and drive to take players out of the game (surely that's Euell's job??), we were constantly going backwards relying on pointless long balls from defence delivered towards two small strikers. It's not exactly an original comment but every game makes the hole that Parker left seem that much deeper. The strikers were ineffective obviously though I found myself feeling unusually sorry for Lisbie given the lack of balls he was given to feet or in front of him to use his pace.

It's hard to take many positives whatsoever from the game other than the likelihood that there are at least three teams worse than us this season. One more general observation though is that Curbs' obsession with 'flexible' players is perhaps no longer serving us well - he is well-known for preferring players who can play in more than one position (El Karkouri, Hughes, and Murphy all fit the bill from this summer alone) but the result is mediocrity across the team, mattering little how many different ways he is able to change the formation. I don't think it is a coincidence that our most effective outfield players in recent years were specialists in their position and wholly unable to play elsewhere - Mendonca, Rufus, Kinsella, Parker, Hunt, Mills....
Frankly I don't care that Kishishev can play at right-back, right-midfield or central midfield because he is simply not good enough in any of them.

Curbs has five days to sort out this malaise - any repeat of the Man City or Bolton performances on Saturday would see even the most level-headed fan becoming increasingly concerned. After all, since Parker left, our Premiership record is P22 W7 D5 L10 - not quite relegation form but not too far off, and our impressive seventh finish should not hide the obvious deterioration in our performances.