What’s the one thing every fan dreads to see at their club? Aside from Nigel Quashie being brought in amidst a relegation fight, it is that dreaded curse – mid-table mediocrity.
You haul yourself out of bed every Saturday, pack the flask, sit on a train for hours and turn up to watch a team with nothing to play for, a team that fails to create that one thing that makes football worthwhile…hope.
Whether it be the hope of winning The Premier League, qualifying for Europe, avoiding relegation, earning promotion or merely staying afloat, hope is the oxygen that every football fan needs.
But it seems that seeking Continental adventure is no longer worth it. Is a place in Europe’s second most illustrious club competition really that insignificant?
Harry Redknapp’s the latest to turn his nose up at the Uefa Cup – in a mighty big way. So he’s got a big week either side of Thursday’s Uefa Cup last 32, second leg with Shakhtar Donetsk. A relegation six-pointer with Hull and a Carling Cup final with Manchester United are not to be sniffed at.
So are we surprised that Redknapp says he is going to ‘give the kids a chance’ on Thursday? Is it a bombshell that Martin O’Neill’s now got in on the act by leaving the likes of Gareth Barry, Brad Friedel, Emile Heskey, James Milner, Ashley Young, Gabriel Agbonlahor, Carlos Cuellar and Stiliyan Petrov out of Aston Villa’s second leg with CSKA Moscow. Just for the record, that’s a tie delicately poised at 1-1.
But it’s O’Neill who sums up the situation best: "The irony is we broke our necks to get into Europe.” Is it irony or is it plain futility?
Near enough every club in the top flight – including Villa, even this season – know that breaking up the perennial top four is near enough impossible. So, even though more teams than usual find themselves still with relegation concerns, what else is there to play for?
Qualifying for the Uefa Cup you say? What is the point when you will merely serve to treat it with disdain the following season? Forcing your supporters to travel to far flung corners of Europe to see a second-string side tumble out is hardly a reward for them, so that argument’s also out the window. Is money really the only benefit?
Even Bolton – the same Bolton who had never been in Europe until this decade – decided to field weakened sides in last year’s Uefa Cup. So what are we left with?
It seems that being mid-table is less mediocre than ever. After all, why yearn for anything more?