Stay Away from that Trap Door...

If I said that the latest debacle was a disappointment, that wouldn't be quite true. I was expecting it. If we're honest with ourselves, the vast majority of us were.

There's no joy in visiting Villa Park any more (unless you're an away fan). Goals (for) are becoming as rare as hen's teeth and wins even rarer.

Yes, we could bleat about the penalty that wasn't but I am not gonna put Halsey on the rack over that one. He doesn't get multiple replays from fifteen angles, he has to make a decision live and on the spot. From my angle on the Holte, seeing it live, it had looked like a stonewall pen. Mistakes happen. I'm not going to castigate a referee for making a mistake that I would have made even while looking out of one eye through my claret and blue sunglasses.

The lack of on-pitch discipline is not only apparent in the positional sense of our defenders and midfield but also in the petulant behaviour of one Andreas Weimann, who spent so much of Saturday's match ranting and railing at the officials that I did wonder whether he'd had a bet on himself to get sent off. It's not the first time this season he has failed to keep his emotions in check. Pick up bookings for committed challenges by all means but please don't end up suspended for being an irresponsible gobshite.

What is clear is this, it's really hard to shout “we was robbed” when faced with yet another inept display against a one of the poorest teams in the division. Benteke missing an open goal at the end was a blow but a bigger one was the entire performance, an inability to pull out of a tailspin that is as crushing to the spirits of the claret and blue faithful as it is to the reputations of the so-called “professionals” involved.

We can all scream at Randy for more funds but it's not difficult to understand his reticence. We were among the bigger spenders in the summer but because the balance between building for the future and shoring up for the present was skewed in the wrong direction, this imbalance has to be addressed without delay. It may stick in Randy's craw and he may see it as good money after bad but the fact is, if he doesn't spend now, if he doesn't back the manager before the window slams shut, the value of the investment already made will diminish even quicker than our goal difference did over Christmas.

Money isn't the only issue though. Does Paul Lambert have the right players in his cross-hairs if the money is forthcoming? We have no choice than to trust that he does. After all, I still think that Vlaar and Benteke were great signings, I'm still perplexed as to why El Ahmadi has struggled to find his feet at Prem level, I believe Westwood can make the grade – if this season doesn't traumatise him too much – and we can always blame Holman on McLeish. (I've not given up on Holman yet, I'm just not sure that he hasn't given up on himself).

Some people seem to think that bringing back Ron Vlaar to our crumbling back line is the answer to all our prayers, blissfully ignoring the fact that we were still vulnerable at the back even while benefiting from his heroics. Some say Dunne could also be our knight in shining armour, but he was starting to look ring rusty even before this incredibly lengthy lay off and it would be a big ask to expect him to be our season's saviour.

I genuinely thought that Saturday was our last chance. We now face three games in just seven days, a schedule our creaking squad is hardly in a condition to cope with. Albion's stunning late capitulation to Reading will only make them all the keener to put us to the sword and I fear it will prove painful to watch. I can't see us doing enough to overturn the deficit against Bradford and we'll presumably be struggling for fit and unsuspended players by the time the trip to Millwall comes around. Then we face Newcastle in another must win home league game.

Confident?

Me neither.