Clowning around as we suffer Villa Knight-mare

WE passed a circus on the way home from Birmingham on Sunday — “no need to go” said one of my party, “we’ve already seen the clowns today”.

It lightened the mood — but not a lot. Villa have now replaced Arsenal as our bogey team, but I did expect a point. The team looked disinterested, and without Lampard, we lacked the propensity to go forward. Drogba too was at his frustrating worst. How can a player be the best striker in the world one moment, and the next, a player who sends my blood pressure to boiling point?

But it would be unfair to lay the blame solely at his feet — it was one of those team efforts we are so famous for.