No papering over cracks as the misery goes on

THERE’S only so many times you can paper over the cracks before the walls start collapsing under the weight.

We keep trying to get on a roll, to somehow emulate the runaway train effect of previous seasons, but it’s not happening is it? The Villa game was bound to be tough, and a blizzard didn’t help.

There’s an innate caution to the way O’Neill goes about his business. Whenever his name is linked to the Liverpool job the word ‘Houllier’ is often muttered. It’s not a compliment. I’d always defended him because I’d have taken him in 1998 when he was at Leicester, but I saw a similar dour attitude when they played Spurs back in November and I couldn’t sit through another five years of that. I’ve still got the scars from 2004.