Final whistle was the sweetest sound in weeks

As long as a gift is nice, it doesn’t matter if it’s a day late.

The rain fell during a second-half nearly as woeful as the first, but a solitary goal meant so much, particularly to a beleaguered boss.

It’s beginning to look familiar; soft quotes; the bony finger of blame pointing at everything and everyone but him; the artless deflection of a manager that sees it all going wrong but can’t see a solution.