Watershed?

I am afraid that the last day of January 2006 might prove to be a watershed in our season.

European Champions League quality teams do not draw at home with Aston Villa and lose at Fulham. Yes, the Villa goalkeeper was the difference between one and three points – and yes, we had good sustained periods of pressure last night.

However, the reality is that we have now dropped five points out of six ? points which would have put us into a strong position to challenge for the runners-up spot. If you think that is fanciful, just look at our rivals? fixtures until the end of the season. (Ours is generally the easiest).

Moreover, it has made us open to ?attack? from the pack behind us ? four teams, with games in hand, are uncomfortably close when we should have been out of sight.

However, the more important problems are obvious. Two days ago I received an e-mail from a ?very good source? (I know, we?ve all got one!) which, before the news broke, said that we were going to sign Murphy, that Michael Brown was going and that Daniel Levy was in Spain trying to sign Torres.

Unfortunately, the last tip came to nothing ? as did the late attempt to sign Matt Taylor from Portsmouth.

It has been painfully obvious that we need to sign a big target man and a left winger in the Lennon / Routledge mould ? and yet in spite of obvious efforts by the club, they came to nothing.

This has been widely known for several months ? and you would have thought that alternative options would have been in place. We have the money and we have the bait (Gardener, Davenport, Kelly, Jackson, Bunjy, Rasiak et al).

I am sure Danny Murphy and Hossam Ghaly will strengthen our midfield squad ? but neither is going to automatically displace our current players ? and they don?t solve our problems. Under-whelmed would be my honest reaction.

(Michael Brown, whose major problem is that he doesn?t have long blond hair or scream at the referee, was the type of player who never let us down and should be thanked for his hardworking and honest contribution while with us).

What happened to all the talk of Ribery, Pederson & Downing? Why let Routledge go on loan? Can?t he or Lennon play on the left? (That could be some combination).

Why didn?t we go for a big man who was attainable? Both Torres and Kuyt would have been great ? but why wasn?t someone else lined up in case? Teddy might have been the perfect short-term solution. What happened there? I have no doubt that money would have talked.

Last night proved that Rasiak is just not up to the job. How different it might have been had his ?goal? against Liverpool counted and his header against the bar a few minutes later in that game gone in ? he would have been brimming with confidence and an instant hero. Instead he looks awkward and off the pace.

If I was Defoe, I would be seriously angry at having to sit on the bench in this World Cup year ? and he now deserves another run at being first choice as he looked dangerous and really fresh when he came on. Why can?t Keane and Defoe play together? England play with two smaller players up front, and that works.

Thus it appears we are going to limp home until Mido returns ? and it would really be interesting to know, exactly what happened re our supposed targets.

I am loathe to criticise Daniel Levy and Martin Jol – who should be congratulated for making us into a serious team for the first time for 20 years. We have a real chance of finishing fourth or above ? and yet we seem to be playing self-destruct when we?re nearly there.

Of course, our rivals may well drop points tonight ? but that won?t disguise the fact that in the short term we should have been thinking about a serious assault on Manchester United and Liverpool not looking over our shoulder ? and that we are looking woefully light up front – and weak when attacking on the left.

By Steve Andresier