A VIEW FROM THE GALLOWGATE

SATURDAY was a day of mixed emotions, pleasure at winning a quid on a scratchcard and Ritchie’s equaliser, and then despair at having then to expose myself to the region’s most challenging (that wasn’t the word I used at the time) transport provider – Non Arriva, who seemed to be taken by surprise that tens of thousands of extra people would be in the city for a match pencilled in six months ago.

When we eventually crammed everyone in it would have drawn nods of approval from a Calcutta train driver.

The frustration I felt at the Haymarket bus station was mirrored in the ground, as at times I thought it was Groundhog Day and Luton had come back again.

This was a point gained rather than two lost, again, and again we wait until after the event to rectify an ongoing concern, namely poor old Dan Burn being exposed to speedsters and found wanting.

We could even have been two down early on from breaks targeting our left if it hadn’t been for Dubravka.

Whilst acknowledging Howe’s point about injuries and moving players around, there is an alternative at left back who changes opposition attitudes every time he comes on.

We also didn’t have a genuine striker due to yet again the incumbents being in sick bay.

I know clubs were wary of FFP in January, but surely there must have been someone who we could have drafted in for six months without incurring the wrath of the Prem bean-counters?

A positive we can hang our hats on is our fighting spirit, but how long can we keep depending on just that? In a few weeks we’ve gone from having a fortress home ground and awful away record, to having an away record keeping us going.

That will be tested at Arsenal this weekend, and whilst football is riddled with uncertainties, if we perform down there as we did in the last two home games, then we’re going to need a defence packed tighter than the X22 on Saturday night, and the way we’re conceding it doesn’t inspire.

Finally. To scratch an itch, regarding the farcical nature of their first goal, what is it with the thinking that no move can begin unless it starts with the keeper thinking he’s Beckenbauer?

Is just wellying it away perceived as rather undignified these days?

Paul Dixon