Chelsea. Swansea. Norwich. Pop.

Both teams rueing a missed opportunity probably means it was a fair result. Still, avoiding defeat was the main objective, and we can wake up on Christmas morning in the knowledge that we’re London’s top placed Christmas fairies for the first time since 1995, and that ain’t not half isn’t not too bad.

Back to last night, wind well and truly sucked from the sails following the questionable equaliser, we were probably a little fortunate not to be behind at half-time. Also questionable is what Ledley and Benny thought they were playing at by stopping still and waiting for a handball call that never arrived. Not good enough chaps. They’ve both been excellent so far, but not one to put on the career highlights tape last night. Benny especially, had his worst game in a good 2-3 years; disappointing for a young man who has been largely excellent.

Invisible man replaced invisible man at half-time, and come the hour mark, came my first personal concession that a draw would be taken if offered. Still, didn’t mean any of us were any less gutted when Ade rolled his late effort wide, with a touch from ‘you know what you are’ unfortunately turning the ball the wrong side of his post. The bounder. The ready prepped ‘JT shrugs off personal problems to put in AMAZING performance’ have been predictably dusted off for the morning editions. When you’re a soulless, moral vacuum however, I’m not sure how difficult this actually is, and the fact it’s being praised almost beggars belief; from the same outlets no less, that 48 hours earlier had acted with such condemnation towards the Liverpool squad for trotting down to their local ‘we do stag and hen nights as well’ outlet.

Anyway, Norwich and Swansea away in just a few days, so let’s look ahead to these mothers. Paul Lambert and Brendan Rodgers will one day manage big clubs. They’re both Scottish/ Northern Irish and like to play decent football. What greater qualifications does one require to succeed in Premier League management? On paper, they should be good games, between sides that like to play decent stuff, and given the number of technicians available to us, even after the injuries, we should be able to out-football them. Decent home records for both though, so certainly not gimme’s, but bearing in mind WE ARE IN CRISIS! after claiming just a mere 4 points from the previous available 9, at least another 4 before heading into 3 win-able home games, would be novelty tie-rific.