From Top to Bottom

Only Coventry fans could go from emphatic chants of We're all going to Wem-ber-ley and unabashed prognostications of reaching the play-offs to mumurs and grumblings of the lurid realms of relegation.

In just seven days.

Have we really changed that much in just three games? Have our Wembley-bound heroes been cosmically spellbound by some sorcerous means, doomed to a fate of (even) lower league football?

Of course not. We were, as we should have been, beaten by a world-class Premiership team, and have lost a couple of tricky league games that have left us... well, pretty much where we've been all season.

So, no need to panic then. Talk of the play-offs was inevitable, but premature. Not because of the points needed to reach one of those fabled berths, but just the sheer number of teams between us and the hallowed top six. So now that we can put a lid on all that play-off nonsense for this year, the talk switches to our other favourite topic: relegation.

Ben Turner has reassured us this week that "we don't need to worry about relegation and all that". Well that's a relief. Although one can't help think that his reassurance was not borne out of objective assessment, but more to gain impunity in the eyes of his fans after his little weekend faux pas.

I know Ben was being fouled, but if he'd only ducked instead of... oh, never mind.

Even Keiren "Who-says-you-can't-save-in-a-recession?" Westwood has shown his flappable side. Well, his feet have. Maybe he should pretend he's hurt his leg and let a defender do all the kicking. A role as pinch-kicker at set-pieces might have been ear-marked for Marcus when a contract extension was put before him. It's keeping David Beckham in the job.

As much as I'd like to dramaticise the last few weeks of the season with talk of potential voyages to the extremities of our division, I'm afraid there will be no such adventures. It's the steady waters of mid-table from here on in, a fate that I will share in welcoming after the traumas of last year.

There's always the sideshow attraction of seeing just how many friends Aron Gunnarsson can get on Facebook. Currently about 4,200 more than me.