Delusions of grandeur

It was inevitable that the bit of Derek Llambiarse's most recent interview that would make the headlines would be his use of the word "naive" in relation to the current regime in their treatment of Kevin Keegan.

But let's overlook that hint of self-reflective criticism and forget for an instant that that naivety is absolutely inexcusable - if Mike Ashley didn't already know exactly what it meant to the fans to bring King Kev back, then he certainly should have done given our reaction to the news - and focus instead on an equally preposterous statement in the same interview: "We have got a great squad, I mean when you look at the squad if they are all fit and up to it we are right up there."

When was the last time the whole squad was all (a) fit and (b) "up to it"? Even those of us with long memories would struggle to think back that far. And what exactly does "right up there" mean? Because if it means "chasing the European places", then all the recent noises about knowing how much work there is to be done and how difficult it's going to be to turn things around have clearly just been hot air - he and his puppet-master are still living in cloud cuckoo land. The fact that they seem to think a summer investment of between £10m and £15m will be enough to take us forward is just further evidence - it'll take more than that just to keep us up. If we survive the drop this time around, that is...