years with the same one. The thrill is not so much in the fact that it's better flesh as different flesh.
I mean, it’s not as if we haven’t been here before in recent memory, considering the possibility we’re ready to challenge. People talk as if we’ve been totally devoid of hope for years and years, but in actual fact last season was the first in which there wasn’t a single period where it looked possible that we might challenge.
So while the current optimism is entirely natural and justified, it does feel a bit like people are simply enjoying the fact they’re getting to stick it in a new bird for the first time in years. Alas, the new bird won’t be a new bird forever.
Anyway, all of which is to say I’m not really sure what would represent progress under the new fella, but I don’t think we’re quite there yet, unless you measure progress as ‘anything different that isn’t demonstrably worse’. I guess being in touch with the top by the end of October already feels like a step forward, but ultimately anything short of returning us to the CL will have to be considered 'not progress'. And no armchair analysis about "improved work rate" or "the midfielder we've been waiting for" will change that.
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