The annual Hull City fans forum takes place tonight and will be broadcast live on BBC Radio Humberside. One assumes that Paul Duffen and Phil Brown, and probably Brian Horton, will be fending off the questions. The fact that they will need to do any fending at all is a sad indication of how much some Hull City fans currently expect.
Perspective is never easy, neither is satisfaction. After years of attaining and achieving nothing, it's sickening and depressing to hear some of the witless comments from impatient, humourless people who, one suspects, laughed at Hull City during the depressive decades and only became interested at Wembley time.
Rarely are these events used as a reason to offer support and thanks to a manager or chairman. In Hull City's case, we've had so many charlatans in each role down the yeas that it seems bred in each fan to view the good, successful ones with suspicion and get a kick out of knocking them. This is why I don't attend fans forums nor partake in phone-ins, as I find myself wanting to dissociate myself with those who do.
Tonight, Brown and Duffen will be required to maintain their cool as crazy, groundless accusations about Jimmy Bullard's fitness are thrown their way. Their communication has been clumsy over Bullard's availability, but some supporters are labelling the hierarchy "liars". Aside from the fact that supporters don't need to know everything, it seems that the loudest protestors are the ones with the least gumption, the lowest sense of realism and the greatest sense of their own importance. I suspect that while Brown accepts such loathsome individuals as part of the job, Duffen will be the one who is more inclined to shout back.
Since the last forum, we've been to Wembley and enjoyed the most magnificent, emotional and significant day of our lives. That may barely get a mention tonight. Neither will the euphoric day at Arsenal, the pride at Liverpool, the tenacity at Chelsea. No, we'll get lamebrains claiming Bullard is crocked and they should have known, plus guff about Geovanni being undroppable and that we should cash in on Michael Turner right now.
I'm daring myself not to tune in, but I probably will. The club isn't in crisis, but the team is not on form and Brown is feeling pressure, undeservedly, for the first time. Gratifyingly there is no sign of a strain between chairman and manager as the Tigers continue to plunge towards the drop zone, and my primary hope is that credit is offered for the amazing progress the club has made under these two men.
This is not blind apologism and there are queries to be answered. Duffen hasn't acted brilliantly when defending the membership schemes that have allowed hypercritical, clueless (but wealthy) nu-fans in (the type who attend games more to dine and then drool over the opposition) and stopped long-term devotees who saw Chris Hargreaves spectacularly fail to score a goal and Lee Bracey forget that goalkeeping involved catching the ball from getting in. The rumoured decision to scrap Away Direct - the automatic upfront away ticketing scheme for season ticket holders - is absolutely scandalous and I hope that he will be told so.
Brown, however, I find very hard to criticise. I suspect that Geovanni does need to be loved and cajoled more, as he remains our best individual hope for survival, but if he's disruptive or playing poorly, he has to be dropped. And, as much as Matt Duke is admirable, I still think Boaz Myhill is far better and defenders are more comfortable with him behind them. But given how much he has got right, the slack he deserves cutting in his direction is considerable. Whether he'll get that slack tonight from the crisis-lovers who can only see a one win in 17 Premier League games sequence is another matter entirely.
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