CARIBOU CUP. FOREST 0 LEED 2

As you know, we don't do cup reports, but if we did, we would have to make heavy use of the verb appear. Using appear is a bit of smartarse journalese which allows the writer to suggest an idea without fully committing to it. So, in last night's game, for example, the players appeared to be uncomfortable in a system they appeared not to like or understand. It appears we are not to blame the manager's inflexibility for this, but the players' inability to adapt. All of them. It appears that we are to accept that Glasner's teams begin slowly, and that we may have to wait up to six games before we stop losing results begin to stabilize. It appears we have to admit that the players we have are rubbish, that the late flurry of transfer activity has nothing to do with panic, that everything will be all right because, at the end of the day, we always win.

Appearances, it should be noted, can be deceptive.