David Moyes, by his own colourful admission, is choking on a lump in the back of his throat caused by the shuddering end to Everton's progress this season.
Moyes saw progress of sorts as Everton's display deserved more than defeat in the Merseyside derby against Liverpool - but one glance at the Scot's pained expression in the aftermath revealed his suffering.
There have been better weeks at Goodison Park. Everton's football and financial future is on an uneasy footing after the grim loss at Hull City and the rejection of a ground move designed to signpost a new start, so this unfortunate reverse rounded it off badly.
Moyes was in no mood for consolation, not even via praise for Everton's spirited efforts against Liverpool or by being informed of a favourable home draw against Carlisle in the FA Cup. No good news. Not this week.
Everton are now in trouble after only one win in 11 games and as Moyes said: "Lots of encouragement but it doesn't change the position."
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Harry Redknapp had spent his night freezing in Villa Park's driving rain - but radiated the warm glow of satisfaction after watching Tottenham emerge as prime contenders to shatter the Premier League's glass ceiling.
Spurs showed they can take candy from a baby with the best of them when they scored nine against what eventually amounted to little more than an open goal against Wigan Athletic last Sunday.
Arguably a better example of Redknapp's work in renewing Spurs, and a more reliable measure of their chances of breaking into the top four, came as they earned a thoroughly deserved point at Aston Villa, a club with pretensions on a par with their own.
It was a game in which Tottenham's hearts and minds were tested. Foul weather, fired up opponents heavy on pace and power determined to put Redknapp's men through the wringer - and yet it was classic counter-punchers Villa who were clinging on at the end.
Spurs may not have scored nine goals and claimed three points, but Redknapp may just have got as much pleasure out of how his side went about their business here as he did in the Wigan rout.
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Bill Kenwright witnessed the unpalatable present as he suffered the latest evidence of Everton's decline in defeat at Hull City - and was then left to digest an uncertain future.
If enduring a first 45 minutes described as "right up there with the worst of them since I have been here" by manager David Moyes was not bad enough, news had started to filter out that the government had rejected Everton's proposals for a new 50,000-seater stadium in Kirkby.
This contentious, controversial project was Kenwright's big attempt to allow Everton to mix with the Premier League's big-hitters, a magnet to attract the new investment that has eluded him for years and an escape from the financial straitjacket that has stunted the club's progress.
The decision by communities secretary John Denham represents a huge personal setback for Kenwright and is the third time Everton have tried and failed to leave Goodison Park - twice under the current regime.
With Kirkby seemingly dead, there is now the inescapable sense that theatre impresario Kenwright is running out of road on which to take Everton forward under his stewardship.
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Liverpool supporters have grown up on the tales of great European nights at Anfield - the Champions League visit of Fiorentina next month will not provide any.
The supreme insignificance of the game, simply a fulfilment of Liverpool's fixtures after their exit from the group stage on Tuesday, will be a painful embarrassment to manager Rafael Benitez and his team.
Liverpool's place at European football's top table has been taken as read given they habitually reached the later stages of the Champions League.
Now a meaningless meeting with already-qualified Fiorentina will amount to little more than a warm-up for the fight for scraps in the Europa League, a competition that has barely registered on Liverpool's consciouness, a tournament they were happy to leave to the likes of neighbours Everton and Fulham.
The miracle Liverpool hoped would save their Champions League campaign did not materialise as Fiorentina beat Lyon in Florence. And the pressure mounts on Benitez to salvage something from the mounting wreckage of his season, despite victory against Debrecen in Hungary.
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Manchester City's ambition off the pitch knows no limits - so it would be ironic indeed if a lack of ambition on it was to pull the rug from under Mark Hughes and his brave new world.
The expensive symbols of their desire to dismantle the Premier League's established order were dotted all over Anfield in a meeting with Liverpool that was custom made to measure the scale of Manchester City's threat this season.
Instead, confronted by a Liverpool team short on confidence and shorn of key personnel before and during the game, City's negativity betrayed a lack of conviction that raises serious questions about their ability to muscle in on the top four.
Hughes - having painted a decidedly rose-tinted picture of how City were the better team in an undistinguished, messy affair - railed at justified suggestions in his post-match briefing that a more positive tactical approach might have brought greater reward.
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Sir Alex Ferguson's touchline ban does not kick in until after Everton's visit to Manchester United on Saturday - so he can keep an eye on a potential Old Trafford prize at close quarters.
Everton's line-up is likely to contain Jack Rodwell, the elegant rising star who is fast-becoming the most wanted teenage talent in English football.
Rodwell's name was noted long ago by Ferguson and Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is also a huge admirer. Now the tall 18-year-old, who signed a new five-year contract at Everton in February, has attracted attention from potential new suitors in Chelsea and Manchester City because of his rapid development under David Moyes.
But after Rodwell exchanged shirts with Rio Ferdinand following Everton's FA Cup semi-final win against United last season, speculation is mounting that he is being lined up to claim the shirt on a permanent basis at Old Trafford in the future as the England defender's eventual successor.
So how long will it be before Everton's resolve to keep one of the game's bright young stars is tested again, as it was when Wayne Rooney left for United after Euro 2004? And would it be in the best interests of Rodwell to leave with his career only in its infancy?
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James Milner and Darren Bent boarded the plane back from Qatar with England careers heading in opposite directions - one can make plans for the 2010 Fifa World Cup in South Africa while the other will regret the opportunity that got away.
Milner, in the stifling heat of Doha and in the face of Brazil's vastly superior range of talent, demonstrated the intelligence and versatility that surely convinced coach Fabio Capello of his worth next summer.
For Bent, substituted after 54 minutes of fruitless sweat and toil, this was probably his last chance to impress on Capello a talent that works well in the Premier League but has failed to make an impact at England level.
And as he trudged off disconsolately, and in the almost certain knowledge his World Cup hopes were over, it was hard not to sympathise with the Sunderland striker.
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England's shadow squad may only be the sideshow for the latest date on Brazil's world tour - but vital auditions will take place in Doha's Khalifa Stadium on Saturday.
Brazil's desire to play lucrative friendlies far from home means England's players are closer to Qatar's Singing Sand Dunes than Rio's Copacabana, but incentive is not something Fabio Capello's players should have to search for.
Capello's countdown to the World Cup started the moment the final whistle sounded on an impressive qualifying campaign with victory over Belarus at Wembley.
So while the names on Capello's team-sheet to face Dunga's Brazil may not evoke memories of classic past meetings between these two superpowers, the game represents an opportunity for some to play their way on to - or maybe off - the plane to South Africa next summer.
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The Premier League is starting to settle down as we move into November - and England start their World Cup preparations with a friendly against Brazil in Doha on Saturday.
This gives us plenty to discuss so it is time for another Q&A session and the chance for everyone to have a debate around the title race and England's prospects.
Given my apparently controversial - and now it would seem completely incorrect - prediction that Liverpool would win the Premier League, we could have devoted one entirely to events at Anfield.
There are plenty of Liverpool questions to answer, and many others as well. I simply could not answer them all so apologies if I have not included you this time - there will be many more opportunities in future.
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Sir Alex Ferguson called it "one of the great pleasures of managing this football club."
The source of Ferguson's excitement was the last six minutes against CSKA Moscow and United's enduring ability to fashion an unlikely escape from the tightest corners at the last possible moment with a big finish.
United's were at it again as a rare Paul Scholes header and Antonio Valencia's deflected shot clawed back CSKA's 3-1 lead in that frantic finale and stretched their unbeaten home record in the Champions League to 23 games.
Ferguson could just as easily have been talking about the luxury of being able to launch Wayne Rooney, and you could almost use the word literally for the way he went about his business on Tuesday, into action when things get rough.
Football's most famous new father may have been short on sleep just a day after the birth of his son Kai, but he woke a dozing Old Trafford from its slumbers and made sure Ferguson got the point that fulfilled his wish for early qualification for the Champions League group phase.
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