The end of an era.......

Regular visitors to the PUB forum will be aware that the now legendary BCN Sports Bar appears to have closed it's doors for the last time. Whilst it's sudden demise is shrouded in mystery, a la Scooby Doo, the fact remains that the 'home away from home' of the PUB is no more.

Whilst not a visitor myself, I have been kept entertained via the forum with numerous tales of great times that were had there, under the watchful eye of honorary PUB members Carlos and Virginia. It is therefore appropriate to raise a glass to them both and wish them well. 'Look to the future now' as Noddy once sang.

Which brings me conveniently to matters pertaining to the manager of this glorious football club of ours. Baffling team selections, constantly outwitted tactically and a propensity to transport me back to the heady days of my youth..................I can almost see Mike Reid now 'ger ger ger ger GO......runaround'. In far too many important games recently the blaugrana have looked liked a leaderless group of headless chickens, Rijkaard content to warm himself in his Recaro pitchside.

Tant se val d'on venim - it doesn't matter where we come from. What does matter is that when we travel hundreds of miles and spend our hard earned, we want to see a well drilled, well performing, expertly managed group of players.

Where is the passion, the fire, the leadership that we cules expect, nay demand. Instead we get a Sven clone, who is happy to let games pass by without a 'Plan B' for when things go awry. And how.

Franco's team must be amongst the worst to wear the all white shirt, yet they maintain a healthy 7 point lead over us. That is just not acceptable. Rijkaard tends to eulogise on the quality of the team, the mentality, the maturity. This has been missing on too many occasions this year. Only Celtic away springs to mind as a game this season where we have played to anything like our true potential, Messi the only consistent performer in my opinion.

The chase for silverware, stage 1 of 3, starts tomorrow in a must win Copa del Rey semi final 2nd leg at the Mestalla. The wolves can be kept at bay for a few days with a decent result here. It will not gloss over the cracks though, and with us fast approaching the business end of La Liga, it is imperative that Senor Frank gets his preparation spot on.

That said, I don't think I'm alone in thinking the writing is already on the wall, scrawled high in permanent marker - 'FRANK OUT'.

It remains to be seen if the Rijkaard era is coming to an end, Laporta still insisting that the dutchman 'represents the acceptable face of Barca'. Depending on who you believe, Wenger, Mourinho, Benitez, Laudrup et al are all waiting in the wings, the portuguese being the most likely candidate to pick at the bones of a dramatically underperforming blaugrana team.

Can we forego our attacking traditions, our 'total' football style, for the long ball game favoured by Jose. Would the likelihood of silverware seduce us into buying into the Mourinho school of ethics?

The fat lady has begun to warble..........will it be long before she is singing like the proverbial canary..........