At Goodison it seemed we couldn’t wait to give the ball to a blue shirt or knock it into touch or back to Pepe Reina, sometimes from initially promising positions which went horribly wrong somewhere in midfield.

But credit where it’s due; we managed to carve out a much-needed victory over the self-appointed ‘People’s Club’ through strength of will and, at times, sheer bloody-mindedness on the part of Reina, Carragher and Mascherano.

While others struggled to throw off the torpor of disappointment from the midweek exit from the Champions League, or pined for horse placenta in their plastic Lucozade bottles, these three literally threw their bodies into the breach, showing resilience that others need to find from within their aching limbs and souls.

Meanwhile, just when you thought you could no longer be appalled by any fresh revelations of the financial unreality of modern football, the Premier League has declared the amounts paid to agents by each club over the last 12 months.

As I prepared to chortle at the mugs of Manchester City being ripped off by Del Boys of all colours and creeds, I choked instead on my Latte Macchiato as Liverpool were pronounced third in this table of treachery, with these parasites having pocketed £6.7m of our cash. For what?

Bringing the likes of Dossena and Degen to my door?

If players want to pay these vipers for negotiating good deals on their behalf, that’s up to them.

But don’t give my season ticket money to leeches who just make a couple of phone calls.