The question asked most frequently of England's Premiership over the past few weeks has been: "Are the players out of control?"
Manchester United players' hounding of officials has been the starting point for a lot of these legitimate inquiries and the behaviour of Roy Keane and Jaap Stam at St James' Park on Saturday merely added to their worthiness.
It was rather appealing that Stam devoted his column in Saturday's Daily Telegraph to the matter and, unsurprisingly, came to the conclusion that the pictures looked worse than the reality. A couple of hours later, Keane was maybe reading it in the bath when Stam was booked - for abusing a linesman. Good to retain a sense of perspective, don't you think?
Other stories from Saturday's Premiership included Kenny Cunningham and the fight at the end of the tunnel at Stamford Bridge. Then there was the mass brawl between Leeds and Spurs players at Elland Road. The out-of-control question feels more relevant than ever.
It has, therefore, superseded once again another question that has dogged the game in general over the past six months: "Has the bubble burst?" Initially this was provoked by the deflating sight of row upon row of empty blue seats against which matches at Villa Park were being played out. At Pride Park, Derby, Filbert Street, Leicester and at Hillsborough, Sheffield, the situation was being replicated. This, too, was a valid question.
The statisticians set to work. Their findings were surprising. Not only were attendances not plummeting, they were actually rising. Clubs such as Sunderland and Leeds were responsible. A cynical reply to that, however, would be that places like Sunderland and Leeds will always be the protective blanket.
A more informative situation might be found by observing the only Premiership club located between the two cities, Middlesbrough, especially in light of a statement made by Boro's chairman Steve Gibson at the weekend. Surveying a season that began with inflated expectations of a top-six finish and a first ever European spot, and which instead sees Boro two places and four points away from the relegation zone and out of both cups, Gibson announced that the next level of enlarging the Riverside Stadium had been put on hold.
"Two years ago we were very confident that it was (a) something which we could deliver, and (b) it was something which would be supported by the fans. At that time we had a season-ticket sell-out and 5,000 people on the waiting list," said Gibson. "But we were very aware and very conscious that we were not allowing a substantial section of the community to visit the Riverside, either because it was too expensive or because we didn't have the space. Taking it to 42,000 would allow us to do both of those things. Unfortunately there are one or two signs that the support has fallen off. We hope to bring it back, but perhaps 42,000 has to be put in the slow lane for the time being."
Tonight, when Middlesbrough host Aston Villa, it will be interesting to see how close the attendance comes to the current 35,000 capacity. Villa's away following this season has been paltry and they go to Everton in the FA Cup quarter-final on Sunday.
But, as Gibson says, it is within Middlesbrough where the crowd has dropped off. Disillusionment is the reason. Bryan Robson has spent £68 million over the past five years, £44 million of which has been recouped. But Boro have still to win a first major trophy. This season, despite a potential midfield line-up of Juninho, Paul Ince, Paul Gascoigne and Christian Ziege, they look as far away as ever.
The fans feel their hopes have been raised artificially by Robson, and they focus on the £3.5 million signing of his old mate Gascoigne as evidence of Robson's managerial incompetence. Gascoigne, who has not played since early December, has scored one goal this season.
To answer one question, yes, Robson's Boro bubble has burst. Nothing like a couple of wins disperses apathy, though, and Robson has recently taken to reminding locals of the sub-10,000 crowds at Ayresome Park when he arrived. The Riverside has come and grown since then. But it is one small sign of the times that one of the nouveau riche is cutting back.
