IT IS at this point in proceedings that clubs ditch any pretence of subtlety and staple into the centre of their match-day programmes a polite reminder that the time has come for Joe Punter to dig deep and renew his season ticket.
It is a period for forgiveness, for togetherness. The message is always the same things can get better and with the help of the cash YOU can ill afford, things will get better. The talk turns to unity and to shared-ambition; the great divide between cold institution and freezing cold flesh and blood is closed, albeit temporarily.
Everton's plea for the pound in their supporters' pockets did not appear on Saturday which hints at a more pronounced sense of timing in the boardroom than out on the pitch. Somewhere in the back of manager Joe Royle's mind lurks the very real fear that Everton's wretched season is actually going to end in relegation. Can you imagine that?
The wheels have come off - again - and even a man rightly feted for an ability to inject humour into the bleakest, most dismal of scenarios is struggling to cope.
Royle is more Lennie Henry than Lenny Bruce at the moment and it is painful to watch. Not as painful as watching his side, but almost. "We were awful against what was a depleted Arsenal side," he said, His ashen face untroubled by emotion.
"In the first half we were nothing. It was poor and it is just not good enough." Royle believes 40 points will definitely be sufficient to extend his club's increasingly tempestuous relationship with the Premiership - which begs the admittedly sarcastic question, where precisely are they going to get eight points from?
Arsenal lacked a clutch of front-line players yet still won in a canter, more pointedly they did so without once being required to break stride. As their manager, Arsene Wenger suggested afterwards, had his side not chosen to defend with such stoic diligence after achieving an early breakthrough Everton would possibly have been humiliated rather than merely exposed as witless and clueless.
"There was a lack of risk in our football during the second half because, after a bad week, my players wanted to make sure they won the game. That was understandable and, really, I admire them for it," said Wenger.
Everton were embarrassed, yes, but their football was so gutless and threadbare they actually deserved a far worse fate. They will struggle for just as long as the rudiments of the game are beyond them and while the likes of David Unsworth find themselves on the team sheet.
Astonishingly, the young centre back, with all the grace and appeal of a fully laden skip, has played for England. It was his appalling first half performance - he did not reappear after the interval - which all but condemned Everton to defeat, for once he had ducked beneath Nigel Winterburn's lofted pass to allow Dennis Bergkamp to sprint forwards and score, there was to be no way back.
Ian Wright's even more clinical finish just six minutes later was fair reward for Arsenal's colourful football, but by that point Everton had just about given up
