I'm pretty sure that the last time I posted a screen-grab of the Primera table, Betis were top. Right now they're 14th, just a point above the relegation zone - and floating inexorably downwards like an overfed parachutist.
The powers-that-be held a meeting with Pepe Mel yesterday to bat around reasons for the current appalling run and discuss changes that could be made to snap the team out of its funk. The upshot was that Mel will continue in his for at least another week, but even he can see that this story only has one possible ending unless a win arrives soon. "I'm a football coach and out of the last 27 possible points we've only taken one," he said after the game on Sunday. "I'm not going to offer up my head to anyone when I think I'm able to do something about this, but I'd understand it if they decided to sack me. Under no circumstances can Betis go down to Segunda. I know what's at stake. No-one should worry about me. I can hold my head high, because I know I can't work any hard. I won't lose any sleep tonight. If they sack me, I'll just be one more Bético watching from afar."
It's probably true that a manager who's managed one point from nine games would probably be dismissed from any other club in the top divisions of all the major football countries, but Pepe Mel has a couple of things in his favour.
First, he remains popular with the fans, even if they disagree with tactics and/or object to his team-selection. He's likeable, he's been successful in the past and he's 110 per cent Bético. We would so much rather the team's fortunes were turned round by Pepe Mel than by a gun for hire like, say, Esteban Vigo. The crowd were singing his name in the first half on Sunday and the eventual defeat was greeted more by depressed silence than anger at the coach.
The second thing helping him stay in is job is that it would cost the club around €2million to sack him now, while various clauses in his contract will soon kick-in and reduce this penalty. If, for example, Betis spend three consecutive weeks in the relegation zone, they can get rid of him for free. Similarly, if Betis take fewer than 12 points from their second 10 games of the season, they only have to pay him up to that point. While there's no pressure from the fans, plus time to turn things around, it must be tempting to let events run their course.
Some more thoughts from Sunday's game...
l First off, there are more extended highlights here.You'll see that Betis really should have been four- rather than two-down when they started their comeback.
l We really should admit, I suppose, that the winning goal was pretty sensational - and all the more so for being no fluke. Iñigo Martínez has already scored from his own half this season (in the Basque derby with Athletic Bilbao) and the Sociedad coach claimed they'd discussed how far Casto comes off his line beforehand.
l Ah, Casto. That might be the last we see of him for a while. With summer signing Fabricio recovered from injury and raring to go, Casto was always a clanger away from losing his place and it's hard now to see him retaining his place for the next game. It wasn't just letting in a 56-yard shot, he also gave away a silly penalty (for which he was arguably lucky not to receive a red card, as the Atlético keeper did after a very similar incident the night before).
l Not that he was the only defender to look shaky. Ustaritz and Chica had several dithery misunderstandings, which a better team would have taken more advantage of, and it was easier for Agirretxe to score from a corner than it has been for me just now to spell his name. Not good.
l As I mentioned in the match report, Betis once again looked much too narrow - and that surely has to change if they're to start winning games. Actually, they played a kind of 4-4-2 on Sunday, with Pozuelo mostly on the right and Salva Sevilla on the other side, but neither are wingers so it was really up to the full backs to hug the touchlines going forward. With the team so short on confidence, however, you could see that Nacho and Chica were sometimes reluctant to throw themselves up the pitch - which is why nearly all Betis's attacks (even the two goals) ended up coming through the middle.
l Perhaps that's why substitute Ezequiel helped change the game. Like Jefferson Montero (who was injured on Sunday), he's much more likely to do the wrong thing than to get it right, but the little winger certainly gave the Real Sociedad defence something else to think about - which was something of a tactical leap forward for Betis. He probably deserves a start at some point.
l Ditto Jonathan Pereira. I have a theory that the turning point of the whole season came in the Getafe game back in September when, with Betis 1-0 down, he passed (poorly) when he was through on the keeper and should have shot. If he had done, and scored, he'd have kept his place, Betis wouldn't have started the process of losing their way, and we'd all be happier now. As he showed on Sunday, he's one of the sharpest finishers at the club and he should have been allowed another chance to demonstrate this before now.
That's enough of that. Next up are Osasuna away on Sunday evening.