Blame it on the bogeyman

I should have been full of confidence last night. Örebro on a winning streak at home to a team in the lower regions of the table, and Spurs building on the flying start to the season in the Europa League (5-0 away to Hearts) with a nothing to lose belated league opener on old Trafford against a team missing their so important centre backs.

If it wasn't for the fact that it was the night of horror and always destined to be. The night when the bogeyman was coming. Twice. Accompanied by a suitable thunderstorm outside, Mjällby first beat Örebro 2-0, tagged with Manchester United who 15 minutes later came out to beat Spurs 3-0.

Spurs' story with ManU is well known. Now eight consecutive losses and 25 games in a row without a win on Old Trafford. And counting. It's not only that.  This is the stadium where the curse is so obvious that the powers that be cannot make us lose in a normal manner, but rather like this this (ref thought ball did not cross the line) or like that.

Cruel, but not as cruel as Örebro SK's story with Mjällby. I started seeing some Örebro games with my dad in the 1984 season. Not many, but we always won. In an eight-year-old's mind, that creates a certain logic and a sufficient statistical foundation for an expectation that that's they way it will always be. And Örebro really won many games that season, ending up winning the northern branch of the second division and qualifying for a play-off against little Mjällby. We lost the away game 1-0 but that did not bother me much. I would be there for the return game at home, we would sort this out. We would win 2-0, I was sure, I even pictured the goal scorers in my mind (Urban Hammar and Tommy Ståhl (!) would score). I still carry with me a bit of that emptiness that was my soul on the ride back home after a humiliating 3-0 defeat. The word Mjällby still makes me shiver.

It would take 21 years before we met again, in the second division. We won all four games in 2005 and 2006, we were promoted and I thought I never had to worry about Mjällby again. But then this village team made it to the top flight again, and it was obvious that the spell is still there. We lost at home in the league, we lost at home in the cup, we lost away. And this year, we lost away, and, that's right, last night we lost at home. 5-0 to the bogeyteam in 16 months' time.

And 5-0 to the bogeyman last night.