Hardly down to earth with an almighty crash was it? More like one of those slightly apologetic stumble-trips that ends with a slightly embarrassed finish position of all fours with no damage done, but a slight bruising to pride.
A huge amount of hyperbole has been spouted since Saturday; the vast majority of which has come from Stan himself. 'There's no one who can touch us at the moment, we are the best team in this division?.nay the world!' ran one line of Stan delusion.
Along with 'I've heard that one of Ched's shots can break a man's arm from 30 yards…' and 'I reckon we can make the rest of the season without conceding more than three goals…' the writing was on the wall that Stan was getting carried away!
Considering the slightly frenetic build-up, once in the ground the whole crowd seemed to sense that there was to be some sort of reality check taking place. Stan took his seat slightly earlier than usual and watched the crowd assemble. There was the odd fissure of excitement, but generally there was a slight edginess about the stadium.
The realisation that we actually had to win real matches to get to the play-offs dawned.
The journey from the very bowels of this division has been in turn excruciating and joyous. It has also been emotionally draining on the fans and players alike. The win at Cardiff not only took us to within sight of the play-offs, but also to genuine safety.
We can now all stand and look down at the writhing morass that is the bottom six or so places of this division with relative comfort.
Considering where we have come from who would begrudge us all a deep breath, a big sigh of relief and the subsequent lighting of a fat cigar whilst just enjoying the view for a moment. Maybe we all deserved to do that for one game at least and to hell with the result. The push for the play-offs can start on Saturday.
Don't get Stan wrong, there was nothing very wrong with the performance it just lacked a certain zip, much like the crowd did. This was partly of our own making, but also thanks to how Hull set out to play. Efficient, effective and not much fun to play against. Phil Brown-Shoes learnt his trade well at Bolton.
As ever we were hugely resilient, we just weren't quite on our game enough to win it. It would be easy to pick out team selection for some of our minor ills, but upon reflection Stan does feel that it was more to do with Hull's ability to nullify City's game than anything self inflicted.
It was an extremely tough game for Kieran Gibbs to make his debut.
If he wanted a harsh introduction to Championship football, he certainly got it. It can't be easy trying to feel your way into a game that is progressing at one hundred miles per hour all around you. It's not just about technique as he rapidly discovered.
It will be intriguing to watch one of Wenger's fledglings develop in the coming months. Stan has no doubt that there is much more to come from him.
Another rather frustrating happening also took place; the Doc's a genius/donkey debate broke out all around Stan once more. Considering how formidable he has been of late and also the quality of those he was facing, with Campbell in particular being threatened, this seemed slightly harsh.
It's clear to everyone that Doc is a confidence player. Jeers and groans are only going to benefit the opposition. The Ginger Pele has done superbly lately. Give the man a break for heaven's sake!
There was a wonderful goal to celebrate, some top draw saves and even a villian of a ref, but for whatever reason it just wouldn't happen; the game and City just wouldn't burst into life. Even the return of the prodigal failed to light the blue touch paper.
Let's just move on. We remain unbeaten and that little bubble of over-expectation has been burst before it reached damaging size.
Saint Glenn talked on Monday about the season being an onslaught. You go from battle to battle and then emerge at the end of the season to discover whether you've won the war. If Stan's honest he thinks Glenn's won the war he initially came here to fight.
However, in doing so he's inadvertently dragged us into another one. One that is likely to see plenty more casualties before the spring is out.
Right then. Which way is Leicester? Charrrrrrrrge!
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