It was one of the few boasting points of Gareth Southgate's managerial career that Boro had never lost to Arsenal under his stewardship. So much for that record, eh? In the absence of even that most pedantic point of pride this week, I've resolved to keep myself cheerful by cramming this entry with as many ballistics-based metaphors as possible.

So Boro's unlikely ambitions of snatching three points and a ticket out of the relegation zone were efficiently shot down by the Gunners. Cesc Fabregas was the marksman, firing off two lethal shots: one the product of a beautifully orchestrated Arsenal move, the second a composed finish to kill off any chances of Boro recovery.

So the four Must Wins are over and out of twelve realistic points we garnered just four. Before this sequence of winnable fixtures began I prophesised that any less than six points would see us dead and buried.

The draw against Fulham was certainly a crashing disappointment after the glimmer of hope offered by last week's victory over Hull and nothing new there: how many times in the last few months has the emotional tone of these entries veered wildly from one result to the next? And yet, somehow, things don't seem quite that gloomy around Teesside.

What madness is this? Boro actually living up to expectations winning one of these talked-up Must Win games and scoring three goals in the process? Truly, these are strange times.

I'll admit it: I wasn't sure we could actually beat Hull. I was on the verge of writing Boro off after they had squandered countless chances to drag themselves out of the sediment of the drop zone, and when Hull equalised after barely six minutes of being behind my heart sank faster than a Titanic constructed out of masonry. The gut-wrenching feeling of false hope drowned out by a wave of bitter disappointment was all too familiar.

Of course, we defied precedent and went on to win the game, and with favourable results elsewhere hope is now blooming around Teesside once again. We're still not safe but after one uplifting win we don't seem nearly as deep in trouble as we did a weekend ago. And if this is madness, there is method in it.

We're down, aren't we? There isn't going to be some improbable turn-around in form. One win in twenty games (!) and, faced with one of those Must Wins against a team not exactly playing great football right now, we got smashed to pieces.

I think most Boro fans have, by now, grown used to the idea of playing in the Championship next season. It's not quite as painful as it was to see us slump to yet another humiliating defeat. There's only so long you can stand the hurt before you go numb.