THOUSANDS of minds are in torment, searching through the scores of incidents over the course of 39 weeks that effectively cost Wanderers that priceless single point.

It's a natural instinct, when your team has been relegated, to look for reasons, excuses - even scapegoats.

When your fate has been sealed in the closing minutes of the last game of the season and you're down on goal difference it can become sheer psychological torture.

The 'goal that never was', which brought its bitterly ironic twist when it came down to a head to head between Wanderers and Everton eight months later; Gaetano Giallanza's 'equaliser' against Leeds; the disallowed penalty at Spurs ...!

But all the might-have-beens amount to nothing when the league table shows you have been relegated.

The fact is that a season that kicked off with such high expectations and optimism, ended in deep, deep disappointment and the question of a ball being a foot or two over the Everton line back on September 1 surely can't be responsible for so much heartache.

In fact an earlier incident in that game probably had a greater bearing on Wanderers' fortunes. Robbie Elliott broke his leg in what appeared an inconsequential challenge with Tony Thomas, depriving Wanderers of an immensely talented young player for the rest of the campaign.

It was one of a series of setbacks that robbed Colin Todd of key players at vital stages of the season. But the manager would no more harp on about injuries than he would blame the disciplinary procedure for the various suspensions that have hit his selection plans.

He has made the point that he's struggled for continuity but he didn't look for excuses at the time and he isn't looking for sympathy now.

Not that he hasn't looked back in anger and agony at particular events that contributed to Wanderers' downfall.

"Losing out to Everton on goal difference takes some getting used to," Todd says in exasperation.

"You obviously question what's gone wrong. But you can't point to just one thing.

"It's all history now but I look back at the home games against Barnsley and Southampton, for instance, when we could only manage a draw. No disrespect to them but they were six-pointers we really had to win."

More fundamentally, however, the manager believes Wanderers were all too often their own worst enemies. "We brought trouble on ourselves by trying to play too much," he accepts now.

When it is just for the want of five goals there's a temptation to point the finger at the strikeforce. But there's more to it than that and, as skipper Gudni Bergsson rightly points out: "It's a team game and we all have to look at ourselves. I wouldn't blame any one area of the team for the way things have gone."

It all started so positively and encouragingly at Southampton, where Nathan Blake crucially converted one of a number of chances to clinch an opening day win that suggested it would be Dave Jones and his Saints who were destined for a relegation fight.

Anyone suggesting on that sunny afternoon in August that Wanderers would go eight months before registering their second away win would have been carted off into the shade to cool off.

A point at Coventry, where they'd trailed 2-0, showed fighting spirit but missed chances and defensive mistakes at Barnsley were signs of things to come.

There seemed to be no cause for alarm as fans were made to wait for the first win at the Reebok. At least they didn't lose to Everton, Manchester United or Spurs.

The home defeat by Villa was a setback but Dean Holdsworth's winner against Chelsea eased the tension and suggested things were looking up for both the team and the record signing on whom so many hopes were riding.

There were hiccups: the 4-1 defeat at Arsenal was an early reminder of the gulf between the Premiership's best and the rest and the 5-0 hammering at Sheffield Wednesday proved that even the worst have the potential to run amok! It was the bitterest of blows and left supporters with that sinking feeling. But the recovery was encouraging - a hard-earned draw at Leicester and successive 1-0 home wins against Wimbledon and Newcastle hoisted Wanderers to a comfortable 13th place in the table and suggested they'd finally started to get to grips with Premier League business.

Unfortunately it was downhill from that point on.

They might have rescued a point at Blackburn and managed a draw in a bizarre game against Derby at the Reebok but things were shaping up for a long, hard winter.

Failure to win home games against Barnsley, Southampton and West Ham was bad enough but the real sickener came with the 5-1 home defeat by Coventry. It was a catastrophic collapse that had the team with top ten aspirations now being strongly tipped for another instant return to the Nationwide League.

They were repeatedly written off, losing narrowly at Spurs and again at Liverpool before they ended a three and a half month winless streak at home to Sheffield Wednesday.

Todd had pulled a surprise tactical stroke, switching to a three centre-back formation that not only stopped the rot but actually turned despair into genuine hope.

Wins followed against Leicester and Blackburn and they gave Champions-elect Arsenal a real run for their money. But successive reverses at Derby and at home to Leeds even sowed doubts in Todd's mind.

Then came the result that breathed new life into the survival squad. A 3-1 win at Aston Villa set up a dramatic end to the season. Suddenly Wanderers were on a high and Everton were in freefall.

The crushing of Crystal Palace on the penultimate weekend lifted Todd's bravehearts out of the bottom three for the first time since early January and there was no question which club was the more confident approaching Sunday's final games.

It was drama right to the end but the season was summed up on that sweltering afternoon at Stamford Bridge. Missed chances, when they were on top, defensive errors when they needed to be solid ..

Optimism gave way to heartbreak, smiles turned to tears.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.