West Ham was left with enough egg on its face to make omelettes for its entire squad. The club's appeal against an appeal to try to find a loophole that would enable Andy Carroll to get off his red card ended in predictable failure, leaving the club with a six-figure legal bill.
Had West Ham been successful, the Football Association's disciplinary system, hardly the best in the world, would have been left in chaos with clubs queuing up to appeal against unsuccessful appeals. The Hammers must have known they were doomed to failure, the fact that they proceeded with a second appeal against Carroll's dismissal merely underlining their desperation and reliance on a striker who has spent more time on the physio table than the pitch since his arrival from Liverpool in August 2012.
We are not talking Luis Suarez or Sergio Aguero here, Carroll has played only four games this season without scoring, yet as West Ham battle against relegation, a player whose main strength is his strength (legal or otherwise) suddenly became indispensable.