But two days ago, Chris Sutton pretty much took the words out of my mouth with a brilliant, but equally balanced, piece on the fact that Knapper can’t be the one solely culpable.

Like most fans - and also Sutton - I agree that Knapper’s track record since arriving at the club has left a lot to be desired.

Millions flunked on foreign flops and a club seemingly going backwards since the play-off securing situation he inherited back in 2024.

But equally, and as Sutton rightly says, these players faltering so dramatically this season are the exact same ones many of us were hailing as world-beaters last term and, therefore, does Clement not have certain questions to answer?

Again, Clement is clearly a fine coach and obviously has significant credit in the bank for the escape act he memorably masterminded last season.

And, of course, this squad that Knapper assembled does still look thin in certain areas, particularly in midfield in the absence of Kenny McLean.

But on the whole, the bulk of this team is identical to the one we were waxing lyrical about earlier this year so, surely, is it that unreasonable to ask why Clement is struggling to recreate the sort of performances he pioneered last term?

Moving on from Sutton’s broader point - and again, Knapper is far from blameless in this whole debacle - it’s been interesting to consider, and speak to others, about why Clement is failing to get the best out of his players so far.

Having spent the day filming with Harry Redknapp at his salubrious Sandbanks retreat this week, the legendary former manager was curious as to what was going wrong at a club he had down as certain pre-season promotion contenders.

I outlined many of the points made above and, while he may have managed in a previous era, the former Tottenham boss largely agreed that the bulk of this surely has to be on the coaching given the continuity we saw over the summer.

In a modern world dominated by tactical talk and terminology, Redknapp - perhaps unsurprisingly - insisted that 90pc of management is about getting the best out of players as people, keeping them happy and ensuring they are in the right frame of mind to express themselves on the pitch.

So, in other words, man management, as opposed to anything relating to ‘inverted full-backs’, systems and any of these new metrics that contain the letter ‘X’.

When Clement took over almost 12 months ago, many of these players knew they were fighting for their Championship lives and only a dramatic upturn in performances would keep both them, and the club, safe.

So perhaps, Clement’s hard-hitting, ruthless and tough love approach was exactly what was needed to get them back firing on all cylinders.

At the time, ruling with an iron fist was exactly what was required to set City on the road to recovery - and clearly, the imposing former Rangers boss got a hugely positive response.

With less on the line this season, perhaps these same players are simply not responding to such methods in the same way?

I have seen some suggest that what happened from January onwards was merely a new manager bounce, a team playing with their tails up and enjoying a firmly upward trajectory.

But let’s be honest, it was surely much more than that - a well-coached, well-drilled Championship side who were one of the best in the division throughout the second half of the season.

Fundamentally, Clement’s approach galvanised these players - and assuming he too hasn’t changed anything over the summer, such tactics clearly aren’t working so effectively.

Perhaps part of it is the relentless rotation we’ve become used to since the start of this season, with certain players knowing no matter how well they perform, they’re likely to be rested just around the corner.

Admittedly, I am far from a scientist or medical expert, but even if there are merits behind that strategy, surely it can’t be good for motivation and fuelling players desperate to make a good impression?

Whatever is happening, Clement is clearly struggling to extract similar results out of a squad he did so almost effortlessly last term, a fit, hungry and energetic group of players who stopped at nothing to propel themselves up the table.

Now, what we’re seeing unfold on the pitch looks to be the almost polar opposite of that - second best, lethargic and lacking any form of cohesion.

I still do believe things can turn, but whatever we think of Knapper, it’s ultimately down to Clement to sort this out in the short-term and somehow find a way of emulating the exploits that captured our hearts last term.