You can take your choice from any of the above words to describe Saturday's display away to Chelsea.

The Blues were in irresistible form at Stamford Bridge, while we weren't even at the races.

Had Phil Scolari's side pressed their advantage in the latter stages then this could have been the cricket score that Roy Keane had warned of.

Keane came under fire for his team selection, and you have to admit that this game might not have been the best time to tinker with things so dramatically.

Much has been made in particular about the Sunderland boss's decision to start with South Shields youngster Martyn Waghorn and to bring on young substitute Jordan Henderson for his first-team debut.

But let's be fair, this woeful defeat was down to neither of the youngsters.

There were much older and more experienced heads on the field, who failed to step up to the plate.

Pushed back by the hosts, we fell into the fatal trap of defending too deep – although in some instances, describing our efforts as any sort of defence is stretching things somewhat.

So the Black Cats were left to lick their wounds and walk away from the Bridge with their tails between their legs.

And you can expect that knee-jerk reactions will have been in full flow over the weekend.

The strange thing is that had the Wearsiders taken something from their midweek clash against Stoke, the doom clouds may not have seemed so dark.

Of course, they didn't, and that just compounded the misery piled on us by the Chelsea debacle.

And maybe the scoreline paints a gloomier picture than normal.

Had we come away from the capital with a 2-0 defeat, that may have seemed acceptable against a side who look like they might run away with the title this term.

But the manner of our capitulation and the scoreline made it hard to swallow.

Still, as Keane himself would say, we move on.

As gutting as Saturday was, it wasn't really a major shock.

We are still some way off being able to cut it with the likes of Chelsea when they are at the top of their game, and anyone who thinks otherwise is kidding themselves.

This season is all about getting 40 points on the board and then seeing if we can kick on from there.

I look forward to the day when we can give the likes of the Blues, Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool a run for their money, but it's some way off.

Yes, a lot of money has been spent to strengthen the squad.

Yes, the loyal fans forced to fork out a fortune to witness the hammering deserve better.

But it is going to take time to get this club where we all want it to be, and there are going to be dark days like this along the way.

Keep the faith.