As the game warmed up, Lee Carsley, making his Birmingham debut and sporting the captain's arm-band, was leading by example, throwing himself into tackles and haring around the pitch in an effort to inspire his lacklustre team-mates.
Castleford secured their place in the play‑offs with a thumping win over a lacklustre Harlequins team.
The sport had been rocked by corruption scandals with officials being jailed for match-fixing and taking bribes, while the lacklustre national team also contributed to a lack of faith in the homegrown game.
Men and women, driven on by far too much "Dutch courage" screamed at the television, imploring a strangely lacklustre Brazilian team to put the game beyond doubt.
Perhaps New York were already looking forward to that final game on the road, as a lacklustre Red Bulls team were convincingly beaten by a Columbus team for whom Wil Trapp and Tony Tchani underlined the great years they have had with dominant midfield performances that had New York on the back foot throughout.
A deeply intellectual theologian, the current Pope has struggled to win over non-Catholics thanks, in part, to a lacklustre Vatican publicity team that is bad at firefighting, or explaining the nuances of papal vocabulary.
Mike coaches a lacklustre high-school wrestling team.
Blake Griffin, a star player for the Los Angeles Clippers, blamed his team's lacklustre performance at home on disloyal or bored fans.
Despite winning the trophy, Herrera was widely criticised by spectators and pundits for his team's lacklustre performances in the Gold Cup, the regional tournament for Concacaf nations.
AS Brazilians take stock of their football team's lacklustre progress through the World Cup, they might want to think instead about someone with unimpeachable credentials as a national hero.
