A bitter north wind whipped through the old Liverpool docks, a mile as the crow flies from Goodison Park, and the sky was slate grey, just like the mood around the club who have been docked ten points and now await whatever storms may follow.
But the scene behind the vast granite wall where Everton’s new stadium is being built was one of utter incongruity, given the state of crisis the club find themselves in.
There were 1,100 people on site on Wednesday at the club’s new Bramley Moore Dock Stadium - where tasks completed this week have included the lowering into place of the concrete blocks which will form the players’ tunnel, the application of finishing touches to the vast glazed frontage and the erection of the huge lighting columns which will illuminate the fan park in the lee of that main entrance.