Bitterly disappointing result but like others have said, not without it's positives. For a long period in the middle of the game, our passing and movement was fantastic and showed Stoke up for what they really are - credit to Ash and Downing.
The midfield was begging for a change to be made at the end but lets hope Houllier has watched and learnt from KM's mistakes because with just a few changes tactically, we have a team capable of performing well again this year.