andym

jeez, how did he miss

we have been so sloppy around our box. stupid passes, unable to control the ball. that chance all came from ash giving it away cheaply

we are so pathetic when we have a throw in. we just give it away

cant keep the ball at the moment

**** off ref

need to hold it a bit better around their box, some nice build up but we keep losing it in the final third.

could do with nrc getting a bit more involved, he is quiet and chelsea have a bit too much room at times. same for carew, he looks off the pace

ball bouncing off carew.. hes got to hold it up better

I think GH sees Cuellar and Collins as his right sided central defenders with Dunne and Clark as his left sided ones. Can't see it being any more sinister than that TBH.

yeah thats what i think

gone a bit sloppy the last few minutes

not sure what dunne was doing for vdv's first goal if he had actually gone for the ball instead of jumping on the spot i dont think vdv could have got that header in

also disappointing that on the winner both young and collins lost the header to crouch and vdv was left pretty much all on his own 8 yards out.

some poor communication and defending high balls, which also seemed a problem last week at wolves where we struggled to clear the ball effectively

and on WM there going on about warnock should have gone for that sliding tackle early in the half? he got the ball! only just, but he got it.

He got the ball just after he clipped the Dingle's ankle. If he hadn't already been booked, it would definitely have been a yellow. Very lucky to stay on.

Strange that we saw Lichaj getting prepped to come on but it never happened.

hmm, i thought he got the ball first, perhaps i need to see it again. whatever happened, it could have been avoided if warnock had of controlled the ball properly. he had another shocker today, hes been very poor this season.

did anybody else hear the bench shouting pass it! pass it! near the end by the way. not that our players listened, but good to know that they want us to keep the ball rather than just hacking it clear and inviting pressure back on.

well, not sure we deserved that! we still have some big problems- we didnt match wolves effort in the second half and were second to every ball. you learn when your a kid you dont wait for the ball to come to you, yet we kept doing that. and some of the passes we played were absolutely brainless.

still we kept going to the end and the only decent bit of passing and movement we played in the second half led to a goal. nice cross by warnock and a great header. cuellar was man of the match for me- brilliant

and on WM there going on about warnock should have gone for that sliding tackle early in the half? he got the ball! only just, but he got it.

im still not convinced with our defending from balls into the box. we seem to be struggling to clear it and the ball keeps dropping to wolves players. we conceded against newcastle and stoke because of this.

need to sort out the tackling as well, some stupid fouls from clumsy challenges in dangerous places. warnock in particular is guilty of this.

some decent stuff going forward, but we are gonna need another goal at least

nice to see a team picked on form. heskey came on and changed the game wednesday. whatever we think of his ability he deserves the start today for that reason

brilliant knock by bell, shame he couldnt hit the winning runs though. that would have been great

well, KM has shown again why he didn't get the job. Stoke made subs which changed the game, we did nothing apart from bringing on heskey on 85 minutes. we settled for 1-0, then when they scored we settled for a point: that is not good enough.

and every time we put a few passes together we looked dangerous. so why we spent most of the 2nd half lumping it up the pitch i don't know. it just kept coming back. in terms of tactics it was just like under MON

defence was poor 2nd half. collins and dunne gave jones and fuller far too much space and time. jones had 3 villa players near him for his goal but they all just stood there watching him. and as for collins attempted clearing header and heskeys laughable clearing attempt for the winner, the less said the better.

and we should just forfeit throw ins. we must be the worst team in the world at them. the amount of times we just threw it straight to a stoke player was unbelievable

Have noticed McLeish`s odds have fallen over the last 3 days.

it would be interesting to see peoples opinions on Mcleish. putting aside rivalry, hes done a very good job at blues. especially given the clowns hes had to work under.

as regards houllier, im really undecided. like most people i think id rather someone like moyes or jol. However, are they really gettable? Ajax are in the champs league so im not sure jol would want to leave that. and im not sure Moyes would want to leave everton for us, its not really a step up to be honest.

and are Ajax or Everton really going to let their managers go at this point, the start of a new season, however much money we could offer in compensation?

i dont think theres any other managers in the prem who we could poach, and are good enough to improve us further. There probably are some very good managers abroad who are gettable, but I don't really know enough about managers in other leagues to suggest names.

a tricky situation no doubt, i guess we will have to trust Randy to make the right call

well for the first ten minutes we played very well. nice passing, movement etc. then carew missed the penalty and it all went wrong. all it did was give momentum back to newcastle and they took full advantage

for the rest of the game we were crap, no single player excluded. it was embarrassing to watch.

very naive for KM to go with such an attacking line up. at home to a team that parks the bus it would probably have been great. but away to a team who are playing their first home game after getting promoted the year before? never going to work

disjointed performance, though i guess that was to be expected with the team we put out

most disappointed in the senior players. left hand side was pretty anonymous with downing and warnock doing nothing- i also didnt like both of these pulling out of tackles, neither looked that interested tonight. NRC looked slow and wasnt very good with the ball. heskey was ok. Davies and Beye struggled.

all the youngsters did some good things, but also some bad things. to be expected and good experience though.

Guzan made some excellent saves as he usually does. a few dodgy moments on crosses, but i think part of the problem is he never plays with a consistent defence. Big brad has played lots of games with the 1st choice defense, and thus they have all developed good communication. Brad knows dunne, collins or cuellar are gonna head it away whatever, they know he is going to stay on his line and shout away! as loud as possible. guzan has never had a settled defense infront if him, so theres always going to be communication issues.

good result, although i feel sorry for weimann. shameful by the vienna fans to spray him as he was stretchered off. ref was also appalling, rapid players would just throw themselves on the floor and get a free kick.

good start but weve lost our way since then, too much hoofball

the senior players just havent shown up. NRC and downing have not taken control like they should be. i havent seen warnock get down the wing once and all of rapids dangerous balls are coming from his side. davies is looking very poor. heskey is heskey. some good hold up play to start but since then he has lost it everytime its gone to him.

well after a good start its all gone a bit wrong

midfield is a big problem at the moment. NRC and downing have done nothing so far. we cant afford to have these senior players not getting involved

guzan should just follow friedals example on set pieces. stay rooted to your line and shout away! as loud as possible

and balls...

this ref is annoying me, rapid are just throwing themselves on the floor and he is giving them free kicks

havent seen much of NRC yet, he looks a bit off the pace.

holy crap.. heskey with mega speed

overall a very enjoyable game. lots of chances, had a few very good shouts for a pen turned down, hit the woodwork a few times. cant believe carew didnt get one though, he didnt have his shooting boots on today

Albrighton was ok 1st half, maybe tried a bit too hard. but 2nd half he was simply brilliant. always looking to take on the fullback and get inside, pleased he got an assist. rest of the midfielders was all very good, fair play to milner for really putting the effort in.

at the back i was very impressed with Clark. he is composed on the ball and positionally sound. definitely ready for the prem league.

still a couple of periods in the game where we sat back and allowed the opposition too much of the ball, but a very promising start to the season. good stuff!