bojong

I dont like Pearson but he comes across as someone who could handle the pressure. McLeish, Lambert and now Sherwood all seemed to just lost it when it got tough.

I'm sure Moyes is a good manager but is he the right guy in this situation? I haven't checked details and could be wrong but I have a feeling his Everton teams often had slow starts after there had been changes in the squad from previous year. So could he be a manager who gets it right eventually but needs time? We don't have time. I think ideally we want experienced survival specialist with short term contract (no, I don't have a suggestion who) and then Moyes in the summer. Of course, we aren't exactly in a great position to be picky.

3 of next 4 are Chelsea, Tottenham & Man City (and fourth is Swansea). We needed all three points today and should have gone for it. Sometimes a draw is good enough but wouldn't have been today. Should have started Grealish and/or Gil to have at least some creativity. I personally would also have picked Sanchez. I don't actually even know if Clark is injured, and was Lescott taken off because of injury, but in any case we lost the final 1 point because of Crespo. I'm not judging him yet and overall I don't think he was too bad but had we had any other centre back pair on the pitch, that goal wouldn't have happened. If you play your first premier league game as defender it's not good idea to move you to a different position in middle of game. If Lescott was injured and we didn't have other options because Clark wasn't on bench, I think Sherwood should have also brought in Sanchez at half time and played him with Richards.

Is it just me or does it seem like whenever Sanchez plays well others don't?

I actually think we had looked pretty good overall the beginning of season, until Leicester's first goal against us. Sure, we dropped points against palace and Sunderland when we shouldn't have, and it wasn't always perfect, but it looked promising. It's been three games since Leicester: a cup win and two bad league games. I'm not a Sherwood fan, but I can easily see him being able to turn it around. 2 wins from next 3 and it'll look much brighter again.

2-0 Newcastle. Can't believe it's September and already desperately trying to find someone worse than us.

We are so careless with the ball. Lost it too easily there.

Yes we've been horrible and they had all the possession, but they still haven't created almost anything and we may actually had the best chances. I'm normally super pessimistic, but if ever, today we may actually have a chance to turn this around.

I hope I'm wrong but I guess this is what we'll get from him: absolutely nothing except an occasional great goal. Well, that's not too bad if it happens 10-15 times a season. Yes he wins a lot of headers but unlike some other similar players, his headers don't almost ever seem to lead to anything. I know it could be because of people around him too but it now has looked like 9 out of 10 of his touches are totally meaningless.

Has been mostly horrible so far, but may have been rushed into starting eleven too quick because Clark had a bad game or two. Not giving up on him yet but it must be Richards & Clark for now.

Proved again we can play. Just need consistency and confidence. I think Ayew has to start now and should be kept in the line up even if it won't work out right away. We'll need him this season. Grealish MOTM.

He has to bring in Gil and Grealish at half time.

I have no idea anymore what line up I even want to see. I'd be tempted to go with Agbonlahor and Gestede because I think this could be a game where both could do well. Sanchez has to start and despite his last performance I don't want to see Westwood dropped because of the alternatives we have. So how about 4-3-3: Guzan, Hutton, Richards, Lescott, Amavi, Westwood, Sanchez, Veretout, Sinclair, Gestede, Agbonlahor? Dropping Grealish and Gil may not sound like a good idea but having Veretout there with Sanchez and Westwood could make the midfield stronger and Sinclair/Gestede/Gabby could work against a weaker opposition.

It almost feels like Sherwood has decided the substitutions before the game. Hmm..Ayew deserves a chance today, and Gil needs to be taken off because he's been out. Maybe Gestede and Hutton in the end. Yeah, I'll go with that today.

Why is Amavi marking Morgan?

This probably isn't a popular opinion but I won't blame Sherwood for not making more subs. We created enough chances to win and looked likely to score until the end. Swapping Gestede for Kozak or Ayew would have been only additional sub that could have made sense. I was happy he didn't mess with the midfield or take a defender off for extra striker because we kept creating enough with this lineup and a loss would have been a nightmare. Gestede should have done better but he still got the ball to dangerous positions. From what I've seen from Ayew so far I don't think he would have done any better. Kozak maybe, but more than Sherwood's tactical shortcomings this game proved we need a goal scorer and I'm not convinced Kozak is the solution either. What I like about Gestede compared to (what I remember of) Kozak is that he's always in the game, where things happen. Kozak can finish but I don't think he would have even got most of Gestede's chances.

Played really well. Build up play was excellent and created enough chances too. Clark cost us 2 points. We need a striker.

Hutton for Bakuna please

Just watched Road to FA cup glory and (for no particular reason, just happened to see it in YouTube) 2005-06 Villa season review. Some random, totally non-cup related notes: Baros was so much better than how I remembered him. Seemed that Ridgewell conceded a penalty in pretty much every game. Jesus Gabby was fast!

I like that!

Great first half and good second half. Looked at times like we stopped playing but were still better team for 90 mins. Solid performance, got the result we needed.

Great first half and good second half. Looked a

Is it now OK to be worried already or should I wait until Newcastle, Hull and Leicester have all won too?

I said this a couple of weeks ago. Thank f*** we beat everton. Pretty much all of these "impossible" results happened.

It's the reach and wingspan that matter, not height. Following basketball and NBA draft quite intensively, I can say there can be quite a difference in how tall a player is and how high he can reach. Someone can be several inches shorter but reach higher. Would be interesting to see those kind of measurements for football goal keepers.