First game in a long long time of which i have virtually no hope of getting even 1 point,i see us in free-fall at the moment.even against arsenal i somehow expected we might sneak with 1 point.but here i think we will get crushed.

chelsea 3-1 blackburn

I cant see where our next win will come.

0-4 at home to Boro who hadnt had a good start to the season,all thanks to stupidity by one of the senior members of the team and then Im guessing schoolboy defending yet yet yet yet again.

MAKE IT 4-0

How do you know that Reid didnt play well?

Lets wait till we get match reports up before we slag off individual players.

But im very disappointed that MGP hasnt had a chance yet again.I dont think he is the type of player for Chelsea away either.

Jansen on in the 78th for Youri.

No MGP yet again.

Seems he isnt rated.

While admitting that our defense is a div 1 standard defense you have to also say that jfh is a top draw striker and does tend to score against most teams!

Well Modes,

JFH is top drawer or maybe was.But in the 8 games so far,how many goals had he scored?And against how many teams!

Chelsea and Liverpool will beat us for sure.

Stead on for Dickov.

Damn.

Ive seen 10 players do much more against an above-average team at best,at home!

If we lost by 1 after a red id understand.But not being down by 3 goals after going down by a man.

Relegation battle yet again.Anyone who thinks otherwise is naive.

Does Hughes have the tactical expertise to dig us out?Or are we gonna R.I.P. ?

Steven Reid gets another chance,lets hope he finally comes good.

Good bench.We have quite a few options.I hope MGP comes off and does well,so it will help him in future games.

whats the squad and any news on possible line-up?

Another 2 points dropped.At least we got a point,better than none.But how many times have we given away late goals this season to drop points.Im sick of it.

6 points out of 8 games is a poor,poor start.Norwich got a point too,so did Southampton and City,so at least we didnt lose sight of them.

Well someone on this board said a few days ago that Hughes was impressed with the guy after their friendly earlier this year and told him well done when he was subbed off or something.

Anyways,the point is,the guy isnt up to scratch at the moment,it will take a few games and maybe sitting out for 1 or 2 games will help him,especially as he is so confident on the days before our matches when he tells your press he thinks he will be starting,so maybe he needs to hit the ground and go from there.I think he will come good,maybe Saturday.

We didnt suck,it was a scrappy game,not much quality and a draw would have been the fairest result,Charlton definitly werent better than us.

What is worrying is that we have almost no real pace in the team especially in the defence!!!

Chill.There will be other games.

I think MGP should have started tonight,but on Saturday against Villa he most probably will or will otherwise get his chance.

Btw Hughes ASKED Souness on advice on players,NOT to name a starting 11 and for him to pick it!!

There s adifference.

Hughes was also impressed with MGP against Wales last season when he scored a goal or two.So he knows he can play.

cuidada you are forgetting Hughes first game against Pompey,and MGP started that.

I say he will probably start against Villa.

Seems our home and away record from last season has switched.

I hope Sparky rallies the troops and gets his imprint sooner rather than later.

1-1 Stead to score.

There were days when we played teams like Charlton when we would say hey theres 3 points,and if we got one point,we would say 2 points lost.Now other teams are saying the same about us.

Compare the two teams players today and player by player we might have had 8-9 better players I'd think,but as a team we just lacked much cutting edge.

Its a shame.

Do you want him to play MGP every single game?even when he is still not settled in.Maybe taking him out for one game will get him to push on harder.

I was surprised too.But one game doesnt mean his career for us is over!

We easily deserved a point.

Our defence was awful.Matteo and Amoruso look so unsure.Gray doesnt have any pace but at least worked hard.

Ferguson and Flits went missing for long periods.Fergie doesnt look too happy,his body language is negative.

Stead had some great touches,he looks class but cant buy a goal for anythinng.Dickov worked hard,but Jansen didnt look too good today and he left the left side empty at times in the second half.

Emerton was our most creative player.

We need 3 points on Saturday.Like someone else said I think it might go down to there being 3 worse teams than us in the League,I HOPE!

Hughes has his work cut out.Souness did a great job but he backtracked all his good work in the last 12 months,especially in his transfer dealings.

OK we are out of the CC but at least Hughes can learn from these players and their mistakes in the second cup rather than Premier League.Then again,when our players play this way against the 19th team in the 1st division,it makes you wonder.

Anyways,we DIDNT LOSE.We drew and went out on penalties,and i think theres a big difference.Three counters,three goals,while we as usual missed tons of chances.Whats for sure here is that Friedel,Ferguson,Flitcroft and Dickov are virtually starters in Hughes eyes and Emerton has probably guaranteed it too,other than that we have to wait and see.

Im gutted that we are out,but im happy Pederson scored and Gally is back and Emerton is beginning to shine.

This has really gotten off-topic.

Any more MGP radio interviews?

What rumors?Saudi what?

Im relatively happy.

I think the players will begin to play and "fight" again,something they havent done at all this season,and they only did it for a handful of games last year from the Fulham away game onwards,when relegation was staring us in the face.

I think he can get the best out of the players offensively.Defensively,hmm that has to be seen.

It would be DISASTER if we dont win.2 points out of 6 games would put us in a very bad position.On the flip side a win and 5 points out of 6 points will be a reasoble total,considering we played Arsenal,Man Utd and Newcastle and will only have Chelsea and Liverpool from the teams that we arent really expected to take points off.