Im not surprised as half of Europes biggest clubs were tracking Brett Emerton the right back from Feyenoord 3 years ago. Thats where he found he claim to fame back then not at right wing.

That has gotta be one of the worst ever sides we play away from home all season. For the first 70 minutes they were rubbish.

Overall, the result far outweighed the performance which I thought was Ok but not that good as we didnt really create any clear chances with the domination that we had.

MGP was back to his poor self today I though but at least he helps defend. Defence was better and for me Neill has been very good lately. Savage ran his socks off again and overall a confidence-boosting 3 points away from home right before our biggest game of the season yet.

Hasnt convinced me yet whatsoever, and makes me nervous but with time Im sure he will get better.

For me for the sheer value of the fee paid, its gotta be either Davies or Grabbi but with Grabbi I always sensed some class about the guy but it never came off. He had the technique but it wasnt meant to be.

I havent been too impressed with Nonda and the reason is simple. I remember him from his pre-injury days and he is currently a shadow of his former self. This guy had pace to burn and I dont know where its all gone.

His passing has been wayward and as opposed to someone else who posted that he seems to have urgency in him, I disagree. But with that said, he has made an impact and I hope that after a few more games we will settle further into the team.

Just one change:

Nonda in for Jeffers otherwise the same lineup that beat Man City.

Reid missing again is a big blow.

Hmm and no one thinks that Lucas actually took command of the defence today?

No matter what we cant question his work rate during our games.

He still performed better than "committed" defenders such as Ooijer and Zurab today in my opinion.

Graeme Souness will be the biggest name facing further investigation when Lord Stevens' bung report is delivered to the Premier League. The move of Jean-Alain Boumsong from Rangers to Newcastle and David Dunn from Blackburn to Birmingham are set to come under the microscope. (Express)

Its on Premiere but its a German pay tv channel. Doubt anyone can access it.

Havent found out which channel shows it in the Middle East either, but doubt anyone will.

Its sad that some people dont mind going out at this stage of the cup.

What the hell is the point of finishing in the top 6 if we dont want to progress on the European stage?

With that said, I can see Salzburg going through from this one.

I personally think some people should take off their rose tinted classes which makes them see that we are right about to turn this around, and others should stop with the we are going down crap. It is what it is, a poor damn start but we havent seen anything to make us believe that we are about to turn it around.

For me, other than the individual defensive mistakes, the most worrying aspect of this season has been the lack of clear-cut chances created for our strikers! I really cant seem to recall many created for our strikers all season long. Thats a problem and with Gamst in absolutely poor form right now, we are depending on Bentley whose crossing was good yesterday and the old man Tugay who surely cant play 90 minutes every week.

And one final word on Brad Friedel who was magic! He saved us bigtime!

I personally dont think we will be finishing top 6 this season, but I dont think we will go down either; something around 10th I reckon.

I think we made a fatal error not signing a single midfielder. It could cost us even more than it probably has already down the line.

Roberts and Reid out with injuries.

Bench: Brown, Nonda, Axe, Peter, Gallagher

RoyRover, Im sure that figure of Bellamys was insisted by his agent. Look at it this way, he either came with that clause and that figure or we wouldnt have had him and we certainly wouldnt have finished 6th. All in all, we finished 6th with him and made circa 1 million profit (after deduction of wages).

Overall, on the business and squad strengthening end we did well.

On strengthening the first XI, I think that on paper we might have done so ever so slightly but the jury will be out till the results come on the pitch.

The big question mark for me is over the transfer kitty that we had/or did not have. If we did have 5-6 million then was it really the case of no one of good enough quality was available to strengthen the first XI?

I mean a couple of names come to find at great prices, ie. Sorin for 2.2 million pounds, Marlbranque at 2.5 million pounds. I find it hard to believe that Sorin isnt better than Gray, and Steed would not strengthen the right hand side of midfield significantly. Questions over the latters temperament cannot be really viable considering the question marks over Jeffers ability to re-produce and Nondas ability to return to form and fitness.

Hmm...a weird transfer window. I feel a big weight has been put on the shoulders of MGP, Tugay, Reid and Bentley to knock in the goals and create the ammunition for the forwards.

Personally, I feel that the teams up and around us have improved their line-ups significantly and we have put a little too much faith into our ability to keep up the pace from last year.

The golden rule of football is never sit on your laurels, and the best time to strengthen is when you are on top and ahead. I hope we arent languishing in mid-to-lower half of the table in January and then we decide to splash out on a couple of players.

Stats dont give the full story. People who have seen him after his injury will easily notice a genuine yard of pace missing from his game and that was his main strength.

Was world class or close to it at Monaco but it seems to me its a gamble loan, where it can come off for us or virtually mean that we have two real strikers at the club with the fact that Jeffers also falls into the same "Lets See" category as Nonda.

Warnock is an OK player. Nothing special, just average, but another product of the over-hyping of the UK media...

I think he would be a good manager, but maybe he needed to take one step back from football before taking two steps forward.

Time will tell...

Lets get something straight, we didnt sign the highly rated right winger from Feyenoord 3-4 years ago, we had signed one of Europes best right backs and now its finally showing in his performances.

He just isnt a right winger, but at right back, he is one hell of a player.

Red Bull Salzburg are a pretty decent team. Talked to my Austrian journalist friend and he told me that no Austrian team has ever knocked out and English team in Europe.

Theyre managed by Trapatonni. Had a multi-millionaire owner (Red Bull). They have Niko Kovac (Croatias national team captain although now 35), Alex Zickler (Ex-Bayern striker), the new Oli Kahn, a monster in goal called Oofs I think it was. They rate him highly and say that he is the future Kahn.

Finally, and possibly the most exciting player they have is Johan Vonlanthen of Switzerland who is one of Europes most highly rated young strikers, and the youngest ever goal scorer at the Euro Championsships.

He thinks Blackburn should beat them, but dont forget they gave Valencia a run for their money in the Champs League qualifiers.

Cant see Chelsea losing two in a row, and in fact even a draw is difficult cause Jose's foot will be up theirs for the next two days.

Andy Todd seems to have lost half a yard of pace.

Overall, we didnt deserve more than a point based on Evertons last 20 mins and to be fair they should have had a dead cert penalty.

Im disappointed with the lack of creativity from midfield up till now.

The one plus was Emertons performance at right back. Im pretty sure this was among his top 2 or 3 performances in our shirt if not the top one. He was great.

Thats a joke. Using world class to describe someone who hasnt had a day in management yet.

I also know that Keane hasnt even gotten his UEFA A license yet. He took the first part of the course last month, so this was something abrupt.

We wont go down but a game against Pompey is something we should be looking to get something out of with ambitions of a European place. The difference between making it to Europe and not is a very thin line.

Thankfully, this was only the first game and it gives us the chance to get it right straight away.

Come on you Blues.