Right back down to earth

Our team still has a couple of players that would struggle to get a game for a championship side, and most people at the match yesterday will know who I'm talking about.

Andy Reid seemed to run his heart out again, and fully deserves to lead the team out every week. We created very few chances yesterday and looked very poor - the defending was a shambles. Hopefully Ferdinand (and possibly McCartney!) will help improve that.

I;m hoping this was a one off, and to be honest we would be very hard pushed to put in another dismal performance like that again. I wouldn't have liked to be one of the players in the dressing room after the game. Rightly so, Roy Keane looked far from happy, and I don't suppose the fact his very nice suite was soaked helped matters.

Man City looked a decent team, and with news today of a take-over by some VERY rich Arabs, and a cheeky £30m for Berbatov, I think I need to re-consider my predicted finish for them! European spot anyone?

Hopefully the International break will give Keano and the players the time they need to sort out our problems. So many new faces have come through the gates of The SOL over the past few months; it's bound to take time for them to gel.

As I sit at my desk righting this, there are just over 9 hours of the transfer window left. A new left back before midnight would be very nice, and news that George McCartney is having a medical on Wearside is very good news. 'Ringo' seems to have come on leaps and bounds whilst at West Ham, and I bet there will be a few unhappy hammers fans if this comes off.

Its back to watching boring England for now, then a trip over the Pennines to play a Wigan team who will be full of confidence after demolishing Hull City at the weekend.

One last thing, I would just like to take this opportunity to wish Michael Chopra all the best in rehab. It's a pity not all troubled footballers take account of their off-field antics and go some way to sorting them out.

Ha'way the Lads