Blues battle to stalemate with Arsenal

Darron Gibson made his long-awaited return to Everton's midfield but Kevin Mirallas missed out again with a hamstring injury.

John Heitinga, Thomas Hitzlsperger and Bryan Oviedo dropped to the bench to make way for returning trio Gibson, Tony Hibbert and Marouane Fellaini.

Everton relinquished possession from the kick-off and relinquished any sense of discipline or structure as Arsenal skipped forward, Ramsey and Walcott exchanging passes on the Everton right, where Hibbert was AWOL, Walcott scooping the ball with ease over Howard and into the far corner with less than 2 mins under the Goodison lights. Astounding incompetence from Everton!

Koscielny was an early casualty, pulling a hamstring overstretching for a ball at the back. He as replaced by Gibbs. Everton pushed and probe as they tried to settle after the early shock, and made some good approach play. A dangerous free-kick curled in by Baines was easily defended away.

From Everton's first corner, Baines swung one in very deep to Fellaini but his ground header was straight at the keeper. Everton were getting some good possession building toward the Arsenal area but not really getting much further, and a period of Arsenal dominance followed.

Naismith was blatantly held back by Gibbs and rightly booked. Some great passing led to the second corner, again deep but headed away. Sanga went down claiming contact from Osman in a threatening position, Vermaelen driving it through the wall at Howard.

Pienaar made a great interception but his ball for Jelavic looked to be the end of the move. However, hhe did it again on the Arsenal clearance, the ball careening acorss to Fellaini, we steady himself ofn the edge of the area and cureld it bueytifully around Vermaelen and Szczesny into the corner of the Arsenal net. 1 - 1!

A late tackle from Gibson on Walcott led to him getting a yellow card. Arsenal won a couple of corners, both defended away, as the game looked fairly even, if a little stop-start. Everton needed defend solidly, but on the breakout, Jelavic almost got ahead of Sagna, who gave up a corner, which was again repelled.

Jelavic did a lovely chest-down and turn to beat Mertesacker but then leaning back, lashed over, when he really should have done better. Fellaini pulled back Corzola rather cynically as the contest neared half-time, Jelavic breaking well but form an offside position. Corzola looked to make space but his strike curled a long way from the Everton goal. Arsenal won a late corner in added time but it was defended away.

Good interplay between Baines and Pienaar that saw the South African power a shot goalwards after the break, and Everton's approach play continued to show signs of promise, with Jelavic switching to wingman and provider for Naismith, who could not get his foot to a glorious chance ahead of the full-back.

Pienaar was looking a lot sharper, and from a corner, Distin got a good look at the whites of Szczesny's eyes off a deep ball in from Baines that the Arsenal keeper parried away with an instant reaction save.

More superb work by Pienaar saw Fellaini denied a certain header as Szczesny took the ball off his head, but Everton kept pressing, although Fellaini's ground shot at Szczesny lacked invention. Moyes acted on the hour, swapping Naismith for Oviedo, an interesting move given the player's last outing.

Pienaar appeared to be tackled from behind as he advanced on goal. surely a penalty, but the ref bottled it, giving a corner. Everton were giving it their best, but the crucial chances, as ever, were not turning into goals, while at the other end, Giroud came mighty close with a header that flew inches past the post.

Howard looked lost, scrambling a loose ball behind for a corner but came out well to punch at the next attempt as the momentum swung back Arsenal's way... Moyes reacting by swapping in Hitzlsperger for the tiring Gibson. Corzola had a poke at one end, then Hitzlsperger at the other, both keepers doing their jobs effectively, as the game was end to end, each side keen to score the winner.

Arteta caught Fellaini to give away a really promising free-kick that Jelavic rather casually spooned in toward the top corner, too slow and too obvious to beat Szczesny — why no Hitzlsperger Hammer?

Into the last 10 minutes, Wenger swapping Ramsey for Gervinho as another Baines corner was defended away, with the tension reaching breaking point as the game continued from end to end, although a Jags hoofball not really the preferred method!

Oviedo was a firecracker going forward abut Hibbert's cross was a total waste as the game rested on a knifeedge until it was Fellaini's turn to 'do a Naismith' and spoon his cross shockingly under zero pressure. Then the Hammer's turn finally came and his shot was utterly woeful as he got right underneath it.

More great work set up a brilliant chance, but the ball from Jelavic was just too far ahead of Fellaini as it really looked more and more like Everton would not score the winner, even if it was handed to them on a plate. Meanwhile, hearts in mouths each time Arsenal went forward as the game went into 3 mins of added time.

Chances continued at either end, Arsenal finishing a little stronger after another great chance for Jealvic went begging, and it was a poor chiice from Pienaar at the end.

A very good game and a crucial litmus test of Everton's real quality... which came up short in the end against inferior competition yet again. Two more important home points lost.

Everton: Howard, Hibbert, Jagielka (c), Distin, Baines; Naismith (62' Oviedo Y:70'), Gibson Y:28' (73' Hitzlsperger), Osman, Pienaar; Fellaini; Jelavic.
Subs: Mucha, Heitinga, Gueye, Barkley, Vellios.

Arsenal: Szczesny, Sagna, Mertesacker, Vermaelen (c), Koscielny (4' Gibbs Y:21'), Arteta, Wilshere, Giroud, Walcott, Ramsey (80' Gervinho), Cazorla.

Below-par Blues drop more vital points

A must-win game following last weekend's stumble at Reading. Fellaini is suspended, Neville and Anichebe out injured, Hibbert is on the bench and Coleman is missing (injured, apparently) but Distin returned with Jagielka moved out to right back while neither Mirallas nor Gibson were included despite suggestions they would be returning from injury. Bryan Oviedo was given his first league start, mostly playing in front of Baines on the left.

Everton were attacking John Ruddy's goal from the off and there was almost an early goal from Osman, who tried to fire in a loose ball picked up for him by Naismith, curling it just inches wide of the far post. Pienaar bashed his knee challenging for the ball inside 5 minutes, giving concern of yet another injury for David Moyes to deal with.

Jagielka put in a very smart cross from nothing that Jelavic didn't seem to jump for and the chance went begging. Hitzlsperger floated a good ball forward that Ovideo did brilliantly with controlling it perfectly and placing it back on a plate for Naismith who smashed it home for a nice early goal after 12 minutes.

A great move and a brilliant one-two with Pienaar saw Baines into the area and firing on John Ruddy, who got down well to save. Naismith then went down in the corner of the area to the requisite shout: nothing from referee Mike Jones. In Gibson's absence, Hitzlsperger was an increasingly dominant calming influence in midfield. Baines curled in a great cross for Jelavic but he was edged off it a little too easily.

Holt managed to beat three Everton defenders than thankfully fluffed his shot badly and failed to threaten Howard when all alone. Oviedo then picked out Naismith with a superb ball forward from midfield, but Jelavic was offside for the final ball as Norwich started to see a lot more of the ball.

Some good work from Osman ended up with him shooting straight at John Ruddy with Oviedo really catching the eye. Everton won their first corner on 36 mins, Hitzlsperger swinging it in well but Jelavic headed wide as the ref predictably blew for a foul amongst the crazy jostling. The pace dropped and Norwich won their first corner that Bassong came very close to converting.

Pienaar and Osman combined nicely but, with the goal gaping, Osman produced one of his classic powder-puff passes straight into the arms of John Ruddy.

After the break, and Mike Jones gave Norwich a dubious free kick that was defended away before Tettey lashed it well over. It was terribly scrappy and disjointed fare, with Jones giving Norwich every opportunity, a Pilkington free-kick nearly catching out Howard.

It was rubbish football allround, Howard needed to be alert for a ball over the top when Holt beat the offside trap. Baines raised the standard with an excellent delivery no-one could finish it off. Past the hour mark and Everton finally got a corner but the officiating was poor, both in controlling the 6-yard scrum, blatant encroachment, and a deflected Jelavic shot wrongly called as a goal-kick.

It was just as scrappy in the Everton area, the ball could have gone anywhere as the game went from bad to worse with Grant Holt the villain of the piece, but it was Johnson who earnt the first yellow for a foul on Oviedo. Everton were very vulnerable as Norwich again came close, Snodgrass beating Howard but not the four blue shirts back defending the goalline.

At the other end, some better work ended in Pienaar lofting the ball to no-one — where the hell was Jelavic? Some absolutely dire football on show but Oviedio was trying to raise the stakes with a low shot on Ruddy. But Everton's weak link was Pienaar, who had gotten worse and worse. But Baines did superbly to run through and lash in a shot on Ruddy.

Osman was next to make progress and play it in to where Jelavic should have been waiting... but again he was dawdling around 5 yards back instead of lurking in the danger area. Ruddy was then forced off with a knee or groin problem, to be replaced for the last 10 mins by Mark Bunn.

The game was summed up when Naismith and Jelavic got behind the Norwich defence and all Naismith had to do was square it to his pal Jelavic, who this time was up with the play... Naismith's ball was absolutely atrocious. While at the other end, Howard again had to produce the goods as the last line of defence from a determined header.

Oveido was fouled on the edge of the area. Tettey was finally booked for blatant encroachment (what happened to that 10-yard rule???). Baines finally curled in a decent shot that was just a foot over.

Norwich got the softest of free-kicks when Morison missed his kick. It was delivered very deep to the far post were Bassong did very well to power the ball through Howard, who had hesitated and gone back to his line instead of plucking the ball out of the air. The goal had been coming all second half, and Moyes's bizarre reaction was to swap Naismith for Vellios with two of the four extra minutes already gone.

Some games are tremendous adverts for the Premier League... this was anything but. Another 2 points squandered by the bumbling Blues.

Everton: Howard; Jagielka, Heitinga, Distin, Baines; Oviedo, Hitzlsperger, Osman, Pienaar; Naismith (90+2' Vellios); Jelavic. Subs not Used: Mucha, Duffy, Hibbert, Gueye, Barkley, Kennedy.

Norwich: Ruddy (82' Bunn), Whittaker, Bassong, Ryan Bennett, Garrido (Y:87'), Johnson, Tettey, Snodgrass (89' Jackson, Hoolahan (75' Morison), Pilkington, Holt. Subs not Used: Howson, Elliott Bennett, Barnett, Tierney

A good start thrown away

No Phil Neville for Everton at Reading today, with Thomas Hitzlsperger getting his first start, behind Naismith as Gibson and Mirallas miss out; Hibbert and Anichebe failed late fitness tests.

An early corner was a gift for Jagielka, who failed to bury his close-range shot, but in the follow-up, a cross back in found Jelavic all alone at the far post with a golden chance that he somehow scooped high and wide. Should be ahead in the second minute!

Reading had a couple of set-pieces that could have been threatening. But Everton went ahead when Jelavic kept the ball alive at the far post and a fumbled ball dropping infront of Fellaini and a couple of defenders stood up nicely for Naismith to stride forward and slot home.

Pienaar got in a good ball for Jelavic who shot fractionally wide. Naismith was taken down at the side of the Reading area and there were screams for a penalty but the ref gave nothing as Everton in their all-black kits kept pushing the home side back.

Roberts dragged at the shirt of Baines who was on the counter-attack, and he picked up the first yellow card. Coleman the got a silly booking for booting the ball away after he couldn't quite get his foot around it to keep it in play.

Gorkks took out Coleman cynically and rightly went in the referee's book. A great run by Jelavic was followed by a not -so-great cross that evaded Fellaini, perfectly positioned. Hitzlsperger took a pop and forced a punch from Frederici.

Naismith played in Osman perfectly but the new England man fluffed his lines badly by failing to score when in on the keeper. Then there was a chance for Jelavic on another punch from Frederici but the Iceman's cool shot was deflected away by an arm... but again no penalty given. It was developing into another one of those games where Everton dominate and pepper the opposition goal with chances but make very few of them count.

Everton had to defend a couple of early corners after the break and struggled for the first five minutes to reassert their dominance. Indeed, a Shorey free-kick given away by Hitzlsperger was headed home with ease by Le Fondre, and it was once again all square, Everton with everything to do once again.

Reading threatened to score again with another dangerous free-kick as Everton tried to reconstruct their cool passing game, Coleman winning a corner taken by Hitzlsperger. But the pressure was soon back on, Jagielka tihs time guilty of fouling.

Pienaar looked to release Jelavic but his chance was denied by a perfect tackle from Morrison. But Howard had to be alert when Roberts played in Le Fondre. At the other end, Osman's attempt on goal was rather poor .

Some clever work between Pienaar and Fellaini set up a snapshot for Hitzlsperger but he volleyed wide as the black shirts finally started to get a better grip of the game again.

But another free-kick, Coleman conned by Roberts, saw a dangerous ball swung in that Fellaini defended well against Morrison's kamikaze attack.

20 mins left, and well past Moyes's normal sub time, there was no movement on the subs bench, Moyes believing there was little on their that could do better than the ones on the field. A couple of Everton corners led only to a Reading breakout that saw a brilliant covering tackle by Coleman on Le Fondre.

England star Leon Osman seemed to be in with a glorious chance but the man with the clever feet inexplicably stumbled and miscontrolled the ball instead of lashing it into the net and a nothing ball resulted.

At the other end, disaster as Coleman, who had been booed all match for some reason, drove into the back of and a penalty awarded was lashed home by Le Fondre to surely give Reading their first win of the season. Fellaini was booked, presumably for protesting, and he will now miss the Norwich game. Moyes reacted to the setback by swapping out Naismith for Oviedo.

Fellaini headed into the ground and off the post, back into the hands of Frederici. Moyes then puled Hitzlsperger for Vellios with less than 10 mins left... too little, too late, surely?

Everton huffed and puffed but the lack of crisp and decisive finishing in the first half would be the story of this game as they allowed Reading to steal all the points, condemning Everton to only their second defeat of the season, but at a crucial time as the come toward the end of what was on paper an easier run of games... if there really is such a thing in the Premier Leaue!

The Glory of Goodison

In partnership with the Everton Heritage Society, the National Football Museum and Everton in the Community, the Museum of Liverpool will host a weekend of events on the 17th and 18th of November to mark 120 years of Goodison Park.

They include a number of talks covering the legendary Dixie Dean and other great Everton centre-forwards, the history of the Toffee Lady, Everton's tour of South America in 1909, the close links between Everton and Liverpool Football Clubs, the invention of goal nets, the 1933 FA Cup Final ball and the great T G Jones, the ‘Prince of Centre Halves'.

Opened in 1892, Goodison has a long and rich history that includes Second World War bomb damage, the death of Dixie Dean, a 1966 World Cup semi-final, and more top-flight matches than any other stadium in England.

That's not to mention the long list of firsts that the Grand Old Lady boasts, including being the world's first four-sided double-decker stadium, and the first football ground in England to have dugouts, fit a scoreboard and install under-soil heating.

The weekend will also include Museum tours, object handling sessions, footie-themed craft, children's stories, and the Liverpool Shanty Kings singing Everton Songs. The Toffee Ladies will also be on hand to make sure there's Everton fun for all the family and visitors of all football allegiances.

And if that's not enough, the Museum of Liverpool has more to offer in the Wondrous Place gallery, which explores sport and creativity in the city. Visitors can learn about the history of football on Merseyside, and experience Kicking and Screaming, a 360-degree film immersive exploring Liverpool's passion for football and the unique rivalry and success of Everton and Liverpool Football Clubs.

Opened last year, the Museum of Liverpool is the largest newly-built national museum constructed in Britain for more than a century. It showcases Merseyside's popular culture while tackling social, historical and contemporary issues.

Darron Gibson closes in on Everton FC return

DARRON GIBSON’S protracted injury ordeal is nearly over with the influential midfielder hoping to make his comeback against Reading in nine days.

The 25-year-old has already missed eight games after limping off with a thigh problem against West Bromwich Albion in September, and his return to fitness has taken longer than expected.

Finch Farm medics discovered that the Republic of Ireland international had also damaged a tendon near his thigh, which meant his initial month-long lay-off was always likely to be longer.

However David Moyes has been careful not to rush his bargain £250,000 capture from Manchester United back into the first team, in the hope that when he returns he will be able to last for the rest of the season.

Gibson has an outside chance of being involved against Sunderland on Saturday after taking part in some light training, but it is more likely he will be brought back for the trip to the Madjeski Stadium on November 17.

Having the former Manchester United man back in action in time for December has been a priority for Moyes, with crunch games against Manchester City, Tottenham and Chelsea all taking place during a tough month, alongside a trip to Stoke and high-flying West Ham United.

It means Everton, who are also hoping Tony Hibbert will recover in time for the weekend, will have a fully fit squad as they attempt to strengthen their grip on fourth place in the Premier League.

From My Seat: WBA (A)

Players and fans full of confidence head to the Hawthorns. The weather could not have been better but there was a point that should have been remembered. Our record there is poor 4 wins in 23 games suggesting this is indeed a bit of a bogey ground for us. The longer the game went on this thought kept entering the mind...

We started full of confidence and well in control forcing the Baggies on to the back foot and letting us come on and depend on a breakaway.

From quite early on, you could see that our silky passing was getting us to the final third with ease but there seemed little sign of ‘killer pass’ or indeed a semblance of cutting edge. I think a lot of us thought it may be just a matter of time before we click but that thought was dispelled just after the 15 min mark when Gibson – in no more a strenuous act than passing the ball out wide right he went to the turf – was led off and that was his day over; after Hibbert coming on at right back and Neville going into midfield so was ours. We never seemed to really recover from that and although we were on top until the break we never really looked convincing.

We had a couple of headers from Jelavic to ‘Ooh and Aah’ about and one very close effort from Fellaini who met a deep right wing cross and did the right thing in heading it back across the keeper but just over the bar with the keeper well rooted to the spot.

Having most of the play is one thing but being sloppy and giving the ball away on the opponents' 18-yd line and allowing a quick break was rammed home when Ridgewell galloped forward, put a great cross in, and Long rattled the bar with force. We had been warned but the warning was not heeded and after another defensive mix up Morrisson was in one-on-one and we were grateful to Tim Howard for making a great one-handed stop and then falling on the ball in the resultant scramble.

Half-time and we were perplexed at our performance as so many players seemed just not ‘At it’ – especially in crucial areas of attack and defence. A worrying time!

The second half again started well for the Blues but our frailty was demonstrated early on in the piece when Baines took a touch before shooting when well placed in the box and allowed his effort to be deflected for a corner; I wondered why he didn’t shoot first time. Then Jelavic fed Fellaini who with nice control left his marker and from a good position in the box dragged his effort wide and I have to say it was with little conviction. It was a real chance that the Belgian has been despatching so far this season.

It was frustrating for all and fair play to our manager he did try to inject something different by swopping Naismith with Mirallas on the hour mark. It almost worked as he got a pass from our most consistent player on an inconsistent day, Osman, then went forward at pace to the by-line and put in a low cross that found Fellaini at the far post. It seemed nailed on, he swung a boot, did it get a bobble? Because the upshot was that from a very presentable opportunity he did in fact find the legendary ‘Row Z’ – hell you just knew this ain't our day.

Wouldn’t you just know it – almost straight away, their sub Odemwingie raced away down the left leaving Hibbert in his wake and Jags out of position and crossed low for Long to get his foot on the ball before Distin – 1-0 down and to be honest at that moment I just knew ‘Game Over’.

Now we looked even flatter than before, Osman did try to pull a few strings and play people in but everything just seemed to break down. Fellaini seemed to lose all concentration as he embarked on run-ins with the rookie Ref Moss but there was always going to be one winner and he duly got himself booked. Neville also started to sail close to the wind with daft tackles and he got a very unnecessary yellow and was hooked in favour of Big Vic. This on the face of it put a more attacking slant on our side but unfortunately it never materialised.

It was from a comical episode that emphasised our frailty both up front and at the back as Fellaini got his legs in a mess just inside their box and eventually played a ball so badly to Baines that he had to stretch and toe poke it to Osman with no real direction which led to Osman being robbed and they set off down field and from a great strike Howard did well to tip over the bar. From the corner, Howard seemed to be pinned in by a WBA forward, a big centre back was left unmarked so, when the floundering keeper flapped and missed, the unmarked defender headed home – as did a good number of the faithful. If it was not 'game over' before it was now.

Final whistle and I wouldn’t say the fans were very angry; it seemed to more bemusement after a display like that on the back of our previous displays.

MotM – Hard to find but I would go for Osman. Overall what can you say? We promised much and delivered little. Players who usually stand out for us all off form at the same time. The injury to Gibson disrupted us more than it ever should, leaving me to hope that the last-minute loan signing from (yet again) Belgium can hit the ground running and live up the accolade from Vincent Kompany. (I wonder how you pronounce his name, let alone master spelling it???) You could justifiably question the manager when on Gibson’s injury he didn’t just drop Fellaini back and send Mirallas into the Fellaini role but hindsight is a great thing.

What next? Well it’s probably best to put today down to just one of those things that happen at times in every season, and turn up and watch us gain three more points v Newcastle in a fortnight.

Enjoy your international break.
UP THE BLUES

From My Seat: Villa (A)

Aston Villa 1 -3 Everton

On the back of a rocking good night at Goodison on Monday, it was a trip out to the home of the Villa, a ground where we have not had that much success in past seasons but today we believed... On seeing the Villa line-up, my thought was: if we can’t beat these after the Man Utd display, we would need locking up.

As it turned out, it was a game of one half, the first, where we built a three-goal lead, then a second where we did ok but without that fight ‘n’ bite we showed in the first half. Even with the hosts going down to ten men, we still afforded them a consolation goal.

The Villa fans gave their heroes a quite rousing welcome as they entered the arena; then our captain Neville upset the apple cart by winning the toss and electing to turn the players around so that each team played toward their own fans in the first rather than the second half. I don’t know what he knew but it could not have been better for the travelling 2,000-odd Blues.

We started fast with intent and with just 3 mins on the clock, we put together some joined-up stuff that culminated in our new boy Naismith planting the ball perfectly into the path of Pienaar some 20-odd yards out. He smashed a great curler into the top corner leaving Given helpless. "Pick that out" came to mind as celebrations were joyous. Scoring after just 3 mins doesn’t lend itself to parking the bus so we didn’t.

We continued to completely out-play Villa and threatened more or less each time we came forward. Baines hit a beauty over the top and picked out a Jelavic run and his header only just missed. The Croat then got his head to a Baines corner and glanced it just over. This was good stuff and the players seemed to be enjoying it as much as the fans. Gibson was quietly orchestrating and stitching together moves and still found time to hit a screamer just over the bar.

After some 25 mins of Everton dominance, Villa did rally a bit and had some foray’s foreword without causing our rearguard much trouble. On the half-hour mark, another joined-up move started from the back by Jags who ran foreword and found Gibson, Jags carried on the run and Gibson deftly returned the ball to him, Jags crossed like a seasoned winger and found the head of our man of the moment Fellaini who headed into the deck and up toward Given. This produced an odd sight as Given seemed to get out of the way of the ball and allow it free passage into the net. A howler but who cared as the Blue throng celebrated yet again.

This really put Villa on the back-foot and looking quite despondent as they allowed our captain to venture forward but alas he showed he was no Hibbert when it comes to shooting as his effort was ‘high, wide and handsome’. We still clapped.

The clock was ticking down to half-time and we seemed to be moving forward with menace at will and with nous as we passed and probed. Just before the break, Baines finished off a nice bout of passing by whipping one across the box and found Jelavic who with one assured swing of the leg, his boot made first time contact, the net bulged with the keeper nowhere... 3 - 0, game over and party time.

At the end of the half, any late-comer could have been forgiven for thinking it was the final whistle such had been the singing, chanting and merriment from the travelling hoards. All the songs you know and love plus an ear-splitting rendition of ‘There’s only one Kevin Sheedy’, and so the half ended.

The humour and chat was of a light-hearted nature with most wondering when we would see our new Belgian.

No changes as we started the second half much the same as we started the first — on top. Pienaar set up both Jelavic and Naismith and on both occasions their shots were blocked.

On the hour-mark, a through ball saw Jelavic hare down the middle only to be halted by a trip by Clark — last man: sent off.

Although the hoards whooped in delight, the sending of did us no favours as, for the rest of the half, we did not seem to have the same conviction and drive. We did have the odd moment or two to be fair. Pienaar had a pile driver well saved by Given and a great back-post header from Distin was goalbound until a Villa head sent the ball to the underside of the bar and out.

Naismith, who had had a promising full debut, had taken a knock just after the hour mark and was replaced by Coleman. I wondered why at 3 - 0 up the new lad was not given the nod... still, I am just a fan and the manager who is with them all week knows best. Coleman did much like he did v Man Utd — he ran a lot up and down the flank and from time to time caused the odd bit of bother by hitting the by-line and crossing. On 70 mins, Mirallas arrived in place of Gibson who also seemed to have taken a knock. You could just see he wanted to impress and some of his work was a little hurried — none more so when he got a bit excited at a Jelavic run and cross from the right by going forward to quickly and being flagged offside as he put the ball in the net.

Villa had now decided to give it a go and we seemed to let them come at us at will and with 15mins to go we paid a price. Villa attacked down the middle we backed off and he shot. Our keeper then made one of his early-season howlers when, from my seat, he seemed to first of all go the wrong way then his despairing dive was in vain as the ball nestled in the corner. Considering the shot was from some distance, it is difficult to even hazard a guess at what he was doing or thinking — still, better to get it out of his system at 3 - 0 rather than in a 1 - 0 nail-biter. I wonder if Howard, being a fully paid up member of the 'keepers' union, just decided to show solidarity with Given?!! Villa still had time to hit a post before the end and a good job too as, in those last minutes, we were all at sea and the last thing we needed to do was give them a glimmer. I don’t think the manager will be happy with that ending — especially against 10 men.

MotM — Pienaar... but I would not take exception at other offerings as first half there were some very good displays.

Overall an enjoyable day out that sees us sit 3rd in the embryonic table, I always like to have my first look at tables with any meaning around the end of November beginning of December, it would be nice to be 3rd then and ready to kick on.

For those who like to follow such things I thought the so-called third kit that we wore today looked like a proper football kit and the white shirt would be a good holiday shirt, pity it wasn’t out in time as it will be a retro next year.

WBA next, the conquerors of the cousins... it won’t be easy but, with the support we get and a clean bill of health for the manager to formulate his starting eleven, we can give it a good go but a sustained effort over both halves would be a big step forward from today.

Early days but let’s get the window shut with a couple of in-comings and no out-goings and then see how it all pans out. I am sure there is just a little room for some optimism this campaign.

UP THE BLUES