Great Dane!

Watched the game on SKY. A good first half performance when we probably edged it but definitely under pressure in the second half and it was a good hard earned point by the end of the game. One or two of the lucky bounces went our way which is overdue.

RAVE: Kaspar Schmeicel's first half save - absolutely stunning and virtually earned him the man of the match accolade with one moment of inspiration! He definitely kept them in the game after halftime.

NEITHER RANT NOR RAVE: Mr Ridsdale says that he has been exonerated over his support for Dave Jones and that the last 2 performances have shown that the players are firmly behind their manager. I'm not so sure that another loss or two wouldn't put the pressure back on again but there can be no complaints about the commitment of the players.

Better!

RAVE: A one-nil win. The win is particularly welcome and a clean sheet as well! A good hard working performance and they never really looked like losing the game during the last quarter of an hour. Impressive the way they defended in the Ipswich half as well as our own.

RAVE: A cracking goal from Parry.

Lets hope for another good performance at Leicester tomorrow night - a second win now could really kick-start the season.

Vote of confidence? Now the pressure's really on!

NEITHER RANT NOR RAVE: Well, the board have backed Dave Jones but said that he will be judged by results. In my humble opinion he has until December 8th to turn it around - there are 5 games between 24th november and the 8th of December and I think we will need to win at least 3 of them and not lose the other 2 if he is to keep his job. If they lose to Ipswich on the 24th and then to Leicester on SKY 2 days later then he will be gone straight away.

NEITHER RANT NOR RAVE: Is Joe Ledley as good as the Wales on Sunday and Echo make out? He had a great game against Burnley but I thought the were a bit over the top about his performance against Palace. I notice he got high ratings again on Saturday but I don't know whether to trust their opinion.


RAVE: Kaspar Schmeicel. Please Mr Ericsonn, can we keep him for the rest of the season?

" I say Mr Referee, were you born out of wedlock?"

RANT: The referee. I'm not one to complain about incompetent referrees as long as they are equally incompetent to both teams. They have to do a difficult job and can't do it right all the time. But this one was more incompetent to us than them and it probably cost us the win. We've been having enough problems recently without these sort of things going agains us.
Now I can't really comment on the penalty against us as I was in the Gents at the time, but there was suficient idignation amongst the crowd to suggest that it was a questionable decision. I will see if the clip on Virgin media shows anything and will amend the blog if necessary.

RANT: Robbie Fowler.Not good enough and didn't look as if he was interested. The team looked more balanced and dangerous after Thompson came on and I think the time has come to try a different combination from the Fowler/JFH combination up front.

RAVE: Kaspar Schmeicel. I can't believe Man City have a better keeper than him. I f we get a chance to sign him for the rest of the season then we should grab it with both hands.

NEITHER RANT NOR RAVE: I suspect Dave Jones will be under severe pressure for his job if they lose at Charlton today.

Anyone but Man Utd!

RAVE: Good performance against Liverpool but got knocked out of the competition. Rumour has it that the club pockets around £400,000 aswell but this appears a bit unlikely to me. My views on cup competions have already been made clear in this blog and generally speaking I'm glad we're out - now for the league! Can't complain about being beaten by a winner from Steven Gerrard!

NEITHER RANT NOR RAVE: Its weird having a weekend without a game when everyone else is playing. Caught some of the Arsenal-Man Utd game earlier - nice to see the Gunners pull back a late goal (Anyone but Man Utd!). Some of the results went against us today and some of the teams below us appear to be hitting form - the match against Palace on Tuesday takes on extra significance as a potential relegation battle already. Mind you, they have just appointed a new manager which is not always the best time to play a struggling team. Mind you, we're a struggling team at the moment!