MAR 2 MANCHESTER CITY - BLACKBURN 1-1 (0-0)

Action shots: Lomas, Quinnnnggh and Bang by Eric Graham.

Report by: Ken Foster

AB had a real selection poser for this match. Whether or not to stick with Brown and Hiley who were excellent against Newcastle, or bring back Flitcroft and Frontzeck after their suspensions. By opting for the latter the team looked to lack width and any real cutting edge down the left. Frontzeck had acres of space but looked distinctly unhappy going forward.

Blackburn opened the livelier of the 2 sides but didn't really trouble Eike with anything resembling a decent attempt on goal. City took over after about 10 minutes but Blackburn's policy of getting every man behind the ball began to frustrate us in the last 3rd. They had done their homework on Gio and he was fiercely challenged every time he received possession. We had a legitimate appeal for a penalty turned down when Quinn was bundled over in the penalty area. Flitcroft was playing very deep and was hugely inneffective. As the half wore on City got more and more frustrated that their dominance wasn't reaping any rewards. Frontzeck had a shot which he ballooned over and Lomas hit a long range effort wide. Gallagher (I think) missed an easy chance at the other end and Hendry had a shot well saved. Rosler and Quinn demonstrated a lack of understanding and pace. We obviously need to get rid of one or the other and try someone else upfront (not Creaney though! What about Kinky's mate with the unpronounceable name. We thought it would be hard to think a song up for Kinkladze. This guy's name beggars belief!). All in all a very poor half with Blackburn the worst side to come to Maine Rd. since Wimbledon.

The second half was even more depressing as we ran out of ideas completely. Even more worryingly Blackburn began to control the match as they saw that their negative tactics had knocked the stuffing out of City. Flitcroft gave the ball away appallingly on the edge of the box and luckily the cross was too high for Shearer. Undeterred he chased after it and turned on the edge of the box with only Summerbee between himself and Immel. Buzzer backed off and invited Shearer to shoot, which he did magnificently with an unstoppable curler in off the post.

With Blackburn one up and 15 minutes to go, City began to find their spirit again and Summerbee started to get forward more. Blackburn were tiring and City were overwhelming them. Ball decided that it was time to bring on Phillips and Hiley and we suddenly looked dangerous down both flanks. Rosler had two excellent opportunities to score, one of which he headed against the post and then it hit Flowers' leg and bounced wide. Our goal came when Rosler's first effort was blocked and from the rebound his cross found Steve Lomas who made no mistake in planting his header to Flowers' right. We continued to surge forward and were unlucky not to get a winner. A disappointing game overall though.

Final score 1-1

Performances:

Immel      7 Some good saves but his kicking was as bad as ever
Frontzeck  5 Out of touch. was he trying to control his aggression?
Symons     8 Superb as usual
Curle      7 Handled Shearer quite well
Lomas      8 Goal capped off another good performance
Flitcroft  5 Well below par, bring back Brown (oh! we can't he's suspended
             for 2 games)
Kinkladze  6 Didn't get a kick
Clough     7 Tackled well but didn't do a lot coming forward
Summerbee  7 Forget defending, we need him on the wing
Rosler     6 Didn't gel with Quinn at all
Quinn      6 Ditto

Subs:
Hiley      8 I like him going forward
Phillips   8 AB must pick the right games for him. Should this have
             been one?

MAR 5 ARSENAL - MANCHESTER CITY 3-1 (2-0)

Report by: Paul Howarth

"If you love Man City clap your hands"

After a few encouraging performances we headed South with justified optimism that City's nearly 20 year wait for a win at Highbury could be coming to an end. With Wright and Adams not playing, surely this was an opportunity too good to miss? However, City had their own problems; with Keith Curle suspended and Ian Brightwell still injured, Alan Kernaghan made a rare start partnering Kit Symons at the back. Frontzeck was again preferred to Hiley at left back, and Summerbee was in his usual right flank role. Lomas, Flitcroft, Kinkladze and Clough made for an unchanged midfield, whilst Rosler was joined up front by Gerry Creaney after Niall Quinn failed a fitness test.

After a quick trip to the Finsbury Park Tavern (which I can recommend to anybody visiting Highbury) and meeting up with a few MCIVTA-ers, I got into the ground and found my seat in row 2 of the Clock End and wondered what the night's weather had in store. With the roof not covering much more than the two rows of executive boxes at the rear of the stand and quite a few spots of drizzle in the air, I suspected I'd return home somewhat damper than I was. The view wasn't much to shout about either. I much prefer being fairly high up to get a good perspective on the game but at least there was the compensation of getting to see some of the action at very close quarters.

Or so I thought. Most of the first half was played at the far end of the ground as Arsenal almost totally dominated possession. Despite this, City seemed quite comfortable and indeed had the best chance of the first half hour when Rosler got behind the Arsenal defence but fired into the side netting from a tight angle. This all changed in the 29th minute when Hartson chased a long punt upfield by Dixon after a rare City excursion into the Arsenal half. Showing superb touch, he brought down the ball and turned Symons in one movement and then, seeing Immel a little off his line, volleyed the ball over him and into the net from 25 to 30 yards. A strike straight out of the Ian Wright goalscoring handbook and well worth another look at on the replay courtesy of Arsenal's two large video screens.

The goal was a cue for the Arsenal onslaught to begin and Immel made a couple of breathtaking saves before Arsenal doubled their lead on 41 minutes. This time it was Dixon who got on the end of a long ball but this was no Wimbledon-style goal; Bergkamp hit a ball 30 or 40 yards diagonally across the field and over all of the City defenders, right into the path of Dixon who had made a long run upfield. Dixon's first touch was perfect and with his second he hammered the ball past Immel at the near post from 15 yards. A rout was in the offing but City could actually have been level before the break. First, Lomas just failed to reach a Clough pass before Seaman and then Kinkladze hooked the ball over the bar from Rosler's low cross. However, those chances and a Creaney header that went just over the bar were all City had to show for a rather poor first half performance.

At half time Hiley replaced Frontzeck and City switched to a Liverpool-style defence with Flitcroft dropping back to be the extra central defender. Presumably the idea behind this was to give Dixon and Winterburn enough to worry about at their end of the field that they wouldn't get forward themselves so much. The change certainly made an improvement to City who were now at least competitive. The Blues took the game to Arsenal and managed to pull a goal back in the 53rd minute. Kinkladze threaded the ball across a crowded penalty area and whilst the Arsenal defence seemed to stand still, Clough flicked the ball forward to Creaney who poked the ball past Seaman into the corner of the net. At last! Could this be the start of a famous comeback? No it couldn't. Straight from the restart Merson ran straight at and through the City defence before squaring the ball to Hartson who had a fairly straightforward task of scoring from the edge of the six yard box.

City continued to have the edge in terms of possession for the rest of the match but there was no cutting edge to the patient build-up and Arsenal always looked more dangerous on the break with their much more direct style. In fact if it wasn't for an outstanding display of shot-stopping by Immel, this could have been another scoreline on a par with that at Anfield. Platt, Winterburn and Bergkamp might all have added their names to the scoresheet had they been faced with a lesser 'keeper. Other than Immel's performance and another gutsy showing from Lomas, there was little to cheer the City fans who were fairly quiet throughout, though there was a brief rendition of the all-too-rare "If you love Man City clap your hands." At least it didn't rain. The Arsenal fans made much more noise than in any of our other recent visits; I was told by one on Wednesday that this was their best home performance for maybe a couple of seasons, so perhaps that explains it.

Alan Ball said after the Blackburn match that he thought we were brilliant in that game. I think he must have convinced the players more than me on that score as they seemed to think they could just turn up and get a result for large parts of the match. Three more trips to London before the end of the season - our dismal run in the capital will have to end very quickly or we won't be in the Premiership next season.

MAR 12 CHELSEA - MANCHESTER CITY 1-1 (1-1)

Action shot: Clough by Frank Coppi.

Report by: Roger Sharp

"Shit ground, No fans, Shit ground, No fans"

After our dismal showing at Arsenal the previous Tuesday night, I was surprisingly optimistic about the prospects of points against the slick passing West Londoners. Having already been to Stamford Bridge once this season, in disguise at their game against Newcastle, I had stressed to the City ticket Office the importance of not being seated in the last 7 rows of the Lower East Stand. The view from these seats is nothing short of disgraceful, and I advise any Blues going to the Bridge in future not to accept tickets in these area's (Rows S-Z). Chelsea is expensive enough as it is, and football fans should not have to accept seating as dire as this.

Despite a horrendous trip on the Underground I managed to take my seat 5 mins before kick-off, in a region with a decent view. From the kick-off two things struck me: Firstly the piss-poor showing from the Chelsea fans. There must have only been 15,000 of them there for a home match. I was surprised as I'd been here during the week last season and they'd turned out in droves with good vocal support. Tonight they were extremely quiet, though we tried our best to get some banter going with our "Shit Ground, No Fans" chant. If I had Gullit in my team I'd go to as many home matches as I could. Secondly I was annoyed to see how defensive City were starting the match. Rosler was a forlorn figure up front, being constantly marshalled by up to 4 Chelsea defenders, while the rest of the team seemed reluctant to cross the half-way line. I know we need points away from home, but with a patched up defence it never looked like we'd keep them out. And so it proved. After a shocking miss by Uwe (what's up with him this season?) when 1 on 1 with the keeper, Chelsea broke forward and as defenders backed off Gullit, he lashed an unstoppable shot straight past Immel. Gullit was sheer class all evening, and if you give a man like that space he'll punish you with it.

What was pleasing was City's reaction to the goal; why is it we only start to play after we go down a goal?. Anyway, we soon started to come back into the match, with Kinky and Lomas looking great in the middle of the park. As City's pressure mounted a goal looked likely, and it arrived in the 43rd minute, when good work by Stevie Lomas was rewarded by, acting Captain, Nigel Clough sweeping the ball into the net.

City headed into half time looking the more positive, and so it proved in the second half. Our second half performance was outstanding, and we could have easily come away from Stamford Bridge with all 3 points. Chelsea had played a hard cup match against Wimbledon at the weekend, so it's not surprising that they flagged a little towards the end. For me the highlights of the second half were: Kinky's mazy dribble past Gullit, which the Dutchman held his hand up to acknowledge as pure class; the abuse dished out to Terry Phelan....and the way he took it!; and the introduction of our new Swiss player to the left flank. He looked pacy and fairly skilful, and the fact that he picked up the nickname "Cheesey" made all the travelling Blues laugh.

We probably should have won this game in the final minutes as a superb Kinkladze free kick hit the crossbar, and Symons's header of the rebound was cleared off the line, though possibly it would have been a little harsh on Chelsea after their first half performance. So all in all a good match. I feel as if we can look towards the six pointer against Southampton on Saturday with some confidence. Finally I must say it was good to meet up with John Shearer and James Nash after the game again, next time let's see more MCIVTAers turning up!. And if you ever get the chance go to the "Come the Revolution Pub" mentioned as a meeting point before the match.....the bar-maids there are sexy as hell!!!. Stay Blue,

MAR 16 MANCHESTER CITY - SOUTHAMPTON 2-1 (2-0)

Action shot: Wandering by Eric Graham.

Report by: Ken Foster

As my Season Tickets were on loan, I queued up with the rest of a very patient gathering in the almost static lines outside the ticket office. Although we started to queue at 2.05 p.m we were still about 5 people from the front at 3 o'clock. The word was that lots of scallies were pushing in at the front. Where were the stewards? This interminable wait was briefly abated by an elderly lady handing out leaflets about the Maine Rd. 'atmosphere'. To summise the leaflet, it basically said 'we don't have an atmosphere any more at Maine Rd., do something about it and start singing'. My sentiments entirely. After purchasing a ticket at 3.05 p.m we found another massive queue to actually gain admission to block P of the North Stand. Eventually at about 3.10 p.m we walked in to our seats right behind Eike's net (so crap view) to see Neil Shipperley bearing down on us. Kit Symons appeared from nowhere to take it off him though (the first of many sigh's of relief). Brightwell at sweeper was doing a good job but it was one way traffic with our defence stifling them when they got near the box. Did anyone notice that Brightwell seemed to have a sort of bouncy blow dry and one of those stupid Robbie Fowler nose jobs. (I've read that this tape makes you breathe easier at walking pace but that once you break into a jog you have to breathe 100% through the mouth anyway - Maybe we should give one to Uwe :-).

Whatever happened to the supposed trimming down of the squad? With Guiseppe Mazzarelli now included we now have a full squad from numbers 1 to 31 with the exception of Tony Cotons number 1 shirt. Hopefully this will soon be supplemented by Kavalashvila at no.32. There was, however, no place for Mazzerelli in today's squad as we lined up for a game (in which we had to attack) with a sweeper again! The job fell to Ian Brightwell this time and although he did the job admirably, I have to say that this system leaves me squirming in my seat. I mention Mazzerelli because it sounded from the commentary at Chelsea that he may be quite a useful acquisition. Why Hiley on the bench? If AB is not sure about Frontzeck's fitness then Hiley should have been on from the start and This would have freed up another place on the bench.

Our first threat came when Gio drifted into the centre and sent a 30 yard thunderbolt against Beasant's bar. On another rare breakaway Flitcroft lashed a ball out to Summerbee who set off down the wing before slipping the ball through to Clough. Beasant could only parry it and Gio had the simple job of tapping it in. 1-0 for us against the run of play. We took heart from the goal and soon after King Kladze went on one of his dribble's. I counted 5 defenders in his wake and his chip to beat Beasant was as cool as you like. Summerbee had a great shot saved and Southampton's only reply was a cross to Le Tissier who should have headed it first time, but instead tried to take it on his chest and Symons tidied up. Curle was having a torrid time against Shipperley and frequently gave the ball away. 2-0 at half time and I thought we would abandon the sweeper system and go for another couple of goals at least.

We started the 2nd half brightly enough (sweeper still there) and continued to press. Clough put Rosler through for a 1 against 1 but he took it too wide and shot against a defender. Offside anyway. As most of the action started to take place at the other end of the field I'm afraid my view from low down was none too illuminating, but with Southampton starting to do all the attacking I feared the worst. Southampton brought on Watson (attacker) for a defender and began to totally overrun us. Has Ball never heard the saying 'the best form of defence is attack'. Sure enough Watson went past Lomas and Frontzeck on the halfway line as if they weren't there and ran directly into the box without a challenge. He passed to Tisdale who calmly knocked it passed Eike giving him no chance. We then started time wasting. Summerbee was booked for delaying a throw in. Then on another occasion Summerbee was pulled up for a foul throw?. Southampton took the throw again only for it to be disallowed for a foul throw? Then Summerbee got it back and was penalised for (yes you guessed it) a foul throw? Bizarre. The ref. (Jeff Winter) was very fond of slow motion arm signals with a little flick of the wrist at the end. (The first Refereeing Poseur?). He was booking people all over the shop for very minor offences. City's time wasting (with the excruciating ploy of taking the ball to the corner flag, included) was rewarded with what seemed like about 10 minutes of stoppage time. During this time Southampton scored again. The linesman had flagged early for a player in an offside position to whom the original ball was aiming for. It didn't reach him and their sub. ran through our defence to slot the ball home. Although it was technically a correct decision, I would have been very annoyed if it had been given against City. My brother was sat with head in hands when I told him it was offside, and with some relief we carried on with our usual 'run of the mill' City heart attacks.

How we won this game I don't know. I know some Football experts like this system but I for one, hate it. I know we need the points but what happened to our flair and enterprise. All I can say is thank god for Georgi. Without him today we would have been buried. And to all those who say we have to start fighting instead of playing football (Paul Hince etc) all I can say is Bollocks!.

Final Score 2-1

MAR 23 WEST-HAM - MANCHESTER CITY 4-2 (1-0)

Report by: Paul Howarth

"Niall Quinn's Disco Pants Are The Best..."

Cor blimey guvnor, it's a trip to the East End. Would we manage another point or would our usual London jinx return? There were lots of Blues amongst the sell-out crowd to find out. Arrived in good time to visit the Boleyn Tavern which was packed with a good mix of home and away fans. The jukebox even belted out a few Oasis songs to make us feel at home.

We were in the lower tier of the new Centenary Stand for the first time and I was in the second to back row, below the overhanging upper tier. However, unlike at Chelsea, it was still possible to see the pitch when everybody stood up, something that happened a lot in this eventful match. Unfortunately I was sat next to a bit of a nutter. Anybody who has seen Jasper Carrot's "nutter" sketch will know what I mean. He seemed to think there was a colour clash between the dark claret shirts of the Hammers and our sky blue shirts. OK so their sleeves were blue but it was a much darker shade than ours. He also managed to slag off virtually every decision referee Keith Cooper made; I regard Cooper as the best referee in the country and I thought this was another exemplary display by him of how games should be refereed.

The first half saw quite a few chances for both sides in what was always a fairly even encounter. Iain Dowie's was the only name on the scoresheet though, heading powerfully past Immel from 6 yards after Dicks' effort had been cleared off the line. City's main problem was once again in the last third though; we simply didn't get enough players forward. Some great crosses came in from both flanks but there was nobody there to convert them as the ball skipped through the Hammers' goal area. Uwe never seemed to be in the right place to capitalise and when he finally got on the end of a good ball from Frontzeck, he completely mis-hit it. The best chance fell to Keith Curle though, from the penalty spot. It was awarded just before half time when a run by Gio was ended by a trip from the third defender in his path. Curle stepped up to take the penalty, hit it hard, low and to the 'keeper's right (first time I've ever seen him put it that side) and Miklosko made a brilliant save. Keith's now missed the last 3 penalties we've been awarded in the league and I think it's time Gio took over. After all he takes them for Georgia.

The second half continued in much the same vein with chances being spurned by both sides. It looked like we were never going to score when the ball was cleared off the line and then to make matters worse Dowie scored again. Hughes swung in a corner and Dowie got in front of his marker again to head in at the unguarded near post. City replaced the off-form Rosler with Quinn and the similarly out of sorts Frontzeck with Hiley; there was a slight improvement as Quinn put himself about a bit and was able to bring other players into the game. An unusual moment came when Dicks went charging through the middle on a break and was legged up by Kinkladze. It should have been a booking really but apparently Dicks (who revelled in his role as captain for the day) pleaded on Gio's behalf and he escaped with a telling-off.

A big turning point in the game came after another foul on Dicks, this time by Lomas. It was his second bookable offence (both of which were justified) and he didn't wait to be shown the red card before trooping off. This was the cue for City to try to make a game of it. Miklosko gifted us a goal straight away, dropping a shot from the very impressive Hiley right at the feet of Quinn who could hardly miss. City threw caution to the wind and pushed forward with almost reckless abandon looking for the equaliser. Needing extra bite in midfield, Cheesy came on for Summerbee (who had had a good game) and we even left two players upfield when the Hammers got a corner - we don't normally do that when we've got 11 men on the field!

It was do or die as City laid siege to the Hammers goal. It inevitably left big holes at the back and in the 83rd minute Dicks restored the two-goal advantage with a blistering 25-yard drive after good work by former City favourite Michael Hughes. A minute later it was 4-1, a 30-yard crossfield ball from another former City favourite Ian Bishop sent Portuguese substitute Dani through on goal. He looked to have taken the ball too wide but cut inside Hiley and Symons and carried the ball right into the 6 yard box before calmly slotting the ball under Immel from a tight angle. A rout looked to be on the cards but City scored the only other goal; Hiley chipped the ball in to Quinn who, with his back to goal, flicked the ball around his marker and volleyed home with his left foot. Why can't he do that more often? It was the last kick of the game as there wasn't even time for the centre to be taken. We weren't sure if the game had ended 4-1 or 4-2 until the PA announced that the goal would stand.

Sloppy defending at set pieces cost us this game. Apart from that we looked comfortable with our three sentral defenders. At two-nil and a man down the system went out of the window and we let another two in whilst chasing the game. If we'd converted some of the chances earlier in the game we wouldn't have been chasing it. Rosler, Frontzeck and Curle all had poor games. Curle's penalty wasn't bad really but his overall performance was well below his normal standard. We cannot afford to carry players any more this season. Curle will probably get another chance as there's no obvious replacement but I hope and expect Hiley and Quinn to start against Bolton.

Final score: West Ham 4 City 2

MAR 30 BOLTON - MANCHESTER CITY 1-1 (0-1)

Action shots: Symons driver, by Brightwell, Kinky and Gio Kinkladze by Eric Graham.

Report by: Paul Howarth

"We've got the best player in the land..."

This was a game both sides really needed to win, a crunch relegation battle and local pride at stake too. Arriving in Bolton at quarter past twelve, there was no problem finding a parking spot close to the ground so we headed into town for lunch and a beer or two. With none of the hostelries we passed looking very inviting, we ended up having a pizza (didn't facny my usual spicy beef variety for some reason) and a couple of bottles of Italian beer in a pizzeria.

Having been to Burnden Park recently, I knew the importance of arriving in good time to find a good spot on the open terrace that is given over to visiting supporters. For those that don't know, half of the away end is taken up by a Normid supermarket and half of what's left has an obstructed view due to the building. A floodlight pylon further obscures the view from other parts of the terrace. It seemed that lots of other people had the same idea and the away end was already about a third full by the time we arrived a little after two. It was an experience to savour though, our last chance to stand at a Premier League match. Bolton's new ground at Horwich, a 25,000 all seater, is already under construction although it doesn't seem likely that Premiership football will be played there next season in any case.

City lined up pretty well as I'd expected: Immel in goal, Summerbee and Hiley as wing-backs, Curle and Symons as centre-backs, Brightwell man-marking Sasa Curcic, Bolton's Serbian danger-man, a midfield of Lomas, Clough, Kinkladze and Brown and just Niall Quinn up front. On the bench were Buster Phillips, Michael Frontzeck and new boy Michael Kavelashvilly who showed some nice ball-juggling skills during thr warm-up. So, there was no place for the out of form Uwe Rosler; I assumed he'd been dropped but he apparently had a foot injury and may be back for the derby.

City got off to a great start, scoring in the second minute during their first attack. Hiley floated in a cross from the left flank and Quinn guided the ball in at the far post with a deft header. I think he was really just intending to lay the ball off for somebody to run on to but fortunately for us, the ball ended up in the net instead. Gavin Ward, the goalkeeper making his debut for Bolton, hadn't touched the ball until he had to pick it out of the net.

The rest of the first half was even but scrappy, as you might expect for a relegation battle such as this. The star players on each side, Bolton's Curcic and City's Kinkladze, both came in for some rough treatment; Alan Thompson himself admitted that he should have been sent off for a very late tackle that scythed Kinkladze to the ground. As it was, he got away with a yellow card, one of several in the match; I don't think any of the booked players could have many complaints though.

The entertainment level rose at half time; first there was the obligatory half-time draw in which somebody won 2,000 pounds. A few seconds after the winning number was announced, a man leapt out of the stand and danced like David Pleat circa 1983 along the touchline holding his winning ticket. Given the announcer's microphone, he had no problems conveying how pleased he was to the rest of the crowd. To follow that we had Bolton's furry mascot. I often wonder why clubs bother with these Disney-like characters but there was something different about this one; the home fans were cheering him and even singing to him. As he came round in front of the City fans the usual stream of jeers started up; it wasn't to last - this was a mascot with attitude. Whoever was inside the suit was a master of body language and soon had the whole ground cheering him on. You just had to be there really I suppose.

City kicked off the second half and had two great chances to increase the lead. Kinkladze, on top of his game again, jogged along the edge of the Bolton area inviting tackles before releasing a perfect ball to Summerbee whose powerful shot from 15 yards flew past the 'keeper. I was just about to yell "GOAL!" when the ball flew past the post. How could he miss it? There followed a mad scramble in the Bolton area in which Symons had a shot blocked and Clough's instinctive lunge sent the ball cannoning onto the underside of the bar and back out to safety. Surely a second goal would come? There was another priceless moment of skill from Kinkladze out on the right flank; a quick shuffle had Bolton left-back Jimmy Phillips tying himself in knots and falling over. Not content with this, Gio stood still, allowed Phillips to get to his feet and then beat him again. This had the away end in fits of laughter and was the cue for a new (?) chant, "We've got the best player in the land."

As the minutes continued to tick away, Bolton got more and more desperate for an equaliser and threw more and more players forward. City's defending became frantic and we completely lost our composure, hacking the ball away to nobody in particular, thus ensuring that the ball would return and put us under more pressure. Chief culprit here was Keith Curle, whose distribution throughout the game was quite appalling. He made some important blocks and tackles but I'd have to say that he's been getting visibly worse with each game this month. Eventually the Bolton pressure paid off. Curcic's initial attempt at a cross was blocked but he got it in at the second attempt; it deflected off the top of Summerbee's head to the far post where McGinlay had escaped the attentions of Hiley and was able to head in unchallenged.

A minute later, City were down to 10 men. Summerbee aimed a waist-high challenge at Thompson (it looked worse at the time that on the TV replay actually) and was booked for the second time in the game. It was completely one way traffic now and Immel made a number of good saves, one in particular from Bergsson being absolutely world-class. Quinn was the only player to get into the Bolton half and although he gave 100% as usual, he was clearly exhausted. The only reason I can see why he wasn't replaced by Kavelashvilly was because of his aerial presence when defending corners. With a minute to go, Hiley limped off and was replaced by Frontzeck. In the end we were lucky to escape with a point in a match which we should comfortably have won. Alan Ball described the panicky second-half performance as "crap". Can't disagree with that but why didn't he change something? God help us next week.