An unwanted sense of perspective

Thanks to Blackpool and Man Utd for putting a couple of our recent defeats into perspective. The Seasiders picked up a draw at the Reebok, the scene of our humiliation last Saturday, and were actually two goals up with less than quarter of an hour to go. Meanwhile, Taggart's mob wiped the smirk of Fat Sam's mug by destroying Blackburn 7-1 - a few injuries aside, this was the same bunch who frustrated and ultimately defeated us at St James' Park earlier in the month.

To make matters worse, Man Utd's romp propelled them to the top of the table - meaning that our visitors Chelsea will be even more fired up and determined to take the three points. Wor Al has backed Rocky to inherit his talismanic status and the Blues' defence has certainly been uncharacteristically shakey of late - but it's not really a fixture for two central defenders who've never played together before to try to forge a partnership either...