We weren't all that bad last night. Some people need to come down to earth QUICKLY

[Paul Lamberts Disciple 0]

As the title says. I fear most for some of our fans this year.We weren''t that bad, brief summary of how I saw it.Defence: Biggest problem is the same one we''ve had for FIVE years now, and one that''s going to cost us more dearly this year than any other - we still can''t defend aerial balls of any sort. Askou looks promising, as does Alnwick, but any defence with Doherty in is going to be unstable: and that fact he wants to be that towering presence is the worst thing for us, because he''s not sufficiently co-ordinated. Drury is a spectre of his former self and should be moved along for Lappin.Midfield: We were overrun because as others have pointed out confidence is shot and nobody wants the ball. Any thin veneer of confidence we do have, gets wiped out by an opposition goal, at which point we crumble. But I still think a midfield of Tudor Jones, Adeyemi, Hughes with Gill as the "battering ram" (afraid so) back up, and Hoolahan on the left, is there or thereabouts in this league. Whaley was a shambles, again; he''s either not fit or not interested, and we need to try someone else - problem is, RM is probably he weakest area of our squad, at least in terms of natural options.Forwards: Again, I think Cody Mac, Holt and Maric as a rotating threesome has enormous potential. I really do. If Cody/Holt had buried a couple of the chances in the first half, the outcome would have been very different last night.Coaching/management: Hardly suprising (to me at least) we struggled last night, seeing as we are a rudderless ship at the moment. Gunn''s gone, leaving all of *his* recruits utterly bewildered; alleged bustups between Butterworth and Crook; resulting in Crook being prevented from having enough coaching input. That much was obvious from some of the basic errors in the second half; no man marking at all, no retaining positions and shape; and no movement into space.Fans: in good voice, but many need to get their heads sorted right now. I got tired of hearing shock and incredulity last night. YES we have a League One team; but Brentford do not have any outsanding individuals either, barring O''Connor who was excellent, but they are a team and play as a team: confident, motivated, and inspired.In summary, we are in League One, with a League One budget, and Gunn has gone out and bought us, largely, a League One team. That is where we are. I believe the difference is going to be the intangibles of man management, tactical nous and inspiring leadership. That stars with Mcnally, who really impresses me. Let''s hope his judgement on Lambert''s skills are also spot on, because he''s going to need all of them to get our season going.OTBC