A night of Carling Cup action sees four Premier League clubs bite the dust already. All three promoted clubs are out, though while both Paul Lambert and Brendan Rodgers had some tough words to say, Neil Warnock seems less than bothered. Wolves continue their recent good form by sweeping aside Northampton Town, while Steve Bruce rues his forwards’ lack of finishing. Here’s this morning’s Scribbles:
A 4-0 home defeat by MK Dons saw Paul Lambert suffer his heaviest defeat as Norwich boss. Lambert made several changes from the side that drew at home to Stoke but watched on as both Wes Hoolahan and new signing Daniel Ayala limped off before the end of the game. The Canaries boss couldn’t hide his displeasure at the performance, ahead of the trip to Chelsea this weekend.
Disappointing – really, really disappointing. We got what we deserved which is absolutely nothing and we were never at the races-we lost to the better side. It’s probably the first time in two years that I’m really disappointed… we have to pick ourselves up and go again. I picked the team and I take full responsibility for tonight. When something like this happens it is my fault.
Swansea boss Brendan Rodgers was less than impressed with his side’s 3-1 loss at Shrewsbury Town. Rodgers made nine changes to his first XI from the match against Wigan but seemed to hint there will be more changes on the back of this performance:
That team was good enough to get the result. You’ve got internationals and million pound players out there, so they should have done the job. This was their chance to put their hand up and say pick me against Sunderland on Saturday. Instead they put their hand up and said don’t pick me.
Neil Warnock made plenty changes for the home tie with Rochdale but, despite the likes of Adel Taarabt and Jay Bothroyd playing the full ninety minutes, saw his side lose 2-0. Right-back Bradley Orr was subbed off just on the half-hour mark, though this was a precautionary measure, according to the official website . Midfielder Martin Rowlands picked up a knock and was replaced in the 71st minute by Shaun Derry. Warnock was less than concerned with the exit, saying:
“I don’t think people care about the competition. I’m not disappointed to be out. The competition is not a priority for us. If I can’t get motivated for the competition I can’t blame the players if they can’t.”
Mick McCarthy made eleven changes from the side that beat Fulham at the weekend but Wolves continued their good early-season form at Northampton. The likes of Michael Kightly and Sylvain Ebanks-Blake were given run-outs and although the latter impressed with a brace, he was hurt when scoring his second and was resultantly taken off on eighty minutes.
Roy Hodgson also made eleven changes from the side that lost at Chelsea as West Brom travelled to Bournemouth. The Baggies won 4-1 and the game was significant for the return from injury of Jerome Thomas. The winger opened the scoring and may come into contention for the weekend game against Stoke, with James Morrison possibly making way on the left flank. Hodgson said after the game:
“At the moment, I haven’t picked the team for Stoke. Tonight, we saw one or two players take a chance to impress upon me that maybe I should be considering them for the first team. Partly, that is what these games are about for us because otherwise you don’t get that opportunity. We know they’re good players at, say, reserve-team level but I need to know they’re good players at senior level.
Sunderland’s 1-0 defeat at Brighton won’t have impressed Steve Bruce. The Black Cats boss made minimal changes to his starting line-up for the tie but watched on as his new-look side suffered their second straight loss. With one goal in their opening three matches, the season hasn’t got off to the best of starts at the Stadium of Light. Bruce laid the blame on his forwards, saying:
We created enough chances to win the cup-tie but we failed to do that because of our inability, once more, to put away chances. We’ve got punished for it and it’s worrying. We certainly had enough strikers on the pitch but we just didn’t convert our chances . We’ve got to learn to do that.
Away from the Carling Cup, Arsene Wenger received more bad news yesterday. On the day that Samir Nasri agrees terms with Man City, Jack Wilshere’s ankle injury will keep him out of action until well into next month. The Arsenal boss is keen not to rush the midfielder back to action, with Wenger blaming overuse of the player last season as having a knock-on effect.
Wenger had some good news on the injury front ahead of tonight’s crucial Champions League qualifier at Udinese. Tomas Rosicky, Johan Djourou and Armand Traore are all included in the squad and though Laurent Koscielny is still unavailable, he may be ready in time for the Gunner trip to Old Trafford on Sunday.
