Firstly, let's get the bad out of the way - I never want to see Lionel in an ICT shirt ever again (tho the gawdy shellsuits I've seen him wearing in Tesco also leave a lot to be desired...) as this was possibly the worst 45 min performance I've seen in an ICT shirt in the last 10 years. No positional or marking awareness, trotted about vaguely after the ball and caught in no man's land on several occasions, passing diabolical couldn't put a foot right and was guilty of several stupid fouls in quick succession. However, I will say that he put in a few decent and well timed tackles on the sideline, always best to find a positive they say! Delighted to see Hastings at ht.
Latvian lad - as said previously - had a very no-nonsense performance. Struggled to find our players with passes but stopped pretty much everything going his way. Athletic looking (pretty slim), tall and looked very aware right through match, concentration and positioning looked pretty much spot on. Don't think he committed a single foul but overall it was a well-played game.
Was delighted by the other 2 new signings, the reports here sparked fear but they were quickly allayed. Obvioulsy Morais' 2 goals speak for them themselves (seeing them on tv tonight gave a somewhat less generous viewpoint tho!) but he was full of tricks, turns and confidence and there was no evidence of lack of match fitness. Gathuessi went into midfield and for the short time he played, he seemed certainly more of a midfielder than a defender - again, he was keen to take players on.
Is today the start of a new, multi-national era one wonders. It was an absolute joy to come out with a win and a smile on my face, obviously lots of talking points with 3 debutants but few if any who went there today could have failed to have come out feeling positive.