"Obscene"

Not my word, the word chosen by Sir Bobby Robson to describe Jermaine Jenas's crucial penalty in the sudden-death shoot-out with Chelski in Sunday's final of the Premier League Asia Cup. JJ capped an unusually poor display with a risible chipped effort which sailed over Cudicini but unfortunately also the bar, handing the cup to Abramovich's mob.

Still, there's no real room for complaint about the overall outcome of the game, after we'd held on to a 0-0 scoreline by full time - although we had a few good chances here and there, Chelski were always the better and more dangerous-looking side, with Given very busy particularly in terms of rushing off his line to clear.

Plus points: most of the squad got at least one half under their belts, and we didn't pick up any injuries. Now let's just hope we can step things up for the start of the season proper, and not have our preparations disrupted by the departure of any key players like Dyer...