Prompt Player Ratings

Marshall 7 Dealt with everything thrown at him but there was nothing he shouldn't have dealt with.
When we play keep ball and roll it back to him he is a little quick to bang it long instead of playing it short and maintaining possession.

McNaughton 6 Hmmmn. With no flying winger to nullify today, McNaughton needed to use the ball effectively but he didn't. Several times he had Noone in space in front of him but chose to play the simple ball back inside. It's heart breaking but we are moving on from Super Kev and need better.

Hudson 7 Millwall had two free headers in front of goal in quick succession and could well argue that if Woods was playing they'd have equalised. Hard to say who was to blame but the defence sorted it out among themselves and didn't allow any space in the box from that point onwards. Our midfield needs to offer our centre half's a bit more protection.

Turner 8 I thought Big Ben outperformed Hudson again today and showcased his overlooked attribute – his straight line speed. Twice Millwall put the ball in behind us and twice Turner simply out ran their forward. Few forwards match Turner for strength, size and speed.

Taylor 6 One typical AWOL moment that infuriated Turner and prompted much course side bookmaker arm waving from the left side of our defence. Taylor was neat and clever when supporting our attacks but that brain fart almost cost us and marks him down.

Noone 7 A superb assist and nearly another when Gunnarsson just failed to get on the end of a cross. Noone took a battering and faded almost to nothing in the second half. Unfairly penalised for one tackle his, Lazarous like recovery from one head injury to lead a counter attack was a touch embarrassing.

Gunnarsson 8 Works hard to get his place back, plays well, gets hurt. It's getting a bit depressing now. Before some Bermondsey thug raked his studs across his stomach, Gunns was bossing the game with a complete midfield performance. He patrolled the middle, hoovering up every loose ball and twice his breaks into the box came within inches of producing a goal. We were swamped in the middle after he left.

Whittingham 6 After a bright start when he set Noone away with one long raking pass and put Gunns into a great position with a five yard dink that took out two defenders, Whitts faded badly and spent most of the second half with his head bowed. He'll surely be rested for the cup game.

Conway 6 Worked hard and covered Taylor well but he had several opportunities to run at his full back and eschewed them all. His crossing was a little off and he had one free shot at goal that he blasted way over the bar. We put ourselves under pressure when we play two out and out wingers and those wingers need to be more dangerous going forward to compensate.

Bellamy 8 Didn't stop running but was a little loose with the ball. Set up one glorious chance and drew plenty of attention but he can play better.

Gestede 8 Faded badly but that's understandable for a player who last went 90 minutes when we played in blue. His goal might have seemed easy but he had to get across his man to apply the finish and did so with ease. Won lots of high balls and on another day his knock downs would have led to at least one goal. A good all round centre forward's game.

Mutch 6 Far better than Palace. He cowered away from one challenge following a dreadful pass from Conway but kept the ball alive and picked out a few neat passes. He set Bellamy free for a goal scoring chance and had a sweet strike of his own. Part of the midfield that was overrun throughout the game's third quarter but he, like Whittingham, could argue he needs to play with ball winners and when Cowie entered the fray our midfield was better.

Cowie 6 Not much time to make an impact but we were noticeably stronger when he was on the field.

Helguson 6 He came on, he did his bit. Gestede has always delivered more when introduced late.

Millwall was always going to be a heavyweight midfield battle and I agree that Gunnarsson was outstanding. I also felt bringing Cowie on was the right thing to do and maybe, with hindsight, he should have been there from the start, perhaps instead of Conway.......there was plenty of width provided by Noone & Bellamy.

My only disagreement with the above is that perhaps it is a little harsh on Taylor. His link up play with both midfield and forwards was excellent and he rarely wasted possession. Unlike SuperKev, I have no worries when Taylor has the ball........I'll forgive him the odd defensive lapse.....

Well done Kamuza.

I would say Gunnarsson would easily have been man of the match had he stayed on the pitch. We lost the midfield battle when he went off, and dare I say it, Kevin Nolan would have been a perfect player to take over...

Marshall won man of the match in his absence and a point was well made to my father and I today that we now expect Marshall's incredible saves every game, when in fact, they are of a high quality, and perhaps he could get an 8.

I'd say Conway Twitty actually did a good job today. He won the ball with a brilliant tackle on the edge of the penalty area and ran 50 yards with the ball and I believe he gave Milwall a lot of problems. I'd give him an 8. He's not as flair filled as Noone but he's better defensively.

And lastly I felt that after a good first 25 minutes filled with deft flick ons and other good moments, Gestede faded into anonymity. We were pumping the ball in to the box again and again only to find no-one on the end of the crosses. It really highlighted our need for a prolific striker for me.

Other than that spot on. Mcnaughton's final ball is still woeful, one good touch line pass aside, and Whittingham is still off form.

I do think we let Milwall off the hook though, if Gunnarsson stayed on I think it could have been the 3-0 a few people predicted. We need someone influential and dogged in the centre. Nolan. Ahem.

Kamuza Flair is too low an accolade...

Great first 15 minutes... I thought 7- (-1) was on... Though not technically possible I thought City old break the laws of physics.... The rest dismal... Football as entertainment died.... Whitts.... Whitts... Whitts. Don't tell me Father Christmas doesn't exist... Magic has gone for themoment... Couldn't agree more Kamuza Whitts to Maldives for a week

And the Sun's take on the players:
Marshall - 8
Super Kev - 7
Hudson - 7
Turner - 6
Taylor - 7
Noone - 7
Whittingham - 7
Gunnarsson - 6 (what game was the journo watching?!)
Conway - 6
Bellamy - 7
Gestede - 7

Subs:
Cowie - 6
Mutch - 7
Helguson - no score

N.B. I normally read the Times but the Sun was the only paper to hand at lunchtime...