The torture has begun.

St Alan of the Gallowgate managed to save us from humiliation at the hands of Dirty Leeds, but it was a close run thing. Sir Bobby had to use his Face of Fury (TM) far earlier in the season than he'd probably hoped, but it had the desired effect. Could also have done with Dirty Thug Lee Bowyer continuing the time-honoured tradition of scoring against his old club, but at least he didn't prove to be a liability.

Good match, though. Plenty of opportunity for yelling "Get in!", "No!" and various obscenities across a half-abandoned newsroom.

Now we just want Chelsea's expensively assembled squad to make Roman Abramovich look like a frivolous fool, and the Red Menace to roll over at St James' next weekend, and it'll be a satisfactory start to the season.