Chas, try playing. It's very difficult to get that little round thing between the two sticks in the ground with that piece of wood going across, especially with the movement of the modern ball, which can work for you or against you. I scored goals for 20 years at a lot lower level than the Premiership and found that hard enough. Just imagine how hard it is then at the top level, to out think players who are playing in one of the best leagues in the world, manoeuvre them out of your way and recognise the opening. Within a split second the decision to shoot has to be taken and once it is decided upon there is no pulling out. This is instinctive. No time for rational debate, it's time to shoot. As soon as that ball leaves your boot you know if you're close or not. Sibierski, Barton, Musampa, Sun etc. all executed this skill to the best of their ability. The rest is luck. Yes, luck. You're lucky if you catch the ball correctly, you're lucky if the transmission from your brain registers in time to swing your foot in precisely the manner you know will bring the best result, you're lucky if the keeper somehow doesn't managed to scramble across his goal and save it, and, finally, you are lucky if you score. You can be the most incompetent player in the world and one day you will strike a ball so well you shock yourself. It will travel into the top corner and you have scored a great goal. You may never repeat this for the rest of your life. The skill is in being able to repeat this process game in and game out. Sometimes, you'll get lucky, mostly you won't. I'm sorry if you don't think that this performance was satisfactory, if you thought the finishing was poor and the team could have done better. Perhaps you are hypercritical, or perhaps Championship Manager is distracting you. Try playing and then tell me how easy it is to score.

   I agree with Sandy Dublin, there were loads of positives from that game. It took us a while but eventually we dominated a very defensive 4-5-1 Bolton. Mills had an excellent game and looked composed on the ball. Dunne and Distin showed once again that they are an excellent pairing and cover each other so well. Our central midfield pairing looks on the basis of 6 games played to be one of the best in the Premier. Sibski dominated their centre back pairing for big chunks of the game, did well in his first full game for a long time and apart from the volley was unlucky with his finishing. Vassell showed us a different side to his game and led the line well, worked tirelessly and showed he is an excellent team player. Stephen Ireland looked the most composed player on the park and we are all waiting in anticipation for more. Negatives were Sinclairs injury; Kiki still being the weakest link b" sort him out Stu; the ball not going in after countless chances but thatb^TMs football; Dunneyb^TMs moment of madness and the result. ESPN STAR who show the games out here in Asia are always very dismissive of all things Man City but they were positively raving after this showing, to paraphrase one of their pundits it was one of the best performances by any team this season, City can play it long, can play it short, show imaginationb&b. I for one am very happy with our progress so far this season.