Drums along the M61

Blaring tannoy announcements and lines of kids and people with sponsors' flags greeted the two teams' arrival and the overkill at trying to generate an atmosphere jarred with the empty seats in the stands.

Then there are the drums.

At the opposite end of the stadium to the away support there are a number of drummers - and another guy in a different lion suit - orchestrating the home "support" with an incessant droning drumbeat.

As quiet as Anfield can become on occasion, the first person who thinks it's OK to arrive with a drum will be excommunicated to an ex-atomic test island in the Pacific.

As for the game itself, it seemed the team had also been hypnotised by the droning drums.

We had so much possession of the ball it was embarrassing, Bolton virtually never got out of their half. The fact that they took the lead with virtually their first foray into the Liverpool box was even more embarrassing for the Reds.

A cross to the back post, Insua is beaten in the air then the ball virtually ran across the goal line with only Bolton players lining up to tap the ball in. Carragher harangued Insua but what was our left back, the shortest man on the pitch doing defending the right hand post?

In truth though it also seemed that once again, we had to play not only the eleven men of the opposition but also the referee. Alan Wiley was the ref but I think we'd have been better off with Wile E.Coyote as at least he would have kept up with the play.

Nothing much in terms of approach has changed since Megson took over at the Reebok, it is the Allardyce model without the flair..

Long balls, long throws, overly physical challenges and all to the sound of beating drums.

No wonder so many Bolton fans are staying away.

Bolton's players spent most of the first half arriving for tackles fashionably late and were mostly not punished - and hence encouraged - by the ref.

Megson complained after the game that Lucas had deliberately "controlled the ball and slowed down to allow himself to be caught" when Sean Davis was sent off for his second bookable offence. For one, I don't think Lucas allows himself to be caught - he is just not that fast - and secondly, Megson's gripe ignores the fact that Kevin Davies is adept at exactly the same thing he accused Lucas of.

Glen Johnson's equaliser was the least we deserved from a one-sided first half and we anticipated a more focussed second period where we would take the lead and go on to win the game.

Instead, within a minute we were two-one down again. Kyrgiakos, who had a decent debut it must be said, lost out on a high ball with Davis and Cohen rifled the ball past Reina.

Most newspapers today have painted the fact that Bolton went down to ten men after the sending off of Davis as the turning point in the game. Maybe that's true but given the physical nature of their play all afternoon it was probably deserved.

The fact that Torres scored not long after boosted both the team and the travelling support and in a way the ultimate outcome was inevitable. Gerrard's winning goal was a great strike and well-deserved. In the end, we'd scored three good goals and both the goals we conceded were down to our own poor defending and concentration.

That part of our game needs sorting and fast. There still seems to be something wrong with the team at present, the confidence does not seem to be there and hopefully this win will settle the ship.

The strength of the squad is a problem and given the financial position at the club at present it doesn't look like any more reinforcements are going to arrive before this transfer window closes.

Given the competition in the Premier league this season, then our owners are gambling with our Champions League future and surely the financial future of the club itself.

If that is the case then the next drums our American owners may hear will be the war drums of the Anfield faithful.