* Jimmy Ryan will be joining Shrewsbury Town for a month long loan effective immediately. The 18-year-old, two-time FA Youth Cup winning midfielder could play as early as today as the Shrews get set to take on Colchester United in the opening round of the League Cup. He apparently impressed Shrewsbury boss Gary Peters while on trial during preseason training and their much injury maligned side needs all the help it can get.
* Well, in what I was hoping to be his comeback season, Harry Kewell has been bitten by the injury bug again. This time he apparently suffered a slight thigh/groin tear while in training and is expected to be out for at least ten days. Hopefully, his road to recovery will see him back on the pitch for us by the end of the month.
* The injuries keep mounting for Chelsea, but at least it was somewhat good news for the Blues that Michael Essien won't be out for as long as first feared. The enigmatic midfielder hurt his knee after scoring against Birmingham on Sunday and will miss at least his team's next two matches, including the one this Sunday at Anfield.
* Jermaine Pennant was left out of the squad that will face Toulouse tomorrow. Not really that surprising, he isn't suffering from injury and the way he tore up Ashley Cole and Chelsea last year at Anfield, his exclusion is welcome if he can repeat that performance on Sunday. Javier Mascherano, Peter Crouch, and Yossi Benayoun are expected to make their season debuts tomorrow.
* Though there were some rumblings about Crouch being unhappy about his exclusion on Saturday, Benitez has put that to rest saying that he and Crouch have met and have come to an understanding. Meanwhile, the lanky striker has become somewhat inspired by his boss' new facial hair, that he's challenged the rest of the squad to a facial hair growing contest. Funny how Arbeloa was excluded.
* Finally, it looks like Gareth Barry is still crying about the free kick awarded to Gerrard on Saturday. Whatever, your squad was the lesser side and you didn't deserve to even draw. Cheers.