CambridgeCanary

Hooper was getting little change from the large centre backs and Elmander has greater physicality. Elmander played well, held the line, brought others into play and used his guile to win corners and free kicks so it''s not as if the change was not effective. Hughton said Ricky was not fit enough to risk at that stage of the game. Seems to have been a gamble putting him on the bench

[quote user="City 2nd"]RvW''s 4 year contract wrote the following post at 2013-10-26 2:50 PM: If Hughton had said it was must win the same people would have criticised him... But isn''t it a must win? Or you agree that it is not?[/quote] Of course it''s not a must win. It is ridiculous to suggest that it is. It is highly desirable that we win but if we don''t there are still plenty of games to go so nothing is decided today. It is inherent in football that you don''t get results where you should and do where you shouldn''t. We ought not to lose to Cardiff but it is just one game of 38

It''s funny that a good run is lucky but a bad run is never unlucky.

Naughty, wicked Archant providing us with a free forum and then not making it good enough and filling it with horrible adverts. I''m very surprised that Wiz and other critics don''t go to the expense and trouble of setting up their own forums rather than moan about someone else''s.

If I''m not interrupting a private party, I challenge the assertion and assumption that we will get nothing from the last four games. We have taken points off top teams in the last two seasons and I can''t see why this season will be different. At the end of the season there are always topsy turvey results. I think we will get two or three points from those last four games.

[quote user="Thirsty Lizard"]Rudolph - I think you may have just made one of the most unintentionally hilarious comments I''ve seen on this board in a long time. Hughton "threw away a confidence building away loss" at Arsenal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So what should he have done with us 2-1 down in the 65th minute??????????????? Don''t attack lads - waste time - if you get the ball pass it back or run it into the corners. We''ve got a confidence building defeat in the bag!! Don''t try and score a goal to get a draw we might let one in and lose by more. Keep it tight we''ve got zero points on the board from this game - don''t throw it away by trying to equalise.[/quote] I was about to say something similar when I read this. Quite right Thirsty. I am so sick of all the criticism of Hughton for going for it after all the criticism of him for not going for it. As for Rudolph''s question, the result is important but if we put in the right performance then that will go a long way. What matters is what the Board think and I doubt if they share Wiz''s world view. This club does not sack managers lightly and will only do so if it is believed to be in its best interests. I think the Board is a very long way from that point.

After all we have achieved over the last five years, are we not beyond petty spite over bit players like David Marshall? After all, if he had stayed, he would have been part of it all. Like Clingan, by leaving Marshall was the loser. Isn''t that enough? Why bother with anything else?

This is what Chris Hughton said after the Villa game:   I generally felt with Robert Snodgrass’ performance, although it was be fair to say it was in and out, if we were going to get something it could come from that right-hand side and the link between him and Russell Martin. “Whatever else you say about Snoddy he is a lad who will keep going. Even in bad periods of the game with Robert where he might produce a poor cross or get dispossessed you know he will keep going. We managed to get Russ through on a couple of occasions and had balls flying into the box from that side whereas Nathan in that period was shackled quite well. Whenever he got the ball he had two or three players around him. “Those are the decisions I have to make and even after the changes we continued to create chances.”   Whatever criticism is thrown at Hughton, it is clear that he is not a fool and that his decisions have a rational basis.  You might disagree with him but he does not make random decisions.  He plays Snodgrass for reasons not because he is capricious, blind or being blackmailed.

And the winner of the Pink Un''s  Original Thought and Unique Post Expressing Never Before Revealed Insights is:   [quote user=" Green and Yellow"] I am not a pant wetter nor part time fan but unless Hughton goes City will be relegated. He might be a nice guy but nice guys don''t always win. Norwich are in a ruthless league in terms of the money people involved and the teams in the league. Frankly his tenure has at best been uninspiring at worst dire. Take away the ten game run last season and its is diabolical. he hasn''t changed the playing style nor does he seem capable of going that.        [/quote]   Thanks for sharing.  Now why has no one else come up with this since Hughton took over?

I accept all that is said about the need for better and more effective service.  There are though two points that have been overlooked in this long discussion about Hooper''s underwhelming start.   Firstly, he is new to the Prem.  This was his first start and to expect him to be firing on all cylinders is a bit unfair.  He has to adapt to a faster and more intense game than he is used to and that will not happen just because he walks on a pitch.   Secondly, Laurent Koscielny.   Not a player I particularly rated and understandably overlooked in all the glorification of the midfield on Saturday, but he was magnificent.  I was in the clock end behind the goal and Koscielny gave a masterclass in anticipating the pass and getting there first.  Time and again what seemed a decent ball was put through and up would pop Koscielny to steal it.  His interceptions were very effective though less spectacular than a crunching tackle.     It was undoubtedly Hooper''s bad luck to come up against a player of that class and in that form.  It won''t happen every week.                             No wonder Vermaelen wants to leave.   Perhaps we should put in a bid(?) 

[quote user="SeattleCanary"][quote user="Making Plans"]Why is it that posters who claim that our finishing position last year was absolutely a true reflection of our abilities, pointing out frequently that the table doesn''t lie, and yet now we are in the bottom 3 they look for every lame excuse under the sun to try & make out that it isn''t a true reflection of our abilities and that we shouldn''t be there.[/quote]This. Nail firmly on head. It seems the rules only apply when those posters seem to say they do. If''s and buts matter not on a league table. I could have been rocket scientist if I did this and that, but I''m not. These posters just like to kid themselves.[/quote]   Without getting too technical and statistically geeky.......   At the end of the season everyone has played everyone else twice and therefore the table sits on an equal footing.   After eight games, everyone has played eight other teams once either home or away and not played the other eleven teams at all.   Therefore, they are not equal.   Results in part depend on who you have played.   If we were 8th having played none of the big six, you would both be saying that we are in a false position because we had just had easy games.  You would be right.   At this stage there is too much variation for the table to do anything other than reflect how teams have fared in the eight random games played so far.

[quote user="First Wizard"][quote user="splutcho"]Yes Wiz. If you didn''t notice, we played the side top of the league, now stop trolling.[/quote]   Just because my opinion differs to yours does not make me a troll or your opinion anymore valid splutcho............there''s too much of that attitude and accusations on here these days. [/quote]   here we go again.  can I refer you to Bethnal''s excellent reply above.   Everyone has a right to an opinion.  That is not the same as a right to have that opinion respected and taken seriously.   I am entitled to believe that the Queen is actually a seven foot green lizard in disguise just as you are entitled to believe that Tettey is the problem.   Neither of us are entitled to have such beliefs taken seriously and respected by any right thinking sentient being.

[quote user="First Wizard"][quote user="ncfcstar"]I have not seen one suggestion in this thread which vindicates sacking our manager.  O''Neill?  Jol?  REDKNAPP?!  Bloody hell.[/quote]   Check out O''Neils wins stats .......they are far better than Hughtons. [/quote]   And Ted MacDougall''s goal stats are better than Hooper''s but I know who I''d rather see in the team on Saturday.   O''Neill was a great manager.  He has little over the past five years and nothing over the past two to suggest that he still is.   In his final months at Sunderland he looked lost, exhausted and broken.   I really doubt that he has it in him to manage at this level again.

[quote user="jas the barclay king"]"we are too defensive - hughton out~!""We are not scoring enough - hughton Out!""we want to be entertained - Hughton out!""We are winning games but its boring - Hughton Out!""we are being entertained but we aren''t winning - Hughton Out!""We are Too Attacking - Hughton Out!"what has it got to be to be ''Hughton in'' then everyone?[/quote] Ain''t that the truth Jas? You could add "we want attacking substitutions when we are losing - Hughton Out" "We took off Tettey and brought on Hoolahan but didn''t get a result - Hughton Out"

[quote user="I.S."]Was I watching a different game to everyone else today? We bossed the second half, were well in with a chance of getting something from the game, but were finally undone by some moments of sheer class from a great team playing at the top of their game. The performances of the last couple of games have been an absolute transformation from Spurs and Villa IMO. Can I ask what the "Hughton Outers" would have realistically expected from the last couple of performances? What could Hughton have done better - something constructive rather than the usual "title says it all" nonsense that any 5 year old could come up with?[/quote] I was at your game IS. At 1-0 and 2-1 we looked more likely to score but were bested by true class. Also, after all the complaining about being more attacking and going for it, Hughton takes Tettey off for Hoolahan and gives for it. It was a gamble but the kind of gamble posters have been shouting for. But it failed so The critics are out

Six foot two Eyes of blue Duncan Forbes is after you Lalalalalalala.   I have no idea what the tune is called but it was commonly used at the time and will be familiar when heard.

[quote user="Dubai Mark"]Its a fair point regarding bigger clubs and the same applies to to RVW and any other of the bigger foreign signings made by the, shall we say, lesser premier league teams. Come December when these players have had a few months and plenty of games at this level, then the bigger clubs will certainly be more interested in these players,providing they have cut it of course, than they would have been previously without really knowing how they would perform. They have big squads, so why not let the players they are unsure of move to a Norwich City or a Fulham, a Swansea first rather than just be a squad player, may cost a few extra million but those bigger clubs can afford to play that game. Just hope that Fer who is clearly an exceptional player and RVW (because he will come good and is clearly settling in) have good sell-on clauses with a high minimum release clause in their contracts. [/quote] I would hope and expect that there are no sell on clauses in either of their contracts.

[quote user="Dubai Mark"]Its a fair point regarding bigger clubs and the same applies to to RVW and any other of the bigger foreign signings made by the, shall we say, lesser premier league teams. Come December when these players have had a few months and plenty of games at this level, then the bigger clubs will certainly be more interested in these players,providing they have cut it of course, than they would have been previously without really knowing how they would perform. They have big squads, so why not let the players they are unsure of move to a Norwich City or a Fulham, a Swansea first rather than just be a squad player, may cost a few extra million but those bigger clubs can afford to play that game. Just hope that Fer who is clearly an exceptional player and RVW (because he will come good and is clearly settling in) have good sell-on clauses with a high minimum release clause in their contracts. [/quote] I would hope and expect that there are no sell on clauses in either of their contracts.

Of course the table lies after seven games.   All teams have only played seven out of the other nineteen in the league.  That is not an equal competition and so the results are indicative of very little.   As for your more general comment, it never ceases to amaze me how some alleged fans blame any success on the failings of the opposition and not on the merits of |City.  Stoke were poor because we played well and got into their faces and made them poor.  As many pundits noted at the time.   But, as it pleases your agenda to attack everything we achieve then enjoy it.

In what way was he "obviously upset"?  Was he crying?  Swearing, cursing and looking like thunder?   Please explain as it will help us all make sense of this.

The story so so far as the quote button does not work "CanaryOne said "Unfortunately we do not play like today against the lesser clubs , Cardiff match is going to be massive lose that one and it will most likely be 4 straight defeats and firmly rooted in the bottom 3" .I replied I replied "Absolutely bang on. Some posters are forgetting how poor we were against Stoke. Many more performances like that against lesser teams like Stoke and we are done for!!!!" Then, in a whoosh moment New Boy intervened "Are you sure you mean Stoke? The game where we absolutely bossed the first half and pulled their usually very organised defence all over the place, and then did what was required to shut them out after they made two very positive half time substitutions and started trying to really stretch us? You do realise that we were playing away? Against Stoke? Who we never beat? Cambridge are top of the league if you fancy a change of scenery?"  So, my reply: Are you as devoid of brains as you are of humour and full of patronising pomposity? I was being sarcastic to the moronic comment of Canary One who says we lose to lesser teams a week after an excellent win against Stoke. I do not expect an even more moronic comment from you.

[quote user="CanaryOne"]Unfortunately we do not play like today against the lesser clubs , Cardiff match is going to be massive lose that one and it will most likely be 4 straight defeats and firmly rooted in the bottom 3 .[/quote] Absolutely bang on. Some posters are forgetting how poor we were against Stoke. Many more performances like that against lesser teams like Stoke and we are done for!!!!

We were convinced Swarbrick wants the same holiday as Halsey. It was a grubby big club performance.

Hodgson''s sycophantic relationship with the big clubs has yet again led him into trouble.   With two competitive games coming up, he cannot push an inexperienced keeper into the team.  He needed to give Ruddy and Forster the experience in the many pointless friendlies that he has had.  His obsession with letting Hart play his way back into form has left all his eggs in the Hart basket.   In many respects Hodgson is unlucky but in his handling of his goalkeepers over the last two years, he has just been inept and has left himself with no options and he is now very dependent on Hart finding some form when it matters.

If you haven''t seen anything of Elmander then you haven ''t been looking very hard. Like Ricky he has worked his socks off finding space for passes. His first touch is good. He wins balls in the air for flick ons and his passing is astute. Also , he gets into the area. Whenever the ball was played wide he dashed to the area to make a target. We are not finding him or Ricky well but when we do then we should see an impact.