shropshire canary

You lot make me feel old now - I have a daughter at Sheff Uni, but sadly she''s not that keen on footie: must be having me as a Dad!!

Great loan signing - same circumstances as Peter Crouch if I recall right.  

My texting mate says really poor goal to concede as well!  

We''ll be there - new ground syndrome!!

and didn''t Newsome remain our record signing for 10 years (ie until we bought Dean Ashton)?  

Same starting 11 on Saturday will do fine for me. Hucks as supersub for 30+ mins or so, especially away from home if we''re still in a game = a perfect role for him.

The guy has only had loans as an option to him thus far - and done a pretty good job it seems to me.  Now let''s see if he can achieve the same success in the run up to/including the January window.

Me (somewhere near &rew forom the looks of things) Marshall 7 - At fault for the goal, but did make up for it with pen save. I''m still not 100% sure about this guy, but definitely benefitting from more solid defence in front of him Otsemobor 7 - More conscious of defensive duties, but got forward when needed, and his block tackle looked fimr but fair when they got thier penalty Camara 6 - Solid enough but looked tired as game progressed unsurprisingly. Taylor 9 (MOM) We have to keep this guy: like having Malkay back - a threat in their box and in command in ours Shackell 8 Very solid and no doubt benefitting from Taylor being alongside him  Chadwick 6 - Fairly quiet but fair enough: think he hurt his arm before being replaced. Russell 8 (first half) 6 (second half) - tired visibly but when on song he and Fozzy realy looked a good pair Fotheringham - see Russell. Good delivery from corners though. Pattison (still makes me think of Harry Enfield sketches I''m afraid!!) 6 - Solid first half - very tired in second. Cureton  6 - Give it away/offside a bit too much.  Could easily have scored in second half (chipped over keeper and bar) and we were lucky it didn''t prove a costly miss (was 1-1 and we were under cosh a bit at the time) Dublin 7 (overall) 10 (finishing ability) - battled away without winning much in the air, but cool head when opportunities arose and second goal strike was pure pure class. Can he manage 3 games in a week or another 3 more in next 10 days though? Hucks 7 - super sub role against a tiring and pressing side could really suit him - especially once he gets on lefthand side. St Dion uip a treat and could have done so on 2 or 3 other ocasions in last 10 mins as we broke out. Evans - Too  little time to tell but made a few nicwe looking channel runs although never really received ball much or had much in the way of posession/opportunities to do too much Croft - Too little time but you know what to expect - head down and run! Overall 8/9 - Excellent first 30 mins, let them back in, were under cosh as we tired in first period of second half but slightly against the run of play goal from Taylor then meant we were in control and always looked likely to score a third - although the ref did his best to redress the balance with a shocking penalty decision So so so much better than the away day dross of the season to date - looking forward to Stoke but don''t really expect too much as I haven''t see us win there for 26 years!! (Ross Jack FA Cup 3rd Round 1-0)

Can tell none of you went to Plymouth - I know Murray played at centre-mid but he was truly shocking that afternoon, and that''s post-Grant era.

Although a season ticket holder, many away games are nearer than home games for usStoke next Sat is a blissful 30 minute drive!!  Had to miss the trip last season in the Cup (working overseas) so we will be going: only hope it doesn''t rain given the open stand!!  

My first childhood Norwich hero - has a lot to answer for as a result, but was a real star in the arely 70''s imo and a sad loss.  

Having watched the ineptitude that was Saturday afternoon in the west country, it really wouldn''t have mattered much who played where on the park - the players were by and large lightweight, slow and lacking in ideas in comparison with a nothing but neat and tidy Plymouth side who must have though Christmas had come early. It''s a question of heart, ability and desire that''ll see us on from here, and I''m not really sure who''s got it at all out of the squad we have. The only animation and real sense of caring came from Lee Clarke as he turned away in disgust with his head in his hands time after time after time as we gave the ball away cheaply, senselessly and thoughtlessly.  he and Roder cut a lonely pair as they stood and watched the second half - you could see some major re-assessments taking place, and I almost feel as sorry for the 2 of them as I do for us.

I hope to goodness you''re right - this next fortnight is key in getting in the necessary fresh faces as the team were as poor as ever on Saturday (another long and futile day out) and by January we could be dead in the water with no problem at all at this rate - it''s frighteneing when no up and coming games even look remotely easy or winnable.

LOL

All too frighteningly accurate I''m afraid - the next few weeks are so so key to our future.    

WE''ll be there - long haul from here too.  Keep Hartson away from the pastie stall though!!

Always hoping and keen not to see the size of the task (points gap) get too much bigger, but after their stinging defeat on Saturday I''d be pleased with another good performance and a point.

I''ll just take a whole lot of encouragement and some exciting football moving us to comfortable top half of the table this year, with hopefully a roll into next season tbh.

Time will tell as always - he could be a hero by Sunday tea-time!!

I am going - but with my son so no advice on the beers front. Can be a bit dodgy there but as it''ll be cold I expect you''ll have/need a coat for the walk back to the station anyway.    

Tony Pulis is roundly booed every time he walks too and from the dugout at Stoke (local team to me so I know many supporters there) - and in front of 12,000 or less crowds too as his style is solidly defensive and un-inspiring.  His side there plays what fans refer to as binary football - it''s 0-0, 1-0 or 1-1 games all the time.  We''d be solid and safe but no more: maybe what we need to steady our ship but not desperately ambitious beyond that - what''s the priority though?

Until then its pitchside we need to solve,   starting with a manager who can transform a squad into a team That''s the key to me too - the apathy, lack of will to even try to put more than routine effort in and seeming cluelessness of what on earth they are trying to do when a game is on is downright dis-respectful to their employers and the fans who ultimately pay their wages. Our squad is  more than capable of being at least mid-table but we do need someone in now to harvest that ability into something collective - that is football managements job not the boards, but they haven''t helped and should be taking a long hard look at their decision making processes too.

[quote user="Yellow Rider"] Don''t think Mills was faking anything, nothing to suggest he lay on the ground holding his head etc. Mind you I think it was simply a barge in the back from Dublin, if you watch closely they both start chasing the ball but Mills then almost stops and seems to be goading Dublin into a challenge. I assumed that the ''head butt'' was to follow later but nothing. I''ve seen many worse challenges than that go unpunished.   Doc''s tackle for the first pen was unnecessary, it''s not even clear whether the guy would have been able to do anything from the angle he was but when the tackle from behind came in there was only one outcome. The second was a clear con. The contact was outside the box but the guy then launches himself into the area, I though the challange was a foul though.    [/quote]   Agree with nearly all of this - Dublin foul = clumsy push out of frustration - no head butt and hardly a straight red card First pen = clumsy mistake and an unecessary one from Docherty: as PG said didn''t need to go to ground at all. Second pen - complete con indeed - a good two foot or so outside the area when the foul occurred. Such are the thin lines between success and failure so maybe some of the hysteria on here should do well to reflect on this.

Some really telling stats here - and a reflection of the general frustration that I think underpins much of the general sense of doom/gloom we see on here so much - it''s all a bit dull isn''t it!  As delighted as I was to break the Palace hoodoo on Saturday it wasn''t really much of a game to get worked up abaout and that''s what defensively minded football can engender - unless you''re winning 1-0 every week that is and then league position brings it''s own excitement. If the outlook of the management team is this defensively oriented (1-0 is what we''ll take each week) it does beg the question why really sorting out the defence hasn''t been as much of a priority as other areas this summer doesn''t it though?

Could be this is what'' he''ll be doing in his retirement!!   http://www.eeb.princeton.edu/FACULTY/Grant_P/grantPeter.html