Kanadyan Kanary

Gardening for me too [:P]  If Spurs are premiership standard, then clearly we are not.  Epiphany looming!

Well - not the changes I would have made!  Give Hooper some time!

The WOLF took way toooooooo long there!

That was a surprise ..... Snodgrass fell over ..... again.

You''ve gotta laugh!  We can''t even keep the ball for more than 10 seconds when we do win it.  Just not our day but unfortunately we had lots of those last season and we had the same innocuous performance at Hull, making two out of four this season.  We just need to find a way to fight more when we are away from home.

Are Spurs playing that well or are we allowing them to do so?  It just looks like we lack drive and motivation today and based on this performance, we don''t deserve to be on the same pitch.  Men v Boys I''m afraid, which is concerning.  Let''s hope pride kicks in ....... soon!

BBC stats on possession ......... 72/28 in favour of Spurs.  I think 28 might be a bit generous as well based on that first half performance [:P]

Just can''t see much changing here.  We are being completely outplayed (in all areas of the pitch).  We just don''t look the same side as last week. Let''s hope for a better second half! OTBC

At least after the goal, we have to change our tactics ...... don''t we? 

Jim Smith wrote the following post at 30/04/2013 11:58 AM: Got to be 4-2-3-1 or 4-4-2. My preference would be the former for this one but i think its important we have extra numbers in midfield as Villa will probably play 4-3-3. .... because that formation has worked so well for us all season, particularly on the goal scoring front?   

Can''t help thinking that in a strange way that makes us more defensive as the wing backs may end up spending more time defending and I don''t think Bennett is effective on the left.  I still see the wingers with a need to play high up the pitch but supported by the full backs so that we have more options to deliver crosses. With three at the back and Johnson playing at the base of a diamond, should provide sufficient cover for the full backs to push forward.   I think Garrido has a mean cross on him from the left but it is all a bit too rare. Whittaker can also deliver a ball but he is better on the right. The problem with my formation is that we still lack someone that can pass the ball freely from the back/middle of the park but we''ve been lacking that all season.

I would play things differently and go with 3 central defenders (Martin in a sweeping role) to combat their 3 main attackers. This would also allow the full backs to push forward more and support the wingers, which has been despearately lacking in our game as they have had to focus more on defensive duties. I wouldn''t play Holt up front (1 goal in 16 and poor performance stats) and would stick with Kamara, with Wes playing off him.            Bunn or Ruddy (both can do the job)       Bennett   Martin   BassongWhittaker                            Garrido                     JohnsonSnodgrass                          Pilkington                     Hoolahan                     Kamara  

LC - that team is close but according to statistics from www.whoscored.com our best team is:RuddyWhittakerMartinBassongTurnerSnodgrassTetteyJohnsonPilksHoolahanKamara 

Actually Holt is 1 goal in 16 games - so he''s not ''Premiership quality'' either.  If you look at our stats this season, we don''t have many premiership quality players, and which of the other Premier League teams would be looking to poach our players. I think Kamara is a no brainer - his all round play, ability in the air, pace, can shoot with both feet, and he is hungry to do well. The only thing he''s really lacking is Premiership experience. Oh and he''ll probably be cheap too.

KeelansGlove wrote the following post at 23/04/2013 12:53 AM: Can someone find a stat of Goals assists and saving tackles for Howson ?Here you go:  http://www.whoscored.com/Teams/168Apparently our 17th best player (overall) despite making 26 appearances this season.

Houston Canary wrote the following post at 21/04/2013 7:48 AM: Your basing Prem quality on goals scored is not right. Houston - sorry I may have confused you here. I was not basing my analysis on goals scored. I took the statistics from the "who scored" website. http://www.whoscored.com/Teams/168 Anyways I like your idea of basing quality on other Prem League Teams wanting to acquire the player (also agreed by Foghorn) but again that is subjective until other teams express an interest or the player has been sold/acquired.   So based on this definition which of our current players are PL quality?

I regularly read on this Board (and it’s been mentioned during Canary Call) that certain players are not Premier League quality but what does that actually mean? It’s like a generalisation that people use which is impossible to counter because it''s not backed by fact – it just seems to be a perception.  Perhaps someone can explain to me how they define ‘Premier League quality’ and exactly which of our current crop of players has it? Here’s my attempt for discussion purposes: Assuming it’s based on objective criteria I guess you could define Premier League Quality based on statistics (e.g. Who Scored).  Since there are twenty teams in the Premier League and eleven players on the field we might  assume that the standard for the Premier League is based on the top 220 players (*) in the statistics table.  There are 527 players listed and those above the 220 mark have an average score of 6.77 which means that the following Norwich City players are Premier League Quality, based on the current season:Snodgrass JohnsonRuddyWhittakerBassong  (*) This could be reduced to the top 200 players because goalkeeper stats are not easily comparative to outfield players but this could be deemed as subjective manipulation of the stats and in any case, would not affect our stats because the same 5 players would still be in the top 200.

I thought he was OK - came good at the end with his little cameo in the corner and he had 3 good headers from corners but only one was on target (and we scored from the follow-up.  Overall, I just think he seems to lack sharpness/fitness compared with last season.

Definite Yes for me.  He is more versatile than the other strikers we have and therefore provides us more options.  One goal in 9 games (could easily have been two if Wes hadn''t had got in the way of his header at Sunderland) is an OK return in comparison with our other strikers (Holt is 1 goal in 15 games) but generally, we haven''t been providing a decent service all season.  Today was much better.

Yeah, been outplayed in the last 10 minutes and we look impotent going forward.

Can''t believe some of the negative stuff I am reading on here.  We have to give it time. I thought the whole team played well but the standouts for me, as others have touched on were, Wyatt, McGeehan, Hall-Johnson, Morris and the Murphy twins.  This is all about potential and I am certain some of these guys will develop to the point of first team football but that will take time.  I think this all bodes really well for the future and that''s exactly what this is all about.   I was delighted to hear that young Wyatt has been with the club since he was 10 years old!  This is similar to Barcelona where their players are developed at an early age and have been playing together for years (Messi has been there since he was 13).  In Nov last year they fielded a side based on their academy alumni players (http://www.fcbarcelona.com/football/first-team/detail/article/eleven-la-masia-graduates-on-the-pitch) and last night fielded 6 with Messi, Iniesta,  Xavi Hernandez, Pique, Alba, Fabregas & Valdes.  That''s the model we need to follow and I am pleased that we seem to be heading down that route.  Clearly it will take time for the system to bear fruit and I am not saying that the crop will be as plentiful as Barcelona but there is no doubt that they are doing well at their level and we need patience and provide nothing but support for these youngsters.

AJ wrote the following post at 09/04/2013 11:07 AM: Re: Benno, I''m a fan of him, but two crosses doesn''t mean he played well. He played BETTER, but not as well as Snoddy would down that flank. So by playing him you''re, in essence, compromising both wings as Snoddy is much more ineffective down the left side as he can''t cut inside Actually, it was 11 crosses that he delivered on Saturday, which is a better service for the strikers, than we have seen in a number of games and after his MOTM performance I think it will create a nice selection headache for Hughton.  Since Wes has not been performing well this season, I would put snoddy in the middle behind Kamara, providing Pilks is fit; so my team would be:            Ruddy (assuming fit, he did play 90 mins on Monday)Martin Turner Bassong Garrido           Tettey JohnsonBennett       Snodgrass     Pilks              Kamara

I hought he was MOTM today.  Delivered some quality balls into the box, which was the reason we scored both goals. He worked lots of space on the right and it wasn''t just the quality of his delivery but the speed at which he delivered (one touch and then the cross) which caused problems for them defensively.His stats were none too shabby either:http://www.whoscored.com/Matches/615251/Live

My team;                       BunnMartin  Turner    Bassong    Garrido                     JohnsonSnodgrass      Fox      Pilkington/Murphy                  Holt   KKIMO, Fox is critical - someone to spread the ball and play the wingers in. Unfortunately he''s the only one we have and we have been missing this side of the game all season.  I would also give Murphy a chance on the left, if Pilks is not fit.  It''s all irrelevant anyway, Hughton will stick with his defensive set up and hope that we keep a clean sheet. It''s been his gameplan all season. He says that scoring isn''t ''rocket science'' but I see no evidence of a change in tactics or personnel, to rectify the lack of goals.  Sadly, I am losing hope and that''s the only thing we have, as fans. 

Clearly, Hughton had similar thoughts with the formation today.  I thought it worked quite well; we looked more balanced and certainly created more chances than last week.  You could argue that Snoddy was not as effective on the left but I still feel his real strength is his set-pieces, which of course, we scored from today.