grefstad

Well....the result apart....analysing Holtys contribution of late, in the last 3-4 games...do you think he has played well? I dont. I expect more from him, more effort. There is no running from him anymore. We used to see Holty running around, harassing defenders, forcing errors, etc. Now he is very stationary, almost to the tune of being unfit.

Great win today vs Man U, but cant help feeling Grant Holt needs a stint on the bench now. He huffs and puffs, yes, but there is little running, never winning any aerial challenges, does not succeed drawing freekicks anymore, and I feel Morison is due a start now, even though we ar eplaying well at the moment, and got a good defensive record of late, etc. Against Everton, I think Holty should be on the bench, and let Morison do the running for the first 60 mins, then come on against tiring defenders. Holty is just not offering enough for me at the moment, and seems to need a month on the bench to shed a few pounds and get in shape. Any comments on this?

Bitterly disappointed to see the negative tactics, and negative comments from Hughton after the game. As if he had given it all up before the game started. Playing Holt up front on his own would never work, which was commented by all around me in the away stand at Fulham. Amazed that a manager with reputation like Hughton did not know that Norwich can''t defend. We have to attack, and by having the ball (possession) the opposition can''t score on you. Same as Swansea did last season. All their clean sheets came from the great possession based football, as other teams did get fewer chances to score on them. Our problem is playing midfielders like Johnson. He is a liability. To slow, both in his feet and legs, and not good enough to be in our engine room. Sadly, one of the problems with having a former defender as manager is that these managers tend to prefer "solid" players, and tend to "forget" the creative ones, like Hoolahan. At 2-0 down, the game was crying for a Lambert style double or triple substitution and a 3-4-3 formation going for gold. Still, Hughton continued his sad style, and you could see the players not believing anything of it. Most of the problems comes down to lack of running power in midfield, where espescially Johnson is a culprit. Lambert played Bennett sometimes in central midfield, most notably at Spurs, where it was a big success. We are crying out for pace in central midfield, and got little of it. Also, cant believe Vaughan did not get a chance, as he has shown most promise in preseason, and got pace. Probably because Hughton want to sell him and does not want to risk him getting injured before Aug 31.  

  I''m Norwegian myself, and I can not say I rate Tettey that much either. He is a defensive midfielder, branded as the "next Essien" when he first broke into the Rosenborg team a few years back. Not much of an eye for goal, but can break up play, play short passes, hassle and tackle. Got a decent engine, young, may be a decent signing is he comes cheaply. In and around the Norway international setup, but not a regular. If there is any truth in the Biglia rumours, it would be a much better deal, even though Biglia would be off in May after the season ends. Tettey for less than 1,5 mill is OK. I see him as a Bradley Johnson typ of player but much quicker. Johnson has simply not got the legs for Premier League, and is the player I dislike the most in this Norwich squad. Our problems last season often came from being overrun in midfield, where Johnson was sagging along like my grandmother in a wheelchair. We need someone who can run, hassle, break up play, pass the ball simpy to a more creative teammate, and in general be our 5th defender patrolling midfield. Tettey is a decent player, but not much more, and I doubt he is able to make his mark in this team if he is signed.   Also, thanks to the nice Norwich fans I met in the bar close to Putney tube station after the abysmal Fulham game. Shame we could not drink together on a more happy day. Got some of your numbers, so I''ll be in touch when in Norwich next time. Maybe for the Liverpool game.  

Cost nothing? I assume he is getting paid, and probably a more then decent salary given he was on a Bosman. I expect more from a professional footballer. More effort at least. I can tolerate he is not the best midfielder around, but his efforts is not good enough. Looks like he does not give a damn, and is just waiting for his end-of-season bonus for staying up.

Yep. You may start to wonder if all the England call-up talk in August/September affected him and turned his head. Suddenly he did everything more difficult, instead of keeping it simple. Johnson is no Zidane, he is currently no Makelele either, but he may be a poor man''s Essien, if he sticks to the simple tasks he has been given. For me, Johnson is one of this seasons big disappointments. Him and Crofts.

Time to bump this thread, and my go at Johnson seems to be more actual than ever. Poor again vs Stoke, no prescence, no tackling, no nothing. Yes, I am a Johnson doubter, because he offer us nothing else than what we have already got. Infact, I feel tiny Fox is a better tackler/ball winner than Johnson currently is. It is no coincidence that a player like Crofts have been out of the team for most of the season. His lack of close control and skill cost us too many ball losses during a game, and in the Premier you can spend 5 mins chasing shadows if you lose the ball easily. Now, Johnson is the same liability. Useful on the ball when he has got time and space. He can pick a 30m pass sometimes, but more often than not his passing is just sideway and very often backwards. No penetration, no determination, no nothing. So what does he really offer us? Tackling? Tireless effective running, resulting in pressure which forces the oppositon to lose the ball? Smart use of the ball attacking wise, or even defensively? Can he shoot from distance with a reasonable accuracy? Can he head it? Does he have any pace to talk about? Any strength or presence about him? The answerrs to the above is in my opinion a pretty clear NO, and I believe and hope we will see little of Bradley Johnson in the 10 last rounds of this season.

Assuming Naughton is leaving after the season, then we surely need a new right back, but we also need a left back. Drury is not going to be offered a new contract I think, and with Tierney injured, we are short at this time, and surely will be next season unless someone comes in.  

And you are precisely echoing my point. Johnson is doing too much "allround-midfielding", when his limitations is such that he should really only do the dirty stuff (harassing, tackling, pressing). Instead he is trying to be tidy, lurking around with no real intensity (watch him next time, he is mostly jogging around). We need an intimidating midfielder at times, and we have not got any. I want  a Damien Francis, Dickson Etuhu type of player, who can win a few headers in midfield, make a tackle, and in general make his presence felt. Johnson is not doing this at the moment, and therefore I feel it is justified to call for another head to fill his position. Now, I would assume Lambert was expecting more of a tackling game from Johnson than what he got from him vs Man U. Given Fox and Johnson was paired in central midfield, it is fair to assume one of them would do the dirty work, the other  feed off the scraps and pass the ball (Fox). Now, as the game progressed, I could infact witness Fox being more stuck in than Johnson ever was (the yellow card incident apart).

What is frustrating is that Johnson seem to think his game is more than just being a bully boy. But I would assume that his role vs Man U was not to spray passes around, but instead intimidate Scholes and co, and let Fox do the passing. Also, I constantly see Johnson falling way too deep, without doing any actual pressing, so in that respect his presence is almost useless, as he is not defending as a defender (not picking people up), and he is not pressing as a midfielder (not harassing/tackling), so why keep him on the field?  

Johnson was again poor in my eyes, Some good passes, but his general play was poor. Poor control, slow to react, did not attempt to cut out the cross for Scholes opening goal, etc. Did not do the watchdog job he is (likely) supposed to be doing. Did no harass, did not tackle (except for the all-too-yellow card), and I just feel he is not doing the job properly. Cant wait for Howson, because to me, Johnson is nowhere near Premier quality at the moment. Surely Lambert must see this? Surprised to see Wes come on for Jackson. I was expecting Johnson to be subbed at HT due to his poor game and yellow card. Jackson caused Man U trouble with his tireless running down the channels.

I''m not fickle, and I normally do not rant on footballers trying their best. But Lambert must surely have seen the limitations of Crofts and Johnson. Both are supposed to be our "hard men", but they rarely seem to be stuck in, "never" tackles, and I believe Johnson has avoided a yellow card all season, which sums it up for me. We lack serious presence in midfield, espescially when Wes are playing, because playing Wes is a gamble at this level, since he is playing on small margins, and will often lose the ball with his creative link up play, short passing, etc. To be effective when playing Wes, we need the other midfielders to regain the ball when lost, and this has not happened often enough this season. Both Johnson and Crofts are too often off the pace. They lack energy / frequency/work rate to compensate for lack of pace, and the pacage is just not good enough for Premier League. Seeing Crofts in central midfield on Wednesday, after Wes was subbed, was a sorry sight. He''s close control is letting him down (as is Johnson''s), and it took forever to control the ball and pass it on. All his passes were usually going backwards, or at best sideways. Imho, we are in serious lack of pace in midfield. Only the wingers have pace, and sadly only Pilks seem to want to use it. Bennett seem to lack a bit of confidence, but he should try to beat his man more often. Surman, Crofts, Johnson, Fox...they all lack legs to compete, I feel. Fox is a base player, good with the ball, excellent in spraying it around, but playing him and Wes in a diamond formation is only possible when we expect to have the ball a lot. When playing the diamond, we need a player at the base with more presence and energy, one who can mop it up, break up opposition play, and generally to the dirty work. Johnson could have been this man, but he isnt. Maybe Howson could answer our needs? He is more likely to be on the top of a diamond though. Also, I like the thought of a 4-2-2-1-1 solution with 2 defensive midfielders (maybe Johnson/Surman, later Howson for Surman), 2 wingers (Pilks/Bennett), and Wes supporting the lone striker (Morison). Should give us more pace going forward with at least 3 men who can run (Pilks, Bennett, Morison), Wes feeding off the scrap provided by Johnson and Surman to release the wingers/Morison. Thoughts?

Johnson and Crofts proved both on Wednesday that they are not good enough. Too far off the pace, too far away from the opposition, not tackling. 4-4-2 for me, with wingers. Bennet, Pilks, with Surman and Wes central. Flat 4-4-2 Morison and Jackson up top, Holt and Wilkbram subs. Tierney on on leftback if fit, Naughton on to the right. Martin rested (need a few games off now, not been good in his positioning of late, after moving to rb).

With a risk of being biased towards my fellow Norwegian, I feel Norwich should have a thorough look at Even Hovland, 22, at Norwegian top league outfit Sogndal. He has been watched by Man Utd for a few years, been a subject of several bids from Molde (now managed by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer), and has just broken into the Norway national team (will likely get his debut tomorrow). He is playing in a bottom club, but they have been very tight at the back this year (for a bottom club), and Hovland has a big future. Will probably cost somewhere between 1-2 mill GBP. You heard it here first!