grefstad

Have seen both the first two goals. Both conceded through poor defending.

Yes, Neymar can easily be mistaken for a 5 mill player, which I brought forward, right? Players like Zyiech are affordable for us, and I would be surprised if we have not got his name written down somewhere. Probably thought you were funny, McGoo?

[quote user="Thirsty Lizard"]"Correct about our goals" - apart from the prediction where you said we''d score that is.....[/quote] Had 4 score picks. Us not to score in 3 of those 4. I guess you want to brand it bad picks..0-0, 0-1, 0-2, 1-2

[quote user="The ghost of Michael Theoklitos"]I think it''s clear Neil was using this game as a free pass to try something different. It didn''t come off, and we''re out of the cup.No harm, no fowl.[/quote] Different? To me it looked like a lazy copy of the setup used at the Etihad. Going a goal down with that setup will always make it a mountain to climb as you need subs to alter formation. At Man C in tve league we got a lucky goal and hung on, until Ruddy messed it all up with his clumsyness. Today, we never had a chance, as we had no pace bar Jerome in midfield and forward areas, so playing a defensive "suck-up-pressure" formation did not give is any attacking threat on the counter either. Most dissappointing for me is our constant problems: too easy to pass, to easy to rin and dribble past our players. This is also shown clearly on the Opta stats (Whoscored.com too), and Aguero proved evidence today with the first two goals, just walking past our players. Poor.

[quote user="Thirsty Lizard"]Four punts at the correct score Grefstad and all wrong...........[/quote] Correct about our goals though. Missed a goal for Man C, but forgot Ruddy was in goal..

Does not help with a full round of fixtures in midweek after the 3.rd round. Just deflates the entire competition.

As expected, no goal threat from us today. Did not expect ys to ship 3 goals though. Anyway, poor setup and tactics from AN today. I don''t believe he believed this team could beat ManC today. They had a walk in the park. All about the league for us, though. As for Ruddy in, and Martin as CB...well, it may be a coincidence (and strong opposition), but we always seem to ship rather easy goals with these two in the side.

Going behind with a 5-man defence is always tough. Tactics ruined after 16 mins. Now it does not matter, might just as well put on Redmond and Laff, take off Martin and Dorrans. Play 4-4-2.

[quote user="Mr Jenkins"]Upper Barclay today for a change, you''d love it Gref, just like looking at a big TV screen 😄[/quote] Ah, no farting in the couch with Mrs Jenkins then..

No rumours or anything, but this is a player I hope we are looking at. Natural successor to Wes. Been very good for Twente, but obviously, the Dutch league is something else than EPL. Market value around 6 mill. http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/hakim-ziyech/profil/spieler/217111#ath

Struggle to see us scoring, bar perhaps a set piece, with that lineup. Conceding possession in a 5-4-1 but little/no pace on the counter. Shame, as Demichelis is playing. Going to be goal-shy, likely. Predict 0-0, 0-1, 0-2, 1-2

Jerome will likely start at Stoke, so Grabban starts vs ManC. Wes will not play away at Stoke, so Wes starts vs Man C. Also expecting one from Bennett/Bassong to be rested. Vadis surely to start.

[quote user="Faded Jaded Semi Plastic SOB"]To be fair i am with Grefstad here, if Demichelis and Grabban are both playing I think Grabbans style of play will cause Demichelis problems......[/quote] Interesting that you almost have to make an excuse to the messageboard to agree with me...("to be fair...")

Barclay seats 48/49 the 3rd: Grabban isn''t capable of having a field day against a girls under 11 team , let alone two international CB''s Against DeMichelis, any forward who likes to run tve channels will have a field day. He does not like being dragged out of position. I am pretty sure Grabban will play tomorrow.

Ssgna might play as an emergency centre half on Saturday. Manchester City suffered a hamstring injury to Eliaquim Mangala against Everton on Tuesday. With captain Vincent Kompany facing an indefinite spell on the sidelines with a calf problem, Pellegrini has just Nicolas Otamendi and the ring-rusty Martin Demechelis as his only recognised central partnership. Demichelis is shite. Grabban (assuming he plays) will have a field day vs him..

3.5 mill for Hooper is OK. We don''t need him anymore, sadly. Lees is a gamble, I think. Is he any better than the ones we''ve got? Surely not worth the 8 mill quoted?

[quote user="morty"]I could be wrong, but I am fairly sure he is taking the pi$$ out of you....[/quote]   For once, you may be right, but the motive behind it all is beyond me. Probably think he is funny. Maybe the class clown playing his last trick, in the hope of some joyful glees from the girls in the back row..

[quote user="Faded Jaded Semi Plastic SOB"]Stats have their place, I have no issue with that, but it is no good just looking at them in isolation, which is what Pink Un posters tend to do. There are so many things that need to be taken into account such as tactics, weather conditions, luck and refereeing decisions (for and against). At the moment our league position and playing record in comparison to that of Bournemouth is very similar, the only difference being they have conceded more goals so we are currently above them on goal difference, interestingly they have conceded more goals from set pieces than any other team in the PL. If you looked at the stats for each team in the form of "Team A" (Norwich) and "Team B" (Bournemouth) (without knowing who Team A and Team B where) and where asked for an opinion on which team is higher in the league I would imagine most would say "Team B", so just relying on the stats only tells part of the story......[/quote]   True. Infact for a team like Villa, the stats are quite misleading. For us, I''d say the stats show we are pretty much where we should be in the tables, give or take a place or two.

TCCANARY, if you are to post stats to prove a point, make sure you filter the correct columns. Otherwise, you are just making an even bigger fool of yourself. Trying to filter Norwich to the top on the "Rating" column, when we are actually bottom of the rating column is embarrassing...

[quote user="morty"]Stats really do bore the tits off me. [/quote]   Yes, must be awful to see people actually posting something which may interest others, instead of the constant squibble and derailing you normally put up in these forums. Also, probably boring when facts show that claims made, although previusly harassed by the infamous Morty actually hold some water. Must be awful.

[quote user="Buh"]Referees attitude towards us the major cause of it There attitude is "it''s only Norwich who cares if i get it wrong" Look at how Clattenburg Reffed the Swansea game (especially the last 5 minutes, never seen a tight win celebrated and then the referee booed off the pitch before!) and whoever the idiot was for the first game who overruled ketones perfectly legitimate goal They just view is with utter contempt. It''s a disgrace frankly. For a while I''ve maintained we should be trialling getting referees from abroad. The domestic stock is nowhere near sufficient so we need to outsource it. No more refs pally with the well known players and mugging us off because we haven''t been in the prem forever![/quote]   I''m tempted to agree to this, somewhat. I believe we suffer a bit from being a "small" club, playing with the big boys. But we also suffer for not having players that are "suited" to getting penalties (quick players breaking into the box frequently). We do have players that are likely to concede penalties though (slow defenders, poor positioning, clumsy attempts at tackling, standing off until you have to tackle, often in the area, etc. I also think our players lack a bit of "streetwiseness", in the meaning "creating" situations where things may be given for us. Holty was a master of this. 

Some more defensive stats. This is sorted on Tackles made per game. Joint 2nd worst...   RTeamShots pgTackles pgInterceptions pgFouls pgOffsides pgRating1Leicester13.222.722.210.91.27.012Liverpool9.922.71411.62.76.833Tottenham11.321.218.412.92.27.004Chelsea11.821.114.311.31.96.815Sunderland15.820.915.311.126.696Newcastle United16.720.716.510.41.76.687Watford12.420.419.811.71.26.858West Ham15.720.117.1101.86.929Arsenal11.419.5198.72.27.0810Manchester United919.415.312.41.86.8211Stoke15.319.215.310.52.96.8012Everton13.819.112.98.71.66.9313Southampton1218.717.610.42.76.8314Bournemouth10.918.7169.726.7315Manchester City918.615.110.41.56.9916Aston Villa12.918.319.412.21.36.7217Crystal Palace15.318.116.312.72.36.8518Norwich13.116.411.9112.26.6719West Bromwich Albion14.116.418.110.11.66.7420Swansea12.615.416.29.92.76.69

[quote user="Mr Jenkins"]Using stats to try and call people out as Happy Clappers or any other term that Gref wishes to use really is scraping the barrel. The only stat I am really interested in is the League table, that''s not open to interpretation or spin, discuss stats all you want but please don''t use them as a means to bash other posters by stating or implying they are " happy clappers" . That''s far from the truth and also insulting.[/quote] its getting late, Jenkins. Go back to farting in the couch with Mrs Jenkins, while we check the stats...

The last post was for Interceptions made. Norwich bottom...

RTeamTotalRating1Leicester22.27.012Watford19.86.853Aston Villa19.46.724Arsenal197.085Tottenham18.47.006West Bromwich Albion18.16.747Southampton17.66.838West Ham17.16.929Newcastle United16.56.6810Crystal Palace16.36.8511Swansea16.26.6912Bournemouth166.7313Manchester United15.36.8214Stoke15.36.8015Sunderland15.36.6916Manchester City15.16.9917Chelsea14.36.8118Liverpool146.8319Everton12.96.9320Norwich11.96.67