HampsteadCanary

What about Ross Kemp as Alex Neil?

Jim thinks we''re a big big club! Nice to see a bit of recognition from the media...

Does anyone know if the whole game will go up on Canaries Player again like the West Ham match? I have to work all day and sadly can''t make the afternoon game or watch the evening repeat :(

That looks pretty good LDC! I wonder whether AN would be tempted to play Hooper instead of Jerome in a 4411, as he has done in earlier games in the season. He''s looked sharp the last few games he''s come on in :D

I don''t want to criticise Mr Neil, but I would like to see Redmond start at home. The problem is who to drop! Maybe Dorrans has been the least effective. Hard to call! As long as we win, good!

Saw AN turn to the fourth official and say "What the f*** is going on!?" during the first half. Constant time wasting from the beginning and the officials did nothing about it. He wasn''t aggressive, but was clearly as bemused as the rest of us how their physio was so busy, every booking took a 30 second talking to, and a lot of 50/50s were deemed fouls. Terrible ref. Still must be horrible having 26,000 people call you a w***er!

Some how I feel that with a few quality additions, this squad under Neil''s leadership would do much better than Hughton''s. We were rarely a team under Hughton, especially towards the end. A lot of these players have proved they can perform in the prem on occasion, so maybe AN can get that out of them more consistently next year if we go up.

Says a lot that Wes is still ahead of Andreu and Dorrans - always would be in my book, glad to see him starting!

Definitely more solid and a better balance. How great would it be to have an entirely left footed side of the team - eg Martin - Turner - Bassong - Garrido Redmond - Tettey - Johnson - Olsson Wes/Hooper Jerome Suddenly looks balanced, strong, disciplined and more comfortable for eveyone!

What has happened to our playing style? I never understand it, watching other teams, especially those like Bournemouth, Derby and Brentford, being able to knock the ball through our team like we''re all wearing blindfolds, yet our supposedly superior squad can''t string two passes together. Granted we''ve seen some good play at points this season, but technically we''re nowhere near as good as people seem to think. I just think back to that game in the Prem a few years ago against Swanswea when we played Fox, Surman, Wes and I think E Benno, and looked great! Because everybody in that midfield was capable of getting the ball under control quickly and moving it on, either to feet or ahead of a player to run onto. Not saying we''d be better with them now, just players who can play football, not just athletes. If we truly had a superior squad, we wouldn''t need to play two holding midfielders in the championship, one should be enough! Leads me to think that the players are just not good enough, as it doesn''t seem to matter who manages them, they still cannot deliver on a regular basis.

AN said in the post match that we started making mistakes at 60 mins when fatigue set in...should they be that tired at 60 mins that they can''t clear their lines effectively when the ball''s bouncing around our box? We also through injury and suspension, had nobody to bring on to shore up the midfield towards the end. AN did the best he could, bringing Wes on for Hoops, still probably not enough. Makes me wonder if we''ll ever see a fully fit Vadis...

Agree with you there Mr Jenkins, he made a few really good tackles when we were all expecting a classic Laffs challenge, a great goal and generally intelligent play. He did tire and started giving the ball away, its a shame we don''t have a more solid left sided midfielder to bring on when he''s worn out...cough....Surman.....

I was imagining it more like THIS: ---------------O''Neil-------------------- ----------------------------Johnson--- --------Howson------------------------ Redmond---------Wes--------------- ------------Hooper--------------------- I doubt we would drop Jerome, he probably does suit the lone striker role better, but I think Hooper is starting to look the business with sharper passing. With Wes tucked in behind Hooper, Johnson can cover him on that left side, and he tends to play like a LM not a winger, leaving room for Olsson to get forward. I just think Jerome can lack composure in 1-on-1 situations. I also figured a side with O''Neil, Johnson and Howson should have enough steele and a good chance of keeping the ball moving. Better balance maybe?

So we''ve seen two very different types of approach and formation, with varying degrees of success. The four central midfield approach is supposed to be solid, but we''ve actually conceded most of our goals with this line-up (Derby/Reading). Do we need to find a better balance between the two? It struck me that Redmond and Hoolahan created two thirds of our goals against Huddersfield with the first two coming from mistakes. How about this for the Bournemouth game? ---------------------- Ruddy -------------------- Whittaker - Martin - Cuellar (if fit) - Ollson -------------------- O''Neil ----------------------- Redmond - Howson - Wesley - Johnson --------------------Hooper----------------------- 1) I think Wes and Hooper have a great understanding 2) One of Wes and Howson pushing on 2) Howson covering Redmond, also makes good late runs into the box 3) Johno can''t stop scoring but also covers Wes on that left/central midfield side 4) O''Neil keeps the ball moving quickly 5) this should be solid enough while having enough attacking/creative intent.

Ruddy Martin Turner Miquel Olsson Tettey VOO Howson Redmond Jerome Murphy

On the plus side Olsson is looking good :)

Wes out wide or coming deep to get the ball is not what we want. He looks best receiving the ball to feel around the area with players running ahead and playing quick through balls. There have been plenty of great chances made by Wes, its just our strikers have been wasteful.

I''ve been thinking the same thing about the Tettey Johnson combo. Its fine if your front four are really doing the business, but should we really be playing 7 defensively minded players? Howson would indeed bridge the gap perfectly, but then again, we do seem to be conceding a few at the moment, so maybe something needs to be done to strengthen the back four. We have a lot of CBs, especially if Bassong is coming back into the fold, and he is the only one with a turn of pace (not sure about Miquel?) Keeping possession better might just be the answer, which Howson would help with.

Ruddy Martin Turner Hooiveld Olsson Redmond Tettey Johnson Grabban Wes Jerome Fits Wes central, keeps our two goal machines on the pitch and keeps Redmond on the right, though I''d be happy with Redderz and Grabbs swapping wings. Grabban looked dangerous cutting in from the left on Saturday. Maybe thinking of them as a front three (plus a free roaming wes) and letting Johnno and Tettey do the dirty work is the way forward.

I understand why we didn''t win today. The crux of the matter is that few of those players have played more than one game in the last month, and even less of them have played together. New partnerships all over the pitch, you can''t expect them to click instantly. The idea of our second 11 being competitive in the championship only works if they''ve had time to play together like the first team have.

Can see Jonno getting a red, not quite enough creativity in the middle and wes losing the ball a lot. Would like to see V-O-O for Jonno and Murphy on for Wes at half time

Whatever the problem, Seb Bassong would be an absolute beast in the Championship. If no one comes in for him (two relegations in three years!) then it makes sense to bring him back into the fold, get him and Turner back at the heart of the team. He is a significant upgrade on Leon Barnett who most considered to be one of the best Championship centre halves we''ve had. If he''s not sold we have to play him simple as. It makes sense for him as well, if he has a goof first half of the season, his value increases and other teams are more likely to make an offer. Or we look like getting promoted and he stays anyway and we go up! Too optimistic? Probably!

Don''t we have an experienced ex-NCFC winger who was right footed but played on the left wing involved on the coaching team? Can''t Redmond spend an hour a day with Hucks until he can cross and shoot?

I think we''re still in the same place as last season, Martin nor Whittaker able to stamp their authority on the RB position. They''ll be swapping every week when one of them fails to perform.

Is Ryan Bennett injured? Would have hoped to see him start ahead of Russ this season.