Rufus Smalls

Stephen Thousand Island

Sorry if this has already been shared on here - haven''t been on here much recently - but this is an interesting article from a couple of weeks ago giving the statistically ''worst'' PL XI this season. Out of all the players with more than 10 starts, our own golden boy RVW has the worst average rating (whoscored.com) out of anyone in the entire league. A couple of other statistics worth mentioning: - 3 shots on target in 7 months (although this was written before the Southampton game, where a saved RVW shot set up Snoddy''s goal and he had a header saved against Sunderland too. So, that''s 5 shots on target in 7 months) - over 5 hours of football per shot on target. Obviously this is partly due to atrocious service all season but, even so, those statistics are not pretty. http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11662/9196856/top-flops-who-are-premier-leagues-under-performers

No. There are no better options available, there''s no point changing for the sake of it. It''s going to be ugly but we are, after all, 15th and therefore in a decent position to stay up at the end of the season. Changing now would not be productive. We should re-evaluate then and make a fresh start in the summer if we still have the same problems at the end of the season.

1) Howson 2) Hooper 3) Tettey

The only team outside of the usual big 7 I might consider swapping with are Newcastle, who do have a quality squad which is at a level above the teams from 9th to 20th. On the other hand they do, however, have a nutter as the director of football and it seems like self-destruction could be around the corner. From Southampton in 9th down to Sunderland I wouldn''t swap with anybody.For all the talk about their free-flowing football, Swansea are one point ahead of us and are hardly setting the world alight this season. Southampton are having a good season, but I think we have the potential to perform as well as them. The reality is that everyone from 8th to 20th has a chance of being relegated and a chance of getting into Europe - it just so happens that Southampton are doing well this season, but we''ve seen Bolton, Reading, Wigan and Ipsw*ch finish in the top half before dropping out of the division. Outside of the top 7 the margins are fine between a good season and talk of Europe and a poor season with an ugly fight to stay in the league. This season could have been better for us but we have lots of potential which we haven''t seen the best of and are well placed to stay up with a talented squad and sensible staff and owners above them. I wouldn''t swap with any of the clubs that are a similar size to us.  

Goal was class, threaded through ball and cracking finish - that''s what we paid the money for. Hopefully we can get a 2nd now, 1-0 feels dangerous as we''ve been second best

If Pilky and Snoddy are out, let''s go back to the diamond...Ruddy Whittaker, Turner, Bennett, Olsson Johnson   Fer Howson   Redmond   Hooper RVW   The problem player is Johnson. His form has been atrocious, but without Tettey he''s our option for the holding role. Fer could play well there, but that would waste his attacking talent. I''d love to see Redmond get a game behind the strikers, his dribbling and shooting could cause some real problems. If RVW is not fit, then put Becchio or Elmander up top with Hooper. I think either could work, and I would love to see Becchio get a game.I think going with the diamond would be better than starting both Redmond and Murphy on the wings - of course we could also play Garrido and push Olsson onto the left wing

He was really poor in the first half going forwards and WHU kept opening us up down his side when they attacked... however what a performance in the second half. Let''s have some more of the same. Hopefully this can kick start his season and he can reproduce last season''s form

I wonder if Hoots has it in him to give a big teamtalk and shake the players up for the second half? Somehow I doubt it. The players badly need inspiring - we look really awful. Completely blunt going forwards and giving them far too much space, especially down our right.

West Ham don''t seem to have any strikers at the moment and have drawn their last two games 0-0. We need to ensure this doesn''t finish goalless.  Probably best to get in their faces and go for it from the start. 4-4-2 for me, trying to play 3 centre mids with one of them as Johnson wouldn''t be a good move based on his season so far. Play the wingers on their stronger foot so we can get the crosses in and hopefully some goal mouth action. Russell Martin as captain.RuddyMartin, Bennett, Turner, OlssonRedmond, Fer, Howson, PilkingtonHooper, RVW

2-1 v Everton last season, wasn''t it?

Hopefully come the end of the season we will do more than just scrape 17th but we do only need to finish above one team to stay up as, based on current form, Palace and Sunderland are both going down for sure - they have both looked really poor this season. I think Hull, Stoke and Cardiff are more likely to get the third relegation place than we are. Palace 20th, Sunderland 19th, Hull 18th is my prediction.

RVW still out with toe injury according to Radio 5

Whenever Fer plays well it raises the game of the other two midfielders. Both today and against Stoke the Tettey/Fer/Howson trio were excellent (one mistake aside). Against Southampton Fer was quality and Johnson was terrific too. He''s the glue that holds the midfield together, good on the ball, off the ball, going forwards and tracking back, and he allows Tettey/Johnson to play their natural game and allows Howson to play more expansively. Quality player.

Yeah I agree, Snods had a couple that were in the right area, then a few that didn''t beat the first man and Pilks'' corner led to their second. I would go for either Redmond or whoever is playing at left back - Olsson and Garrido can both cross well in open play

What a performance. Second half was brilliant (up to the 85th minute)

YESSSSSSS Pilkington!!!! Great play from Olsson and RVW. Come on City!

Some very bizarre refereeing decisions today - corners and fouls. We can score an equaliser, we''re not doing too badly. Hope one of these decisions doesn''t end up costing us the game

Januzaj won''t play for Belgium - he hasn''t represented them at youth level so far and has rejected call-ups. He has expressed an interest in playing for Albania, which is where his parents are from. I''ve got no idea if he''s eligible to play for England, would have thought he hasn''t spent enough time here yet

Snodgrass has been our only player this season who I feel has been very poor. Some of the others have been poor in some games but decent in others - Snoddy has been consistently performing badly. Surely Hughton has seen this? I thought he deserved to be dropped before today - if he plays next week then that''s very poor judgement from CH. It''s not like we''re short of quality options on the flanks...

No

Totally agree with the OP, there were plenty of games in the Lambert season where Holt didn''t start, and there were plenty of games where he came on as a sub hungry, and Morison got a load of goals when he did play, so that seemed to work. Last season I could understand sticking with the same team more often, as there were a lot of Lambert-era players, and Hughton was trying to add his influence to things. However this season there is no excuses for picking under-performing players - the team is strong in depth, CH seems happy with the squad (apart from Fox and Becchio) and there are plenty of talented options at Hughton''s disposal.  Snodgrass needs to be brought back down to earth and dropped asap. He shouldn''t have even started today based on previous performances this season, he''s been the one player that I feel has badly under-performed so far. He might have been our key creative player this season, but his form this time round has been poor, and it''s not like we''re short of options to replace him. I''d like to see him rested for a few games and come back hungry to play, rather than see him play badly on a weekly basis.  

GK: Ruddy RB: WhittakerCB: Turner, BassongLB: Olsson CM: Fer, JohnsonRM: PilkingtonLM: RedmondAM: Elmander CF: Hooper Snodgrass simply has to be dropped, he has been terrible this season. Pilkington to play on the right and Redmond on the left, possibly switching to mix things up with Pilks on set piece duty. Johnson has looked woeful away from home but at CR he has been decent, especially against Southampton, so I''d give him another chance in the team. Garrido has been OK but not brilliant, and Olsson is pacy so would be better to deal with a quick Villa attack. RVW looks a little short on confidence and Hooper will be raring to go, so swapping those two might be worth a go. The problem is Elmander in the hole. As much as I am a fan of Wes, he really doesn''t seem to be able to deliver the goods these days, so even though he hasn''t set the world alight so far I''d be tempted to stick with Elmander.

[quote user="birchfest"]Off topic but Villa appear to be stuttering after that good win against arsenal.... If we beat them that would be 4 in a row, might see a few more villa fans on lamberts case then![/quote]Completely agree, thought they looked good against the big sides so I''m more than a little surprised they lost at home v Newcastle, so could be a great opportunity to inflict a 4th straight defeat on them!

It''s certainly a frustrating conundrum, and away form seems to be the bane of the NCFC fan - relegation coupled with that unwanted statistic in the 04/05 PL season is a very bad memory. Last season we were poor, barring two bizarre games at Swansea and Man City, and this season looks like more of the same. But there''s a long way to go and hopefully we can nick a couple - if we can, we''ll be fine as we look good at Carrow Road.