Incredibly poor management/team selection today

[king canary 7,599]

Yes, thinking about it that way it seems a masterstroke!

[Van wink 2,994]

GJL

" at half time and taking Brady off instead of Jarvis is unbelievable.

I was prepared to give Neil the benefit of the doubt by assuming that Brady must be injured ....but I''ve just learned it was "tactical"

Not sure where you''ve heard that from GJL, I was very surprised it wasn''t Jarvis for Redmond and had assumed, seeming incorrectly, that Brady had picked up a knock.

If it was a tactical decision I am baffled.

[Jim Smith 2,317]

The fact Jarvis was on the pitch in those games does not mean this presence was crucial to the results or even that we would not have got them with redmond playing. The reason i can see a very small slither of justification for Jarvis playing is that he does provide slightly better cover for the full back. He is therefore a negative selection when playing at home in a game that was a great opportunity to bury Sunderland and give ourselves breathing space.

The bigger error by far is persisting with Naismith. One good hour against Liverpool (playing on adrenaloin it appears) and a vageuly competent display against Newcastle is all we''ve seen from him. the rest of the time his performances have been abject and it beggars belief that so many fans have accepted his continued inclusion in recent weeks ahead of our main playmaker and creative force in the team who also crucially makes others around him play better. I have lost a huge amount of respect for Neil''s judgment over his team selections and substitutions this season - i think they show him to be seriously lacking in capability in these areas. opposition managers routinely make subs against us which change the momentum of the games and show up Neil.

I would just like to know what we were actually trying to do in the last two games tactically because from watching the games i do not have a clue what our gameplan or tactics were. today was our big chance and we should have been positive and believed in our best players to get the result not putting out a side which guaranteed a scrappy, messy affair and suited Sunderland''s gameplan.

[Jim Smith 2,317]

[quote user="Vanwink"]GJL

" at half time and taking Brady off instead of Jarvis is unbelievable.

I was prepared to give Neil the benefit of the doubt by assuming that Brady must be injured ....but I''ve just learned it was "tactical"

Not sure where you''ve heard that from GJL, I was very surprised it wasn''t Jarvis for Redmond and had assumed, seeming incorrectly, that Brady had picked up a knock.

If it was a tactical decision I am baffled.[/quote]

Posters on another board suggest that Neil and Brady had words before haold time (i.e. some sort of argument) so if it was linked to that then its even more worrying.

[GJP 79]

Not for the first time recently Brady was poor. He has lived a bit off his good start.

[Branston Pickle 3,651]

Utter rubbish from the op - we were dominant and it was very much against the run of things that they had a half-time lead, Naismith was doing similar to against Newxastle - we saw how things slow up when Wes came on, IMO we didn''t want that from the off. I would have probably started with Redmond, but can see the thinking of not doing so.

[GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary 1,748]

Jarvis , cannot play on the right wing.....even in our mini "good run" that was evident.

We are neither a good enough team nor are in such a strong position in the league that we can do anything other than play our best players in their best position when available.

better sides than us do, look at Tottenham , since Vertonghen got injured Wimmer came in and did a good job, but as soon as Vertonghen was back fit , he went straight back in their team as they know that he is the better player and can''t risk in their position doing anything else.

.

Likwise us and Redmond , if he is match fit , he had to start

[havemyhowsonit 0]

Let''s put it to bed once and for all

All names mention are all very inconsistent and in most cases have very poor games. 1 good game in 8 or 10 games.

To clarify not good enough for the premier league

[Katie Borkins 1]

Brady didn''t turn up today.

Jarvis was mediocre.

Naismith was awful.

O''Neil and Howson ran their hearts out for the cause.

Despite the penalty I thought Wisdom did okay.

Olsson played well and stopped a breakaway goal with excellent solo defending/positioning.

Bennett was mediocre at best.

Bassong was mediocre.

Mbokani should have had a penalty and had an okay game but when you have nobody to lay it off to, you''re a bit scuppered.

Ruddy was jittery again and made one potentially catastrophic error when letting Defoe beat him to a speculative through ball.

Hoolahan was ineffective.

Redmond looked much more lively.

The most disappointing thing was that we were caught out by such a stupidly obvious plan: break up an attack, hoof it long to Defoe, get runners to break quickly and see what happens.

A bit of composure from our team and a structured and slower build up would have negated this.  Instead it was like the charge of the bloody light brigade as we poured forwards and left ourselves open to the counter.

Poor tactics, poor execution, no leadership on the pitch.

A bad bad day.

[vos 155]

Perhaps a straightforward and simplistic way to assess a Manager and his coaching staff is to state:-

a) How many of the starting squad this season have improved??.

b) How many of the transfers in have improved??.

Sadly the answer in both cases is a resounding - NONE. The most disappointing performer has been Redmond, because Neill has tried to change his role by making him more defensive plus asking him to play in a less wider role. That is just not his style and he has rarely got going this season. You can see the boy has lost a lot of confidence. The coaching staff also do not realise that Brady is not a midfielder, he cannot find any space and has been increasingly ineffective. He is purely an attacking fullback who can make good use of space which naturally opens up in front of him when in that position.

As to the tactics today. Allardyce played it exactly as expected. Packed the defence and midfield and generally hacked it about up in the air which his big players never really allowed us to play any good football. He also soon realised that Bassong/Bennett never looked comfortable against a lone Defoe. To be honest, in the wet and windy conditions, I find it difficult to work out how we should have played it. Perhaps it was a case of more individual flair up front, but that was largely non-existent.

In summary I think it is a fair assessment to say our manager/coaching staff are not premiership quality albeit that I have seen many games this season where the football standards have not been very great.

[FCC 76]

I saw the game as a don''t lose, not a must win for us. We could have sat back - but that isn''t Alex style, and I hated it when Hughton set up not to lose.

Still have faith in Alex, but the signings look shaky.

[Feedthewolf 4,846]

[quote user="Katie Borkins"]Brady didn''t turn up today.

Jarvis was mediocre.

Naismith was awful.

O''Neil and Howson ran their hearts out for the cause.

Despite the penalty I thought Wisdom did okay.

Olsson played well and stopped a breakaway goal with excellent solo defending/positioning.

Bennett was mediocre at best.

Bassong was mediocre.

Mbokani should have had a penalty and had an okay game but when you have nobody to lay it off to, you''re a bit scuppered.

Ruddy was jittery again and made one potentially catastrophic error when letting Defoe beat him to a speculative through ball.

Hoolahan was ineffective.

Redmond looked much more lively.

The most disappointing thing was that we were caught out by such a stupidly obvious plan: break up an attack, hoof it long to Defoe, get runners to break quickly and see what happens.

A bit of composure from our team and a structured and slower build up would have negated this.  Instead it was like the charge of the bloody light brigade as we poured forwards and left ourselves open to the counter.

Poor tactics, poor execution, no leadership on the pitch.

A bad bad day.

[/quote]This is pretty much identical to how I saw the match in every way, although I wouldn''t fault O''Neil''s leadership. His body language is pretty much always positive, and as you say he ran his socks off. If anyone showed leadership out there today it was him.

[Hairy Canary 696]

Jarvis starts instead of Redmond because he keeps his shape, gives cover to the full back and tracks back when he loses the ball high up the pitch. Redmond does none of those things. Those are vital pluses when the game starts. Clearly Redmondis a better attacking option but he is no Huckerby. i.e. He doesn''t do enough damage to justify his defensive and positional weakness. IMO?

I very much agree with Bor. Whoever we had started with today would have made no difference to the outcome with the ridiculous tactics we employed. It was panic from the off with over commitment, no attempt to keep the ball and pass and create. Just lump it up to Mbokani in every more desperate fashion while leaving ourselves more and more open to the counter.

[GJP 79]

Jarvis is hardly a grafter.

If you put both Redmond and Jarvis up for sale there would be a lot more takers for Redmond. A lot more.

[mrs miggins 0]

How can anyone say personel doesn''t matter? Hoolahan and Redmond for Jarvis and Naismith and it''s a different type of game we play.

[mrs miggins 0]

MOTD also pointed out AN reluctance to want to really take the game to Sunderland with not starting Redmond.

[GJP 79]

AN is a more conservative and less attacking manager than many seem to realise.

[SwindonCanary 455]

I didn''t like it when AN was predicting a tight, nervous game, we should have started on the front foot searching for the all important first goal.

[Cantiaci Canary 556]

A lot of this discussion is classic interpretation of the lineup and tactics in light of the final score.

Neil was correct to field a side that wouldn''t recklessly throw the game away early doors (Brady, Jarvis and Naismith) with fresh legs on the bench to go more offensive (Jerome, Wes and Redmond) if the starters hadn''t got an early goal or two.

The penalty turned the match.

We had to push on more urgently once a goal down and Sunderland took advantage.

There''s no need to castigate Neil ... it was ''a bad day at the office'' at just the wrong time and this can happen to anyone (even Barcelona!).

[king canary 7,599]

I think Jarvis has for some reason got a reputation for offering good cover to his fullback and I''m not sure why.

I noticed quite a few times against Newcastle that he''d drifted inside too far and when we lost the ball he was jogging back. Howson and O''Neil work hard and I think offer a lot of cover to the fullbacks.

I''m watching Match of the Day right now and for the first goal Jarvis doesn''t even make it back into the camera shot.

[Katie Borkins 1]

The reviews are in....

•The Sun

“The Canaries did not lose because of one man — or because of one or two decisions. Sunderland closed the gap to just one point, with a game in hand, because they were better in every single department.”

•The Sunday Times

“Sunderland had what Norwich couldn’t find ... their strategy unsubtle and too dependent on Mbokani’s knockdowns.”

•The Mirror

“They celebrated as if they had won the title after a last-minute winner against Newcastle two weeks ago – but now Norwich are right back in the soup. Defeat at Crystal Palace, followed by a performance which reeked of naivety here, has plonked a big question mark over the Canaries’ ability to survive the drop.”

•The Guardian

“Norwich’s best player was absent, having failed to recover from the knee injury picked up against Crystal Palace. (Timm) Klose is unlikely to play again this season. The slightly hair-raising Sébastien Bassong took his place here and contributed to this result with some slightly frantic defending.”

•The Mail

“Perhaps had it not been for Lee Cattermole’s heroics and seemingly endless supply of goal-line clearances, Norwich might have found a way back into this game. Yet ultimately they didn’t. And it was hard to avoid the feeling that this was a decisive seasonal swing. Not only are Sunderland now just a point behind Norwich with a game in hand; their goal difference is now seven goals better than their opponents on Saturday.”

[GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary 1,748]

well whoever wrote that for the Mirror is a w@nker.....

what did he expect us to do?, we celebrated like a team who had just got an injury time winner against a fellow relegation rival, what would he have preferred?....a polite handclap??

[mrs miggins 0]

Agree with the Sunday Times there; by not having any other attacking players e.g. Redmond, we just expected Naismith to get Mbokani''s knock-downs.

I must say though that although this was not the best way to play against Sunderland, Mbokani did incredibly well at the arial duels once again. What an absolute beast he is.

[Van wink 2,994]

AN has been shuffling the deck chairs all season, the reality is the squad has hardly been good enough and when it did look up with the belated signing of Klosse our one potential saviour has been clobbered. To have kept us challenging up till now, and probably still to the end of the season has been a success from a management point of view. We can all pick on tactics and selection in individual games but ultimately we have never had the squad to do the job.

[ZLF 274]

[quote user="mrs miggins"]

Mbokani did incredibly well at the aerial duels once again. What an absolute beast he is.[/quote]

He did win 9 - a huge number.

Sadly he lost 12.

Less than 50%. A beast indeed

[mrs miggins 0]

Where on earth do you get your info