Jump to content
Sign in to follow this  
Balham Yellow

We won, but there is still plenty to be concerned about.

Recommended Posts

As far as I''m concerned we stopped playing after we scored.  The players looked as though they were in training game to me.  Often extremely pedestrian even when in possession.  Conceding possession constantly with ill-judged passes or just smashing it forward in the hope that Ashton would hold the ball up.  We looked like we had the ten men for the last half an hour and Ipswich are a poor team.  If people are happy with performances like that then I can only assume that they have no expectation of or desire for promotion.  The fact that we squandered so many chances is concern enough.  We show no composure when breaking forward, there were a number of occasions when we broke forward and had men over and consistently failed to make anything of it.  The amount of times we were flagged offside was unforgivable.  Huckerby is out wide, can see across the line and is still caught offside on any number of occasions.  Anyone who believes we weren''t under the cosh in the last half an hour clearly wasn''t at the game.  Do people really believe that performances like that will get us results against Sheff Utd, Reading, Wolves, Southampton etc?  Like one or two people have already said we still can''t perform for ninety minutes.  That isn''t moaning, it''s an undeniable fact.  

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

[quote]As far as I''m concerned we stopped playing after we scored. The players looked as though they were in training game to me. Often extremely pedestrian even when in possession. Conceding possession c...[/quote]

I probably shouldn''t get involved here, the smoke from my last post of this nature is still settling. Suffice to say I am in wholehearted agreement. Now brace yourself for a fair bit of flack.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I do agree with much of what both of you say (and in the other post) but there is the other point as well. That being that we did totally dominate the first half and should have been at least 2 goals up. In typical Norwich fashion that didn''t materialise. Ips--- were poor, very poor in that first 45, 10 men or not and should have been sunk.

2nd half - I agree, we sat back in typical Worthington fashion and the passing fell away with the predictable long ball game returning. Why is it that most City fans BELIEVE Worthington when he harps on about....''norwich are a footballing side, we will always look to pass the ball in our traditional manner'' etc . etc. Usually we don''t. However, I must say that I agree with the likes of Mad Dan in that I never felt remotely threatened by Ips--- at all in the second half. They only looked better because we stood off and let them come at us. 

In summary I do agree that if the 2nd half is the yardstick then we have got almighty problems against the better sides. If though Worthington can have the courage to instil a more regular, attack minded approach and (by and large) keep the ball on the deck, the longer term prospects this season may still be good.   

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

[quote]As far as I''m concerned we stopped playing after we scored. The players looked as though they were in training game to me. Often extremely pedestrian even when in possession. Conceding possession c...[/quote]

I see what you are saying but at the end of the day it is understandable that we withdrew and got anxious.  No away win in the league for over a season does not exactly breed confidence.  I think the players, manager et all were happy to see the game out and leave Poorman Rd with the 3 points.

It doesn''t really matter whether they were down to ten men, we won the game.  That performance may not have been good enough to beat Sheffield United but we weren''t playing them.  You can only beat the team you are playing and we did.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

We''re creating but we''re not finishing enough. The midfiled (e.g. Hucks) and whoever partners Ashton need to start converting chances. The likes of Sheffield Utd have goals coming from all sorts of places. If we can finish better it won''t matter that we''re a bit shakey at the back.

Ipswich should have been buried long before hucks (finally) scored a goal

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

[quote]As far as I''m concerned we stopped playing after we scored. The players looked as though they were in training game to me. Often extremely pedestrian even when in possession. Conceding possession c...[/quote]

From what I''m hearing, this could also be a summary of tonight''s game

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Just back from the game and even though it wasn''t a vintage performance we never at any time looked like losing the game. Northampton have a few players who are still capable of playing at a higher level but even with a much changed side we were still streets ahead of them. My main concern is that we didn''t kill the game off earlier. Hughes was excellent and the Doc also had a very good game. Having witnessed many meek surrenders in recent carling cup games the result was the most important thing and we only ever needed to perform to practice match standards to win. A very satisfactory performance imo and a case of job done without much energy being expended.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

"We won, but there is still plenty to be concerned about." Like the poster above, I thought that this comment referred to tonight''s game! There were times, especially in midfield, when Northampton could have been mistaken for the Championship side - we were uninspiring again tonight. I honestly feel that if they''d had a half-decent striker, they would have been in with a shout of beating us. Worthington has at long last acted to sort out our defence for a couple of months; let''s hope that he does the same to sort out our ponderous, predictable and ineffective midfield. We were absolute pants in midfield again tonight; apart from Safri, nobody can pass a ball (unless it''s 10 metres sideways or backwards), nobody makes themself available for a pass and we have no craft or invention whatsoever. Hughes is very competitive, but that''s not sufficient. I''m sure that I''ll get moaned at for daring to have this opinion - "heresy", surely! - but calling our performance ''clinical'' or ''professional'' can''t disguise the drab and unexciting football that we produced tonight against a team that is two Divisions below us. If we continue to play like that, we''ll get beaten often, starting with Reading on Saturday.   

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

agree with most of what you say kdncfc, we got the goal and then sat back, despite all the northampton attacks coming from one source we continually didn''t mark him (right wing) - but due to the fact northampton couldn''t finish we didn''t really look under threat

hughes was excellent as you say and doc had a comfortable game, but why, oh why did we shut up shop?  Wasn''t this a chance for the non-regulars to get a few goals? 

henderson looked sharp and put in a lot of effort, but i thought jarvis was disappointing - however at least it was a lot better than the recent cup games, in fact the best one i had seen for many a year

it was nice to see quite a good turnout from northampton fans, they put a few of the championship away followings to shame

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Some good summaries coming through - speaking to family and friends last night and seeing posts his morning the summary seems to be that we were comfortably in control and never looked like losing the game.  This can only boost the squads confidence as we know have three wins and three clean sheets in 4 games.

The most telling phrase so far is that the back four past the ball well amongst themselves!   Doc looks to have made the right sided centre defence spot his own and both flem and shacks played well against inferior opposition.

The strike force looked lightweight and were not suited to too many long balls played from the back.  One comment last night was some disappointment that Ryan J did not really look interested, whereas Hendo looked lively but neither looked good enough.  Jarvis'' lack of application is disappointing.  Perhaps a loan is needed for both as neither has really had a season of competitve fooball to see if their talent is as good as we fans think; and they wont get the games here.

Midfield looks a real mixed bag.  It seems we had plenty of energy but lacked any pace, urgemyc or penetration going forward from midfield and only added a  creative element when WLY came on to link midfield and attack  . Brennan was again inoffensive, neither good but doing nothing wrong either.   Jarret was uninspiring and a mystery was to why we bought him.  Hughes continues to get mixed views.   Undoubtedly he is providing excellent leadership skills and huge amounts of energy defensively which are catching the eye although his quality on the ball needs to improve - the ray wilkins syndrome of simple but ineffective of short sideways passes appearsd to be setting in.

The signs are that the changes worthy has finally made in defensive personnel are having an impact, although the real test remains the Reading game when they will face decent, confident forwards for the first time.  Our strikers are good enough n this league to worry ay defence but the main focus must now be getting midfield options in.  Safri is about to be absent for 7 matches and onlast nights showing a midfield without him is nothing to write home about.  zipper has shown what impact a ball playing creative player can have on a side but heis not physically strong enough to do this from a central midfield position, which is where we need some aggressive attacking impetus.

Finally the club seems to be moving in the right direction again.  Things remain far from perfect but the signs are there that problems have now been identified and have started to be addressed - hopefully this imporvement will continue on Sat.

Come on Nige - continue this good momentum and move on to solving the shortage of midfield options.

OTBC

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I share most of the concerns raised on this thread but I think we really should be looking for the positives.  3 wins in 4 games and we finally have a platform to build our season on.  We are not playing great at the moment but I would rather be playing badly and winning rather than playing brilliantly and losing.  If you can get into the "habit" of winning, confidence will rise and the performances will improve.

Ultimately though, points (and wins) mean prizes.  The best "footballing" side very rarely wins this league, it''s the team that can grind out the results.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

[quote]"We won, but there is still plenty to be concerned about." Like the poster above, I thought that this comment referred to tonight''s game! There were times, especially in midfield, when Northampton co...[/quote]

i think some peaple are never satisfied too many doom merchants on these boards. fact is we won last night with the minimum of fuss we didnt have to get out of first gear.a good days work from what i saw and how many saves did wardy have to make i think it was a massive none.stop whinging and get behind the team.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

This time last week we had just lost to Watford, we have just beaten Ipswich (AWAY) & we are in the next round of the cup, things are looking up but Reading will be tougher opponents than the last 2, let''s hope Hughes keeps up his run of form & Davenport continues to show us why he is so highly rated.

In short, I feel better this week than I did last week!!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Don''t forget it was a very make-shift side Nigel played.

Henderson, Jarvis, Jarrett, Ward.

Huckerby went off injured, Ashton only played part of a half, same with Safri. No Davenport.

I thought it was a fair result. Hopefully, we''ll have out full strength team out Saturday for Reading and perform from the whistle.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Clean sheets, a defence which is much tighter, and wins! Are we round the corner?

To keep our feet on the ground, we have won against weak or weakened opposition, and last night we resorted to the long ball. Several have commented on the poor performance of Jarvis. This could have been from ganerally poor service. Any striker partnering Hux is going to be isolated, and if the one behind and the midfield are supplying little service, then even a good striker will struggle.

There is no future in long balls to strikers marked by very large defenders. Granted the Huckerby goal from Doc''s pass, but this was partly the result of a goalkeeping error.

The defence does seem stronger, but Northampton and Plymouth, at least, did not provide them with a stern test.Time will tell if there is a real improvement.

The real concern is the midfield, still. Too many passes are going astray, - even Safri was guilty at times last night. To concede possession against a better team with a good midfield and strikers will make it hard to win.
When will someone from the midfield, other than Hux, score a goal?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

[quote]i think some peaple are never satisfied too many doom merchants on these boards. fact is we won last night with the minimum of fuss we didnt have to get out of first gear.a good days work from what i ...[/quote]

''Allways Travelling'' - people like you seriously do my head in.  You seem to think that just because you''re happy with the rank average performances that we see week in week out that you are in some way a superior fan to the rest of us.  ''Stop whinging and get behind the team''.  I get behind the team by travelling thousands of miles per season to watch them.  People have posted their genuine and specific concerns about the team, who the hell are you to tell them what they should and shouldn''t say.  If everybody was as happy with mediocrity as you seem to be then we would never progress.  For all you''re flag waving enthusiasm can you name me one single game this season where we have played well?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Anyone who has managed or coached a football team, whether local Under-7s or Arsenal, will know that a team who has lost confidence and lost consistency will not suddenly become a fluent passing team scoring bucket loads of goals. Results are ground out, the manager/coach accentuates the positives and gradually things improve. No the football isn''t that great, yes there are problems in midfield and no striker is yet totally convincing BUT (and it is a big but) Ashton is scoring a goal every other game, Huckerby has re-discovered his scoring touch, the defence has conceded NO GOALS in three out of 4 games and we have had 3 wins in 4. If we, as supporters, continue to focus on the negatives, how can we complain if the players and managers do the same and then don''t improve?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Whoaaa - steady on Balham Yellow!!!!   Where did that come from?  
 
Join the club mate, there''s plenty of us "whingers" and "doom merchants" on this board who constantly get told that our opinions don''t count.    I admire your fire and passion - but that''s lost on the yellow & green tinted glasses brigade!!!!
 
Fact is that we have had a pretty average start and the people who ultimately have to bear the responsibility for this are the management team.    So now that we''ve won a couple of games we need to build on this, make sure that we don''t become overconfident and come away from Saturday''s game with points and a good performance as well.   Much as I don''t care how we win games, as long as we win - I also care that we play decent football, and until we start winning games with monotonous regularity - which given our squad we should be doing, I wont be happy!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

You,re right Ballam Yellow, and yes we and all of us have a right to be concerned.  There are good quality pro''s out there that are not performing to their potential, why? because as many have said on these boards the quality of the coaching is not up to standard. Why-oh-why does Huckerby have only one string to his bow, with all the tallent he possess he should be dragging defenses out of position all over the place, he should not always be calling for the ball.

In this way alone he would make much more space for our attack to be more potent. If indeed they were awake enough. Not only Hucks , and, as some writer said, the off the ball running leaves a great deal to be desired.  For all the hot air on these boards, I''m still not convinced that we have a fit side capable and full of effort. 

To mention Curbishly''s remarks about Mourino and his Chelsea players (pardon spelling)" every one is a super athlete, if you were to take them on in the weights room they would beat you, and it would be the same in the speed trials, Yes every one is a winner and in Mourino they have a superb coach".  You may say in opposition to this, but look at what they earn, I say they have had to proove that they were worth their corn by their own effort and pride in their performances.  You can pay a man a pittance, it does not mean that you take away his pride and self worth.  I say again that there are some of our players who are not putting the work in on the training ground, that will enable them to produce continuous effort on the day of the match.  After all they the players are playing in front of spectators, hopefully for a 90 minute session, It is their only shop window and there they show their own worth in the market place, where in earnings alone the sky seems to be the limit.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

[quote]Whoaaa - steady on Balham Yellow!!!! Where did that come from? Join the club mate, there''s plenty of us "whingers" and "doom merchants" on this board who constantly get told that our opinions...[/quote]

I think Nigel answered that question Plastic  !  when he said , before the Ips game , that ," You can lead a horse to  water " ,  in other words ,  he was saying  the players HAVE their instructions ,  and its they who should abide by them ! ....

Its interesting  that the win  against Ips   coincided with a prematch  blast at the players  , plus  resting Flemmo  , and giving McVeigh  another  go up front !  Hucks was never "on the bench " ... that was  a neat tactical move on Nigels part  , and it paid off , right ?  

signed , one of the  yellow/green brigade !!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

[quote]''Allways Travelling'' - people like you seriously do my head in. You seem to think that just because you''re happy with the rank average performances that we see week in week out that you are in some w...[/quote]

balham yellow are you that thick.what was you expecting from last nights game.we used all the youngsters gave them a run out everybody he could play last night got a run out obviously to keep fitness levels and confidence in another victory going.worthy is not to bothered about staying in this competetion.it will get in the way of were we want to be.

do you not think its going to take time to adjust to the championship after being relegated last year. have a look at the other teams that came down your learning now i hope.we have made a lot of changes this season and its obviously going to take time to gel. which based on the last few games watford second half ipswich victory i suppose thats allways easy to beat the scum on there patch.and now we have followed that by beating cobblers with an understrength side and continually having players subbed which disrupts any performance.

the difference between me and you is i try to take some positives from every game there is allways some.where as you by the sound of you enjoy picking out all the negatives you must be one of the sack worthy brigade.try looking round for another team to follow so you can slag them off week in week out.try the scum up the road matey. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
''Always travellin'' -  if you can''t reason or debate without resorting to peurile insults, try looking around for another message Board...matey...

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

[quote]balham yellow are you that thick.what was you expecting from last nights game.we used all the youngsters gave them a run out everybody he could play last night got a run out obviously to keep fitness ...[/quote]

Balhams original post followed the Ipswich victory not Tues carling cup game and accurately highlights some of the issues that the joy of that win should not over-shadow.  There were positives too that have been covered elsewhere, hence what I saw was a post to balance the euphoria.

Blimey - I was accused of being patronising but the last paragraph at least matches my ability to do so and demostrates why the holier than you attitude of some fans on here really ...... ..  off(self-moderated)

OTC  

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I cannot be bothered to trade personal insults with you, AlwaysTravelling.  I do suggest however that when you open a post by questioning someone''s intelligence that you go on to write something with better syntax and grammar than your average four year old.

Incidentally, if you look at the beginning of the thread you will notice that my original comments were written prior to the Northampton game.  You didn''t answer my question - name me one single game this season in which we have played well?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

[quote]''Always travellin'' - if you can''t reason or debate without resorting to peurile insults, try looking around for another message Board...matey...[/quote]

i see your whinging again truth allways hurts.i am allways behind worthy and the team majority of my posts are positive. i suggest you dont read any of my posts as you only like to read the negatives posts about the team and there is plenty of these on these boards. you and balham yellow must be at the front of the line brigade to sack worthy very sad i think.                                                          

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

[quote]I cannot be bothered to trade personal insults with you, AlwaysTravelling. I do suggest however that when you open a post by questioning someone''s intelligence that you go on to write something with ...[/quote]

there you go again did we beat ipswich i think so was you happy with the three points and clean sheet. was you not pleased with worthy with regard to dropping fleming and shackell all positve points i think. lets stay positive about are beloved team.seriously can you not see the improvement in the team over the last few games another victory against cobblers with a clean sheet we was never out of first gear.now to reading on sat and i feel sure we will carry on the improvement and i think we will get another three points.must agree with you on the grammar point not the best dont understand the other word but i am being honest about that. that must be worth something.by the way if we are not playing that well but are gaining three points i will be happy with that.surely this must mean we are doing something right. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

[quote]there you go again did we beat ipswich i think so was you happy with the three points and clean sheet. was you not pleased with worthy with regard to dropping fleming and shackell all positve points i...[/quote]

Syntax  is a tax on sin !  they`ll tax anything these days  LOL

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Always travellin!! your thought that it is always right to look to the positives.  Not so, I''m afraid because the positives are the sections of our game that do not need addressing they are obvious for all to see.  By looking to the negative and addressing those aspects with positive solutions is the way forward. Your way of ignoring the poor aspects of our game shows a disregard for improvement, and shows that it is you who have a negative attitude.  Rose tints will never produce or attain any thing worthwhile. 

As regards Worthy, what makes you so sure that those who preach as we do are wanting him out. I am all for Worthy, with all his mistakes and have said so many times on these boards, he will learn from them and address them in a positive manner I''m sure.

To make a point:  When I was in business and people worked with me who were producing the goods and keeping the customers happy, they were paid well and knew that every thing was well with our firm.  Also if things were of such a nature that poor work was produced by employee and a customer was dissatisfied. That employee was soon informed of the way he could improve his work and if he did not improve then he would be educated and/or dismissed.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  

×
×
  • Create New...