****The Official Lapps Match Thread v Man Utd (PL/A) *****

[cambridgeshire canary 6,675]

Just now, Virtual reality said:

why we kept Placheta and sent Onel out on loan is beyond me. So many poor signings and decisions made this season 

Dont worry I'm sure Webber will expl-

 

What do you mean hes climbing a mountain?

[beanbag 22]

There is still hope, the fat lady is not singing yet.

[Bovril 219]

United there for the taking again, we gift them a goal again, Ronaldo puts it away...again. That's why we're bottom. 

Spirited performance, Pukki superb and didn't stop running all game. Gianni had a good game up and until giving the free-kick away. Byram played well, Hanley effective, Gibson shocking. 

The subs...that worries me more than anything about Smith. 

[Capt. Pants 4,195]

1 minute ago, cambridgeshire canary said:

Dont worry I'm sure Webber will expl-

 

What do you mean hes climbing a mountain?

A quick call to Smith during the game. "Sorry Deano but Billy has to come on. It's all my fault"

[Ian 1,129]

I think people are reading way too much into the subs; Dowell had run himself into the ground, Kenny was clearly struggling after the knee in the back from Pogba.

Given injuries (again) not sure Smith had any other great options off the bench.

[Wirecanary 26]

Proud of how we stuck at it at got it back to 2-2 but same old mistakes cost us overall and not convinced about subs at all … 99% percent of us knew we would throw it away at 2-2 .. Man Utd not anywhere near  the team they were .. frustrated we didn’t get at least a point .. overall tried hard but same old result … 

[Ken Hairy 3,759]

2 minutes ago, Ian said:

I think people are reading way too much into the subs; Dowell had run himself into the ground, Kenny was clearly struggling after the knee in the back from Pogba.

Given injuries (again) not sure Smith had any other great options off the bench.

Every other option was better than Gilmour, even whacking Gunn on in midfield 😏

[king canary 7,578]

Obviously defensive errors and 0 points is a shame. However, the huge positive is that Smith has got the players playing with enough belief and fight to come back from 2-0 down, away against one of the biggest clubs in the world. 

[chicken 2,604]

7 minutes ago, Virtual reality said:

why we kept Placheta and sent Onel out on loan is beyond me. So many poor signings and decisions made this season 

It was well reported at the time that the club had wanted to send them both on loan but Placheta was suffering heavily with long Covid so was unable to go on loan anywhere.

January may have been a different option but then by that point, Smith had worked with Placheta for months and Hernandez not at all so I suspect he stuck with what he had rather than have to try and bring another player up to speed.

[Monty13 2,229]

9 minutes ago, beanbag said:

There is still hope, the fat lady is not singing yet.

She sang along time ago, did an encore, had a few drinks after, then the after party, then went clubbing before taking a taxi home and finally going to bed.

She’s currently nursing a bad hangover just like the rest of us who were optimistic about this season.

[Monty13 2,229]

4 minutes ago, chicken said:

It was well reported at the time that the club had wanted to send them both on loan but Placheta was suffering heavily with long Covid so was unable to go on loan anywhere.

January may have been a different option but then by that point, Smith had worked with Placheta for months and Hernandez not at all so I suspect he stuck with what he had rather than have to try and bring another player up to speed.

Yea spot on I suspect. Although that does make the squad seem a little bit light if both had gone.

[canarybubbles 1,915]

15 minutes ago, Ian said:

I think people are reading way too much into the subs; Dowell had run himself into the ground, Kenny was clearly struggling after the knee in the back from Pogba.

Given injuries (again) not sure Smith had any other great options off the bench.

He had options. Rupp or Sorensen instead of Gilmour; Rowe or Tzolis instead of Placheta.

[Helsinki canary 240]

15 minutes ago, Ian said:

I think people are reading way too much into the subs; Dowell had run himself into the ground, Kenny was clearly struggling after the knee in the back from Pogba.

Given injuries (again) not sure Smith had any other great options off the bench.

Fair point, but its who he bought on which was a disaster, Rupp was brilliant when he came on last week and Rowe would of been much better than placheta. Rupp would of pressed forward but still better in the tackle than Krankie, and as for placheta, there is just no point , league 1 at best

[Helsinki canary 240]

We lost today based on Gibson mistakes and the wrong substitutes

[daisy 137]

20 minutes ago, Ian said:

I think people are reading way too much into the subs; Dowell had run himself into the ground, Kenny was clearly struggling after the knee in the back from Pogba.

Given injuries (again) not sure Smith had any other great options off the bench.

Sorenson and Rowe.

[beanbag 22]

Norwich were on life support, after today's game they have been taken off life support but are still in critical care I have every hope they will soon be back on a general word and recovering fast

[Van wink 2,994]

Pretty good performance all round, shame about the silly mistakes! 

[canarybubbles 1,915]

14 minutes ago, king canary said:

Obviously defensive errors and 0 points is a shame. However, the huge positive is that Smith has got the players playing with enough belief and fight to come back from 2-0 down, away against one of the biggest clubs in the world. 

He also managed to turn a possible win and a likely draw into a defeat thanks to his substitutions.

Gilmour has failed all season despite being given chance after chance. Placheta has failed every time he comes on because he doesn't have functioning neurons. Yet Smith puts them on yet again when there are perfectly acceptable alternatives who haven't failed miserably this season. In fact, one of them - Rupp - had performed very well in the last game. But Smith lazily and stupidly went for Gilmour, who spent his time on the pitch giving away the ball, misplacing passes, and producing terrible free kicks and corners.

The players who started the game turned it around, not Smith. No, I take that back - he did turn it around, but in Man U's favour.

[chicken 2,604]

19 minutes ago, Monty13 said:

Yea spot on I suspect. Although that does make the squad seem a little bit light if both had gone.

It does now. At the start of the season though, we were looking to play 4-3-3 and we still had Pukki, Dowell, Rashica, Cantwell, Idah, Sargent and Tzolis who would push for one of those attacking three positions.

Cantwell's fall from grace has been well commented upon, Tzolis was never going to be a first team regular this season I feel - not just on evidence. Smith switching to having two strikers and more dedicated wingers and now a 4-2-3-1, has highlighted that lack of choice.

[Pyro Pete 1,889]

Just seen the goals. Oh, dear.

Gibson is just too slow in thought and action to be an effective defender at this level. A decent Championship player though.

Hopefully Omobamidele continues to develop and replaces him next season.

 

Edited April 16, 2022 by Pyro Pete

[Nuff Said 5,089]

56 minutes ago, chicken said:

Who?

What?

[GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary 1,735]

42 minutes ago, Virtual reality said:

why we kept Placheta and sent Onel out on loan is beyond me. So many poor signings and decisions made this season 

We still had the option to recall Hernandez in January and didnt. Should have brought him back and sent Tzolis out on loan for rhe second half of the season

[Nuff Said 5,089]

3 minutes ago, GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary said:

We still had the option to recall Hernandez in January and didnt. Should have brought him back and sent Tzolis out on loan for rhe second half of the season

I haven’t seen Hernandez play this season, but there must be a reason why a Championship team pushing for the playoffs, currently 7th, terminated his loan and he went to a team who are 20th. I say this as a big fan of Onel’s, but he’s probably past his best. 

[Don’t be Krul 398]

Having not seen stream or highlights nor listened to any commentary I was on BT Sport when Gilmour came on, which Chris Sutton announced with an air of resignation. So irrespective of Gibson's mistakes (and how many berated him on here today were singing his praises last week BTW), why change a team that by all accounts were dominating, especially the midfield to bring that useless sweaty on. 10 mins later and Sutton was saying how Norwich had lost control of the midfield. As someone said only 6 more games we'll never have to see wee Billy Krankie again. Good riddance

Edited April 16, 2022 by Don’t be Krul

[canarybubbles 1,915]

4 minutes ago, Don’t be Krul said:

Having not seen stream or highlights nor listened to any commentary I was on BT Sport when Gilmour came on, which Chris Sutton announced with an air of resignation. So irrespective of Gibson's mistakes (and how many berated him on here today were singing his praises last week BTW), why change a team that by all accounts were dominating, especially the midfield to bring that useless sweaty on. 10 mins later and Sutton was saying how Norwich had lost control of the midfield. As someone said only 6 more games we'll never have to see wee Billy Krankie again. Good riddance

To be fair, changes were needed. Dowell looked dead on his feet and McLean was carrying a knock. The problem was that Smith put on two players who have failed consistently and continually this season when there were much better options available.

[GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary 1,735]

We currently have the following wingers/wide players in the books...

Rashica Cantwell Sargent Dowell Tzolis Hernandez Placheta Sinani Martin Rowe

Not sure how many we can expect to be here next season but the fact that Smith seemingly holds Placheta in such high regard is a concern

[TeemuVanBasten 3,327]

Can't help but wonder if we'd be in a better place if Dowell had been in our first XI for most of the season. He has obvious limitations at this level but he's got the speed of thought and the ability to weight a pass to create opportunities, and he's by far the best we've got at the club for set pieces. 

I suppose Dean Smith has at least realised this in time for Dowell to play an important role next season.

[Capt. Pants 4,195]

1 hour ago, canarybubbles said:

To be fair, changes were needed. Dowell looked dead on his feet and McLean was carrying a knock. The problem was that Smith put on two players who have failed consistently and continually this season when there were much better options available.

Of course they were, but Smith didn't make the obvious substitutions. It concerns me that Gilmour is the default subs when a midfielder had to go off. I'll be glad when he's gone back to Chelsea tbh.

[hertfordyellow 460]

2 hours ago, GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary said:

We still had the option to recall Hernandez in January and didnt. Should have brought him back and sent Tzolis out on loan for rhe second half of the season

If Hernandez is the answer, I don’t want to hear the question. He was a one trick pony that soon got dumped by Farke in the Championship. Where has this belief that he is the messiah come from?

[GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary 1,735]

4 minutes ago, hertfordyellow said:

If Hernandez is the answer, I don’t want to hear the question. He was a one trick pony that soon got dumped by Farke in the Championship. Where has this belief that he is the messiah come from?

When Smith is looking down his bench, he'd still be better than a lot of what we have sitting on there