**Official Lappinitup Match Thread - Norwich v Stoke**

[Grant Holts Moustache 105]

11 minutes ago, daz said:

Sounds great 🤔🤔🤔

No he wasn't jogging from my view in the ground. Ran around a lot trying to close things down but only had maybe two touches. 

[PurpleCanary 5,580]

Credit to Stoke City. They made is look pretty ordinary in the second half.

[AJ 1,224]

21 minutes ago, unique said:

That has confirmed that if we were to lose Sara or McLean to a lengthy injury, we would be well and truly screwed.

Also the depth of our bench is pretty shallow.

A hard-fought three points.

 

We've got quite a few injured players coming back in the next few months. We just have to keep getting points on the board for now and that's all the matters

[unique 439]

15 minutes ago, Samwam27 said:

What were your thoughts on Idah's 2nd stint up front today?

And also how did Hwang look when he came on?

The sooner Sargent returns the better…..

[A Load of Squit 5,210]

Hope she can make the game on Wednesday.

 

[BroadstairsR 2,199]

A bit harsh to judge Hwang as his first appearance was premature and brought about by the general ineffectiveness of you know who.

One decent shot and a lot of ball chasing but precious little else.

One up front against Leicester, imo, and has to be Barnes.

[Dean Coneys boots 1,406]

Today was further proof that Adam Idah is a top L2 striker- a run off the mill L1 striker and totally inept in the championship. Fortunately for him - Hwang is no better. This season might come down to total lack of ability in terms of the second tier striker options 

[Mark .Y. 352]

21 minutes ago, BroadstairsR said:

Another drop in intensity in the second half. Stoke were able to be too dominant. Rowe, in particular tires, as do others. Wagner perhaps needs to sort out his substitutes a bit better to take this into account. I'm thinking that Foreshaw might well play a part in this and perhaps a fit Sorensen also. 

I thought today's match situation was exactly why we brought Foreshaw in. Was fully expecting him to come on and sit in front of the back four for the last 20 minutes, very surprised he didn't.

Edited September 16, 2023 by Mark .Y.

[Robert N. LiM 4,464]

1 minute ago, Mark .Y. said:

I thought today's match situation was exactly why we brought Foreshaw in. Was fully expecting him to come on and sit in front of the back four for the last 20 minutes, very surprised he didn't.

Presumably not quite ready yet. Sounds like we might need him on Weds

[Robert N. LiM 4,464]

3 minutes ago, Dean Coneys boots said:

Today was further proof that Adam Idah is a top L2 striker- a run off the mill L1 striker and totally inept in the championship. Fortunately for him - Hwang is no better. This season might come down to total lack of ability in terms of the second tier striker options 

xM*: 3.0

Edited September 16, 2023 by Robert N. LiM
*expected moans

[TheGunnShow 5,985]

3 minutes ago, Robert N. LiM said:

xM*: 3.0

Think you might be onto something here. 😄

[dylanisabaddog 4,970]

On the plus side, we got away with it. 

I thought Kenny dug us out of a hole several times. Quite a few players were off form, in fact that's the worst I've seen Sara play. 

I was irritated that the right back was out of his depth and booked on 20 minutes but we put him under no pressure whatsoever and played everything down the right. When we brought on Onel and Placheta he was substituted to avoid the inevitable. 

One strange observation. Linesmen no longer take any notice of players feet when taking throw ons and today Stacey managed to take a throw with both feet completely over the line. 

As for Stoke, their centre forward who was substituted is probably the most one paced player I've ever seen in the Championship. He was awful, thank goodness. 

 

[canarybubbles 1,937]

13 points from the first six games when many of us were worried about a bad start and a crisis, so I know this sounds like carping, but Wagner's substitutions always seem to make us lose control of the game. Maybe we just don't have very much strength in depth on that bench with the likes of Placheta, Springett and Onel, but it's a worrying sign. Again, this is unfair because it was his first game, but Hwang managed to be even more invisible than Idah, which was quite an achievement. I never dreamt I would say this when he first arrived, but we are missing Sargent big time. 

[Robert N. LiM 4,464]

9 minutes ago, TheGunnShow said:

Think you might be onto something here. 😄

To be unbiased there should also be an xHC* metric.

Edited September 16, 2023 by Robert N. LiM
*expected happy clapping

[TheGunnShow 5,985]

Just now, Robert N. LiM said:

To be unbiased there should also be an xHC metric.

xC and xM - expected cheers and expected moans. Today felt like xC 1.05 - 0.95 xM sort of game.

[hogesar 9,722]

18 minutes ago, Dean Coneys boots said:

Today was further proof that Adam Idah is a top L2 striker- a run off the mill L1 striker and totally inept in the championship. Fortunately for him - Hwang is no better. This season might come down to total lack of ability in terms of the second tier striker options 

Complete rubbish. But to be fair you've got a great track record of it, so I commend you on consistency.

[canarybubbles 1,937]

10 minutes ago, dylanisabaddog said:

On the plus side, we got away with it. 

I thought Kenny dug us out of a hole several times. Quite a few players were off form, in fact that's the worst I've seen Sara play. 

I was irritated that the right back was out of his depth and booked on 20 minutes but we put him under no pressure whatsoever and played everything down the right. When we brought on Onel and Placheta he was substituted to avoid the inevitable. 

One strange observation. Linesmen no longer take any notice of players feet when taking throw ons and today Stacey managed to take a throw with both feet completely over the line. 

As for Stoke, their centre forward who was substituted is probably the most one paced player I've ever seen in the Championship. He was awful, thank goodness. 

 

He was quite good in the first half, but really poor in the second. I still think if Sara plays well, we play well. If he doesn't, we don't.

[cambridgeshire canary 6,778]

30 minutes ago, Dean Coneys boots said:

Today was further proof that Adam Idah is a top L2 striker- a run off the mill L1 striker and totally inept in the championship. Fortunately for him - Hwang is no better. This season might come down to total lack of ability in terms of the second tier striker options 

Careful he will score a goal in a couple months time and we will get another "UP YOURS IDAH HATERS!!" thread on the front page

[dylanisabaddog 4,970]

15 minutes ago, Robert N. LiM said:

To be unbiased there should also be an xHC* metric.

I don't remember the x times table. I must have been gazing out of the window watching Julia Veasey play netball 

[hogesar 9,722]

4 minutes ago, cambridgeshire canary said:

Careful he will score a goal in a couple months time and we will get another "UP YOURS IDAH HATERS!!" thread on the front page

You don't have a single opinion of your own so why you try and stoke the fire against one of our players is beyond me but go on.

Edited September 16, 2023 by hogesar

[Graham Paddons Beard 2,445]

First half we were miles better than them. Rowe is a standout . What a prospect. 
back 4 looked ok. Dimi can still get caught  out . 
 

I wouldn’t fancy our chances with the 11 that finished the game of finishing top 6. 
 

We would have lost that game towards the end of last season . New signings all putting in a decent shift .  
 

Slaughtering Hwang is bonkers. If Fassnacht squares the ball he kicked into the side netting Hwang has a tap in and everyone thinks he is brilliant. 
 

 

 

Edited September 16, 2023 by Graham Paddons Beard

[Creedence Clearwater Couto 1,297]

Firstly, I think first half was decent and similar to most other performances bar Rotherham. Second half we got away with it. 

Sargents intensity and work rate is such a big loss. We need to find a way to mitigate it. Play like this against Leicester and we’ll likely lose. I think it’s time for a couple of changes. Great start to the season, but some fresh impetus needed. I would be clamouring for Nunez to start, but now injured. 

Gibbs in the 10 and Barnes upfront? Do like Barnes knitting it together from deeper though. Time for Wagner to use his squad.

[Petriix 2,850]

43 minutes ago, canarybubbles said:

13 points from the first six games when many of us were worried about a bad start and a crisis, so I know this sounds like carping, but Wagner's substitutions always seem to make us lose control of the game. Maybe we just don't have very much strength in depth on that bench with the likes of Placheta, Springett and Onel, but it's a worrying sign. Again, this is unfair because it was his first game, but Hwang managed to be even more invisible than Idah, which was quite an achievement. I never dreamt I would say this when he first arrived, but we are missing Sargent big time. 

I agree with all of that. We were poor second half and (until nearly the end) we got worse as it progressed. We definitely lack depth or anyone who can really impact a game from the bench, which is worrying. We have a solid core, it's just those attacking positions where we seem short of quality competition. 

[Capt. Pants 4,274]

35 minutes ago, cambridgeshire canary said:

Careful he will score a goal in a couple months time and we will get another "UP YOURS IDAH HATERS!!" thread on the front page

W@nkish comments as always.

Thought we lost all fluidity when Idah went off tbh. Barnes did very little for a so called seasoned experienced professional. Sara and Rowe really quiet, Kenny played pretty well as did our 2 CHs.

Strange subs and arguably we were worse after them. We will play a lot better and lose.

Have to say this is worst matchday thread in the history of matchday threads, which is great as it means people are in the ground where they should be, or they can't find anything to moan about.

Leicester will be the Litmus test as to we're at as Stoke were shocking.

[Pyro Pete 1,915]

I thought Duffy was immense today.

[cambridgeshire canary 6,778]

4 minutes ago, Pyro Pete said:

I thought Duffy was immense today.

Both Duffy and McClean were great. 

Can we give out two man of the match awards?

54 minutes ago, hogesar said:

You don't have a single opinion of your own so why you try and stoke the fire against one of our players is beyond me but go on.

Love you too 😘

Edited September 16, 2023 by cambridgeshire canary

[RobJames 884]

19 minutes ago, Capt. Pants said:

Leicester will be the Litmus test as to we're at as Stoke were shocking.

No. They already look likely to finish in the top two, so any win will prove little as it will be set against our other results.  Again, if we lose then it is not going to be something highly unexpected.

The litlus test, if that is what it is, was against Rotherham. You have a successful season by grinding out results against the lesser teams. Not slipping up, not looking back and thinking we lost games we should have won. 

Today being an example. Set off at a fast pace, then slowed down in the 2nd half. But, we did not concede, nor dropped points either.  Games against the Leicesters will even themselves out. Some we will win, others not. But the real measure is whether we can keep picking up wins against the 'also rans'.

[JayNCFC 14]

Idah was present but provided no menace in an attacking sense, he held the ball up well and chased things down ok. We didn’t create chances for him to squander if he was going too. One blazed shot over the Barclay but it was a half chance, had a bit more time than he thought. I still don’t know what sort of Striker Idah is really… or what the management want from him. I always thought he was a great finisher, so get it to his feet in the box, but he seems to operate in every place but the box in build up, if he were that deadly - surely he’d be pulling people around that area to make a yard or two? I don’t know what we should judge hime as. 

Hwang was neither present nor menacing, although I felt most of the attacks were coming down our left with Dimi into Rowe. When Placheta and Hwang came on, something changed and we looked rather ineffective going forward. There wasn’t enough on display to make any judgement today on him, but he didn’t start by running himself about like Sargeant does, if a like for like is what we wanted - that’s not what we got I don’t think. 

Onel coming on momentarily reinvigorated work down that side but it was short lived as stoke piled on the pressure.

We weakened significantly and Gibbs (who can do a job) and Springett (who is very young) coming on for Fassnacht and Barnes showed the fragility of the depth of the squad, I think the team ticks with any one of Placheta, Gibbs and Onel in it, maybe even Springett but 2+ we are, obviously, much weaker. 

I think this was Barnes’ worst game I’ve seen from him. Felt disjointed from the attack. 
 

Rowe had glimpses but he was targeted hard today, and it largely worked. He was kicked, strangled and pushed around a lot today but showed a bit to rise above it. Not surprised he was shattered after the treatment given today. He will be given more protection I hope in the game against Leicester. 

Fassnacht, not sure today either, most came down the other wing and towards the end he had 3 or 4 goes at their left back and came up second. We stopped putting it to him preferring Stacey on the overlap.

Kenny was great today.

Sara good but felt like he was looking for space in midfield whether that was when we had the ball or didn’t, very little pressure on their midfield and lathargic in the defensive portion. 

Solid back 5 excluding Dimi. He was clearly having a bad day and the yellow was pure frustration at silly errors.  Couple of lunges in, and he gave so much space relying on pace to bridge the gap letting their attacking outlets to get up a head of steam on the run. 
 

We got 3 points but…. Phwoar. An odd game. 

[......and Smith must score. 1,355]

2 hours ago, AJ said:

We've got quite a few injured players coming back in the next few months. We just have to keep getting points on the board for now and that's all the matters

We will have but one of the hazards of football is that every club has players that are quite capable of taking their place on the treatment table.

Rarely does any club have no injuries to contend with. You can only hope the injured aren’t your best players.

Edited September 16, 2023 by ......and Smith must score.

[Indy 3,314]

2 hours ago, BroadstairsR said:

A bit harsh to judge Hwang as his first appearance was premature and brought about by the general ineffectiveness of you know who.

One decent shot and a lot of ball chasing but precious little else.

One up front against Leicester, imo, and has to be Barnes.

Not really, Whang was bought on, he had to impress, but in general game was terrible, when the ball was played in his direction he never challenged once just ran away! His closing down was non existent and I thought he was supposed to be fairly fast just looked lost! Considering the criticism Idah gets, Idah was really hard working and linked up with Rowe really well first half, fell away second half and his shooting is awful, he panics when the chance comes, really needs someone to teach him to keep calm and hit the ball. Hopefully confidence will come with time! But closed down, held the ball up and looked half decent.

Expect more from Whang next time! Maybe being too critical but he did nothing!

Edited September 16, 2023 by Indy