Encouraging?

[Yellow Rider 0]

Impossible of course to draw any conclusions from the first match of the season particularly as I wasn''t at Leeds to see it first hand but it is tempting to sense some grounds for optimism if the following is to be believed:

1. Some really good football played with Leeds carved open a number of times

2. Clear chances created although most fell to just one player (and that''s the problem)

3. Our keeper starting things off by playing the ball out rather than just lumping it

If Ernie had taken just a couple of all the chances he, alledgedly, had we would have come home with a great win.

OK we lost but one of the main gripes of Worthy Outers (and that certainly includes me) was the dreadful standard of football we played match after match last season. Anyone who witrnessed that shambles I saw at Derby would agree with that and, of course, there were many, many other equally limp wristed displays.

Why we continue to chase a ''big target man'' is beyond me. If Worthy does eventually sign one as I''m sure he will before 31.8 then hoofball will be back big time! Many of you miss the point (in my humble opinion). Sure Ernie needs support but that could be provided by Leon or WLY.Our goalscoring problem has never been addressed in the key area and that is midfield! Any successful side will have midfielders who weigh in with anything from 6-12 goals a season per player (or thereabouts). OK Holt was an exception to that rule but in the promotion season Francis certainly put some away  and even the much maligned Mulryne chipped in with 3 or 4.

Look at our midfilders today and who will score the goals from Safri, Hughes, Robinson and Ethu? Exactly!

Saf may get a couple, Robinson has never looked like scoring since he''s been here and Ethu has the potential but will we ever see anything from him, too often he simply vanishes when the going gets tough. Hughesy may get a couple but that''s about it.

The truth is that  Worthy signed three donkeys in Hughes, Ethu and Robinson and he has done nothing in the summer to move that deadwood on and get in new players who better fit our requirements. It is this fundamental flaw that  will, ultimately, hold us back.      

But, for now, I look forward to Tuesday night and being back amongst the 20,000+ Yellow Army!    

[Making Plans 940]

We lost !

[Rasputin was a C... 0]

[quote user="Making Plans"]

We lost !

[/quote]Wasn''t a deserved defeat though. I''m Worthy Out by the way.

[sussexcanary 0]

"Wasn''t a deserved defeat though. I''m Worthy Out by the way"

But we still lost !

[As my login causes problems [ :o) ] 0]

Sorry having just returned from my trip North I have to say that there wasn''t much to be encouraged about.

Yes in truth the first half was excellent with good work rate, short crisp passing, running on and off the ball, little hoofing and 11 players playing to potential (albeit some more potential than others!)

However come half time and cometh the man''s half time talk!

Errr what does he say,  what gems does he come out with?  Or is it that in the friendlies they only had to play half a game?  I don''t know but having finally surfaced from the half time queues I wondered if I''d left a few of our players down there still queuing.

Dickson who had discovered forward creative play reverted to his backwards unconfident self of last season.  The defence that had looked so confident and solid in the first half started paniccing.  Gallacher started hoofing (as did the Doc)  It just all started to crumble before our eyes.

The substitutes came on ........ so they tell me but I''m not sure that they really did as WLY, Leon and Magic Hat man all grabbed their chance with as much firmness as a limp lettuce leaf.

No I''m afraid the encouraging first half seems a long way away now Yellow Rider.

 

[Rasputin was a C... 0]

[quote user="sussexcanary"]

But we still lost !

[/quote]You have to accept we''re going to lose games. If we continue to lose games then fair enough but the performance was enough for people to get positive. Not carried away the game by any means but at least there are signs of improvement from last season. Does being a Worthy Outer mean at no point can we be positive about something???

[GJD 0]

Was not there, but maybe the Leeds manager made some changes at half time

?

Football is a game of two sides after all! Yes I guess Worthy could have done the same, but by all accounts of the radio commentators we played well in the first half, so why change?

Lets see how we play against Preston.

[sussexcanary 0]

[quote user="Rasputin was a C..."][quote user="sussexcanary"]

But we still lost !

[/quote]

You have to accept we''re going to lose games. If we continue to lose games then fair enough but the performance was enough for people to get positive. Not carried away the game by any means but at least there are signs of improvement from last season. Does being a Worthy Outer mean at no point can we be positive about something???
[/quote]

I except that we have no divine right to win any games be Leeds away or Colchester (Heaven forbid) at home.  I''ve like all Norwich fans want us to win and progress in this god forsaken league but i have watched this club crumble away these last couple of seasons and it hurts like hell.  I will never forgive Worthington for last season. Were you Loftus Road, Molineux and Selhurst Park? if you were than you won''t need me to remind you what it was like.  Total humiliation.  And that was on the park! What about when he gestured to the snake pit after the "that was pure passion Roy" win over Stoke.  That proved that he has nothing but contempt for the fans of this club and in return i have nothing but contempt for him.

He does not deserve to be manager of this great football club.  End of.   

[John Travolta is back 0]

[quote user="Yellow Rider"]

 

Look at our midfilders today and who will score the goals from Safri, Hughes, Robinson and Ethu? Exactly!  

[/quote]

funny. Hughes doesn''t even play and he still gets slated

[Making Plans 940]

[quote user="Rasputin was a C..."][quote user="sussexcanary"]

But we still lost !

[/quote]

You have to accept we''re going to lose games. If we continue to lose games then fair enough but the performance was enough for people to get positive. Not carried away the game by any means but at least there are signs of improvement from last season. Does being a Worthy Outer mean at no point can we be positive about something???
[/quote]

Well I was listening on Radio 5, yes, Bryan Hamilton and all.

The fact remains that we had at least 4 clear cut gilt edged chances before Leeds scored, the game was there for the taking and we undoubtably should have won. Definitely 3 points lost and it doesn''t matter who you are playing, where you were playing or how well you played, when chances to win games like this come along, you have to take them. It''s the ability to win games like this that make the difference between automatic promotion or play offs, or in our case I fear, the play offs or nothing.

Interesting that on "The Championship" this morning they, yes Andy Townsend and all, spoke about all the "contenders" but we didn''t even get a mention.

[Rasputin was a C... 0]

[quote user="Making Plans"]Interesting that on "The Championship" this morning they, yes Andy Townsend and all, spoke about all the "contenders" but we didn''t even get a mention.[/quote]To be fair even during the promotion season we got very little national coverage until we''d almost won it. Its not unusual for the National media to totally forget about us so Townsend not mentioning us isn''t a shock. You also have to remember that Andy Townsend is a complete prat

[Huddy 0]

Leeds is a tough place to go and by all accounts we were unlucky, the people newspaper gave us a glowing write up. So that is encoraging, also we know earny has talent and on another day he would have ahd a hatful. One of those days! We must however take 6 points from the next 2 home games to be encouraged, Preston are a side who have lost all their defence and their manager, they wont be challenging this year and neither will luton. 2 Sides we must beat to be optomistic and encouraged, anything less than  4 points would be a disaster.

[blahblahblah 2]

[quote]Interesting that on "The Championship" this morning they, yes Andy Townsend and all, spoke about all the "contenders" but we didn''t even get a mention.[/quote]

He also said that the teams who will do well are the teams who came down and have big squads.  He''s right about strength in depth, which at the moment we lack, but I very much doubt that both Birmingham and West Brom will go up.  One of them will fail.

[charlies dad 0]

I listened to the game as always, to be honest expecting a thumping! Time and again we carved Leeds open. Earnshaw hitting the woodwork twice, once with a lovely curling effort and our luck was out on the day. The result was a travesty. Beleive me, this was about as far removed from the filth we served up last year dressed as football as its possible to be. The simple introduction of Croft, balances the whole lop-sided shambles out, and, almost unbeleivably, allows Safri, and his two cohorts, Robinson and Etuhu to function as a midfield, and in doing so grab the initiative away from home. I''m still pinching myself. Another dividedn from Crofts inclusion, was the improved performance of Colin! Yes i know, i couldnt beleive it too. Sadly the only reliable component of the team last season, Earnshaw, choked his big chance, but 3-1 would have been a more accurate reflection of the play. I now eagerly, yes Eagerly await the total destruction of that nasty Preston shower, with all the passing and pace, and new found balance, combined with a sharper Earnshaw, eager to add to his fat goal tally. Please Norwich City, do not blow this opportunity. Failure on Tuesday night, and a lapse into disgraceful old ways, and I will be wanting to see some blood on the carpets. In the meantime, lets give credit where its due.. Now WIN.   

[Syteanric 1]

id sooner have 1 shot and score then 100 shots and miss..

we lost

 

jas :)

[xxxx 0]

We have done nothing to really strengthen , one new signing is a joke , loaning unwanted Prem reserves is no solution , i really think too many sides have moved ahead of us now , to much prudence and almost no ambition is no recipe for promotion.

[Yellow Rages 0]

In response to the question though............... Yes I think this is encouraging. I don''t remember a single game last year where we played good football(not hoofball), had endless chances and dominated for long periods. Especially against good opposition.

Yes we lost and of course that''s not the idea. Football throws us curve balls at times. No side in history has always played well and won. It happens to the best of them.

Encouraging yes, based on one game but I''m not going to start dancing in the streets just yet. I think we need to see a few more performaces of this calibre first. They will bring with them lots of points. In ten games time I''ll be in a position to say if we have improved or not.

[Canary02 0]

I thoroughly agree. I think we can claim mild improvement in terms of performance instead of result, but not much more. However there is enough there to suggest that we can hold out on the Worthy-Out demo''s for a while, and more importantly, that Hunter is having an effect on the training ground. Croft will get better as his stamina increases, Earnie is looking sharp, if not deadly just yet, and the midfield have started passing a little bit. Reasons to be cheerful I think.