Match Ratings

[Citizen Journalist Foghorn 0]

Warner   6 did ok, distribution poor

Hughes  6  Usual stuff..  not great, not appalling

Dublin   8  MOM  superb at the back

Shax   7.5  Solid and restricted Southamptons chances despite them having all the possession

Drury  6    Captain Drury......   lets hope The Dunce in charge finally changes the captain and lets Drury concentrate on his ever worsening game.

Lappin   5.5   offered no threat whatsoever

Etuhu 7  tried to get into the game but cannot do the job of two players like Safri has had to for much of these last two seasons

Fozzy  1   Was he playing?  Does he even deserve a mark let alone a contract??  A replacement for Safri, you are having a laugh.

Martin   4  Appalling at Right Wing, then offered nothing up front, but he has been mucked about so much recently it is no surprise.

Hucks   7  tried as ever, had to move himself to the right hand side to get the hint to the thicko in charge to make the swap...

Ernie   4   not match fit, offered nothing apart from oner shot straight at the goalie

subs

Spillane  7  offered more in his time on the park today than Fozzy has at carrow road since he arrived.

Renton did he do anything?? can''t mark him, I had lost interest by then.

 

Grant   0  The less said the better, we would have done better today had the lads turned up and picked the team and tactics themselves.

[Gingerpele 0]

im not saying why butwarner-6hughes-6.5dublin-7.5shackle-7drury-6lappin-5etuhu-7fozzy-5matin-5huckerby6earnishaw-6spillane-7renton-6 he did do something and tried but was out of his leaguegrant does nto no what the word tactics mean he plays a striker on the right and a winger up-front then on the right instead of left

[GJP 79]

Well Fotheringham isn''t a left-winger and Martin isn''t a right-winger. While I would hope Fozzie is seen as a backup player if City are to do anything I thought he at least worked hard today, as he usually does. He isn''t used to this tempo and his match fitness isn''t there but I still think he tries to do his bit. Unlike Chris Martin who was lazy today and the worst player on the pitch for City.

The two young lads who came on, Spillane and Renton, gave it a good go. Spillane does get stuck in but doesn''t do anything going forward. Renton looked fairly lively and got more involved than Martin ever did.

Nice to see Lappin back but fairly obvious he was a bit rusty after some time out.

Shame the manager didn''t have the sense to switch Huckerby wide left and let him have a go at the right-back.

[keith sizer 0]

completly disagree with shax and foz. shax has been crap in recent weeks! he showed no strength, his headers were poor and dion had to cover for him all game.

i thought foz looked half decent today, i think with a good pre season, he may prove to be a decent player.

[ca 1]

Warner   6 Did ok, but needed to roll the ball out more rather than hoof it out to little Earnie - get Marshall back

Hughes  6  Steady and not the worst on the pitch

Dublin   8  Man of the Match - please stay another year!

Shackell   7.  Solid as a rock, plays better with Dion beside him

Drury  4 Worst game I''ve seen him play for ages - poor   

Lappin   5  Offered no threat whatsoever, poor

Etuhu 7  Didnt play as well as last week but steady.

Fozzy  4   Very poor once again - why are we giving him a contract?

Martin   4  Appalling at right wing but why did he start there, didnt get too involved when he was moved upfront.

Hucks   7  Worked hard as usual

Ernie   6   Didnt look fit and didnt offer much of a threat.

Bright Spot - Spillane - showed more promise in 30 mins than 3 or 4 players showed in the whole game!

[North Sea Canary 0]

Warner   7 looked to throw but more often than not no one showed so had to kick long

Hughes  7  only player with passion

Dublin   8  MOM  superb at the back, give him one more season

Shax   6  Solid but defending was messy, too many little nudges etc which could have been fouls

Drury  5    I like Drury but not a good game today little understanding between him and Shax

Lappin   4   offered no threat whatsoever, Was he fit?

Etuhu 7  tried to get into the game but we need too central midfielders, better second half

Fozzy  0   Was he playing?  He Does not even deserve a mark let alone a contract??  A replacement for Safri, you are having a laugh. No more needs saying

Martin   2  Appalling at Right Wing, then offered nothing up front

Hucks   7  tried as ever, Grant moved him to the right hand side as Martin was in a nightmare, Why more Hucks and not take Martin off earlier?

Ernie   5   tried hard, too many high balls to him which he stood no chance

subs

Spillane  7  offered more in his time on the park today than Fozzy has at carrow road since he arrived. True!!

Renton 5  Better than Martin Tried and got stuck in more

[EadiesRight Foot 0]

Warner 6 - handled some shots well, but I have seen 5 yr old who can kick it better than him. Distribution was useless

Hughes 5.5 two steps forward, then two steps back. Unfortunately that the goal came from the right, and he got caught out a couple of times again. No surprise there, but didnt really get forward that much. Effort as per usual

Dublin - 8 Superbly marshalled the defence. Couple of dummies and backheels  showed that the first two yards were in his head. Still won most in the air also.

Shacks - 7 Quieter version of Dublin, came forward more, but one terrible back pass almost put us in trouble.

Drury 6 Coped well - closed his man down for the first time in god knows when. ALso offered going forward.

Martin - 5 Right midfield isnt his place. Couldnt be bothered for most of first half until he was switched with Hucks. Looked better, some good little through balls, but then got a knock.

Fotheringham 6 Put in some good tackles, covered a lot of ground. I am not sure why CJF gave him low marks. I thought he played alright considering. Switched to left mid after Lappin went off. Service from set pieces wasnt bad either.

Ethuhu 6 Hit and miss. Had his work cut out, as we were chasing a lot of the game. Put his foot in, got forward. If he can take this form into next year, he will be a force. God, I cant believe I just wrote that after some of his earlier performances this season.....!

Lappin 4 Never got a touch, didnt want the ball. Hardly got it as a result.

Huckerby 7 Couple of good runs, skinned Bale on a couple of occasions, as was our most dangerous player all day.

Earnie 5 Not his fault - there were times when he was dropping deep into midfield to retrieve the ball. No service, and didnt look 100% sharp. Pumping high balls up to him wont really help his cause also.

Subs -

Spillane 7.5 Loads of promise. Got stuck in, made some intelligent passes, big tackles, and covered a lot of ground. Cant wait to see his development next season.

Renton 6 Willing and enthusiastic.

In all - typical end of season performance. Wasnt anything to play for, Saints have the playoffs to get to. We''re not going up or down. Frustrating as we controlled lots of the second half without really creating too much. Draw would have been a fair result.

[ZLF 271]

Didnt go yesterday as let my daughters use the tickets and seem like I made a wise choice!   Midfield again looks a nightmare with too many out of position players,  more needed during the summer without a doubt.

But with earnie up front we do not seem as much of team. This review is so reminiscent of the pre xmas woes.    Does earnie cause us more problems by playing him; do the team get lazy with him in and expect too much from him, or does he disrupt the shape/style of play?  Or is it just down to the number of injuries?   We seemed far more effective with hux and martin when earnie was injured - hux and earnie certainly doesnt work.

I dont know what the solution is but we have been playing better recently than the last two games suggest.

[EadiesRight Foot 0]

Actually I forgot Warner made one hell of a save yesterday one handed going to his right. Maybe 7. Heh heh!

[Citizen Journalist Foghorn 0]

[quote user="EadiesRight Foot"]

Fotheringham 6 Put in some good tackles, covered a lot of ground. I am not sure why CJF gave him low marks. I thought he played alright considering. Switched to left mid after Lappin went off. Service from set pieces wasnt bad either.

[/quote]

Maybe I was being harsh on the lad, The midfield yesterday  (apart from Etuhu) was non existent, no shape no balance and I can barely remember fozzy getting a touch? (apart from a few absolutely awful balls straight through to their keeper.  As regards his contract - I shouldnt have said that.  I hope he does well for us, he obviously needs to get to the pace of the game.

Lappin was equally non existent, and Martin who looked rubbish at left wing looked even worse at right wing.   I thought Hughes had a better game than Drury as well.  How he is still captain I just do not understand, and as much as I defend him, his game has been slowly getting worse ever since promotion.

 

I thought we deserved to lose to a far better (but not great) side yesterday.  I don''t think Southampton played particuarly well, but they were solid and organised in defense and midfield, although lacking up front.  We really didnt test their keeper.

[mike 0]

I think that all our defence can do in a game is try and limit the  damage.Today I thought shacks and dion were great,how you can say that shacks was weak is just typical of the norwich knockers.Foz what not at the races today allong with the other midfield players.Most fans around me saw the effort that was put in buy the back 4 and the massive gaps in front of the back four with no cover, but hay that has happened all season no surprises there but next time watch the game and think!!!!! about the words we need the likes of shacks at this club he has got to be part of the future.

[FilletTheFishWife . 0]

[quote user="ZippersLeftFoot"]

Didnt go yesterday as let my daughters use the tickets and seem like I made a wise choice!   Midfield again looks a nightmare with too many out of position players,  more needed during the summer without a doubt.

But with earnie up front we do not seem as much of team. This review is so reminiscent of the pre xmas woes.    Does earnie cause us more problems by playing him; do the team get lazy with him in and expect too much from him, or does he disrupt the shape/style of play?  Or is it just down to the number of injuries?   We seemed far more effective with hux and martin when earnie was injured - hux and earnie certainly doesnt work.

I dont know what the solution is but we have been playing better recently than the last two games suggest.

[/quote]

Lucky you.

Warner   7

Hughes   7

Dubin   7

Shackell   6

Drury   6

Fotheringham   4

Euthu   6

Lappin   5

Huckerby   7

Martin   4

Earnshaw   4

Spillane   7

You aint going to get anything from a top side when 3 players have stinkers (whatever the excuse) and the rest are average at best.

What Fotheringham has done since he''s been here to deserve a contract is beyond me. If Grant thinks he''s a successor to Safri he''s on another planet. He''s more like a successor to Robinson i.e. rubbish. Martin looked a fish out of water on right-midfield (although he played well in midfield against leicester and ipswich).

No disrespect to dion but it speaks volumes that a 38 year old gets runner-up in player of the year.

 

[Baldyboy 0]

warner 6 needs to work on his distribution but wont mind if hes signed permanently

hughes 6 ok but had no help with the goal trying to mark two players

drury 4 shocking worst ive ever seen him

dublin 8 mom won everything in air

shax 6 solid but must try to play his way out of trouble better

martin 4 felt sorry for him as he looked clueless on the wing

fotheringham 4 what a waste of a contract does he ever do anything good?

etuhu 6 better when spillane on to allow him to go forward more

lappin 5 did very little

huckerby 6 again put lots of effort in but lacked any help

earnshaw 5 doesnt look fit should have been on bench

subs

spillane 7 was very good when came on got stuck in and allowed etuhu to go forward more, why was fozzy preferred to him?

renton 5 did ok

 

grant 4 his subs are strange and why does he persist in playing unfit players?

[Lonnie Lynn (Common) 0]

Warner 6 averageHughes 4.5 Why Colin isn''t playing here is even more baffling than offering Fozzy a new contractDrury 3 How bad does he have to play before being dropped??Dublin 6 OkShackell 6 Wont have the big boys sniffing around him after this perfomanceMartin 4 too irrelevent even up frontFotheringham -Etuhu 7 pretty goodLappin 4 pretty badHuckerby 6.5 okEarnshaw 5 still not good enoughsubsSpillane 5 didn''t do much just kept sliding around like a thug and he started on my mate at collegeRenton 4 southampton fans must have wondered why we were bring this dross on

[DONT REMEMBER YOUR TENURE AS ENGLAND MANAGER 0]

Bit angry Miss Lynn.

I felt Spillane was awesome whan he came on, he gets an 8 for me and hopefully will be a big player for us next season.

Renton - dross, thats very harsh, the lad is only 16, and what chance did he have yesterday when the whole team peformance was way below average.

 

Patience is a virtue, we have to give the youngsters a chance

 

Martin and Spillane are gonna save us some big bucks, not that we have big bucks of course!

[Dicky 0]

Lonnie Lynn - Hughes 4.5 but Shackell 6?  You quite sure?

[Tumbleweed 106]

I don''t think the formation changes helped us much either. I spotted around 4- we started 4-4-2 and finished 3-5-2 via 4-5-1 and several variations of 4-4-2. However at least Grant did swap things around when he realsied they weren''t working- putting Etuhu over on the left of midfield where Lappin was clearly struggling and switching Martin up front, then Huckerby down the right wing, sending Dion up front in the last 10 minutes. I got really bewildered watching all that go on.

Some thoughts on individuals:

Warner looked good to me. Made some good saves, particluarly from some long shots which apart from one he held onto very well without spilling.

Spillane- recovered from his disaster against Ipswich and looked very sharp when he arrived. Gave the whole team a lift.

Dion- magnificent. Must get a new contract if not already

Fotheringham & Lappin. Both Scots were poor. Fotheringam''s free kicks woeful and Lappin couldn''t get in the game. Slow and poor passing.

Earnshaw- when will we realise that high balls into him don''t work. Bad memories of the eary 90s when we did the same with Ruel Fox up front.

Renton- I thought he did very well when he came on. Looked quite assured and willing to look for the ball.

One final point- yesterday showed me how much we miss Lee Croft. The guy frustrates us but his workrate and use as an outlet on the right are very important to us.

[Alex Harvey-Jones 0]

Fotheringham was dreadful yesterday. He gave the ball away far too much and like against Ipswich kept putting free kicks straight out of play. Grant thinks he has skill but I haven''t seen any of it yet - he attempted one fancy step over and got it wrong giving Southampton the chance to attack. Don''t understand why he has been given another contract.

Spillane looks a great prospect. His tackling is superb and he carried the ball very well yesterday. Renton didn''t do a huge amount but he didn''t do anything wrong in a team that was playing badly. He is only 16 and has only played a handful of reserve games. I''m just pleased he is being given a chance!