Norwich vs Lynn - Report

[SM 0]

The Player Ratings:

GK Paul Gallacher – 5 – Didn’t really have a save to make, just had to rush out a couple of times to collect the ball. He certainly doesn’t give the defence confidence either and that was very evident last night with quite a few mix-ups.

RB Andrew Cave-Brown – 6 – He looked quite solid last night, and I think is the perfect backup for Otsemobor if Hughes go’s. If Hughes doesn’t leave then a loan period is probably required. He also linked well with Croft which was quite encouraging.

LB Drury (C) – 5 – I gave him a 5, but if not for his goal it would have been a 4 because most of the KL attacks were down our left side. There were a couple of incidents when he rushed out to clear the ball and missed it, thus leaving Shackell 2 on 1.

CB Shackell – 6.5 – Tried to hold our shaky defence together when he was needed most, he also made lots of crucial interventions and last ditch headers to stop the Lynn strikers getting through one-on-one. Just one glaring mistake when he missed his kick but Lewis saved smartly. Was good to hear him barking orders to the team unlike, Drury who remained quiet all game.

CB Doherty – 5 – He looked the most unfit of all the players on the pitch, doesn’t inspire me at all, a replacement is needed desperately if we are going to mount a serious challenge for the play-offs.

RM Croft – 6 – His crossing need’s serious work before he can even think about challenging Croft for the right-midfield berth, he can beat players easily but rarely do we see a cross go to its intended target.

LM Ryan Jarvis – 7.5 – His loan spell at the Orient looks to have done him the world of good, and even though playing out of position he still looked lively and was the player most likely to add to the scoring after Drury’s opener.

CM Brellier – 7 – From what I saw last night, he loves a tackle and although he can give it he can take it as well. Retaliation doesn’t look like his problem, he is just so eager to make the tackles that he can sometimes be a second or two late. He spent most of his time trying to cover for Drury.

CM Fotheringham – 8 – My man of the match, he looks very lean, like he has been training through the summer. This has certainly been beneficial because he controlled the midfield well and if he plays like that, he will certainly be a better player than many saw last year.

ST Strihavka – 6.5 – Got involved with play quite a lot in the first half and also had a good first half, but faded in the second although he did have a goal disallowed. Looked lost at times though, as if he didn’t know what was wanted of him, but the language barrier can’t be helping at the moment.

ST Cureton – 5.5 – Except from his two goals, he did nothing that overly impressed me and it seemed that every time the ball got to him during an attack he would lose it and the attack would break down. This seemed to be because he was trying to hard to score, but now he has the two goals I think it will help his confidence.

Subs: Lewis – 6.5 – He made one decent save from one of the Lynn strikers following a defensive mix-up, the defence also seemed a lot more comfortable when he was there.

Rossi Jarvis – 6.5 – When he was central midfield he broke up play well and made a few decent passes, he also did well when moved to right-back.

Smart – 7 – Even though he was only on for about 20 minutes, his contributions were very notable. He made two of the goals by using his raw pace and doing what all good old fashioned wingers do, run at the wingers then get a good cross in. He was very impressive.

Lathrope – 5 – Nothing notable to report except the goal, which he lashed home from about 6 yards.

Kelly - Not on long enough to rate.

The performance was professional but we didn’t look like ever getting out of 2^nd gear, I would have like to see us really go for it instead of passing it between each other. But it was overall a good work out.

[Unlucky Fried Kitten 0]

Thanks for your thorough and informative assessment of the players, Dan. It sounds as there is a fair bit of work to do before the season starts to bring the players up to speed and get them match fit.

I have to say your information is most useful. I have bought the EDP after all of the pre-season games that have been played so far and have been very disappointed in their far from thorough match reports. You would think they would be eager to fill those otherwise empty column inches with an in-depth match report, including individual player ratings. After all, it is not as though they have too much else to say about City just at the moment.

[SM 0]

cheers billy, i have seen the papers so i thought i''d do a better one for all the people who didn''t go (Y)

[a1canary 0]

Cheers Dan - really encouraged by your comments re Fotheringham. He''s almost been the forgotten man of the summer with all the upheaval going on in midfield. But if he can be a genuine contender for a CM place along with Brellier, Safs and Smith, then there is some hope. I just think Grant wants a midfield powerhouse in the Dickson mould and even among that lot i''m not sure we have one.