Thoughts on tonight, from a long-term absentee

[listen (formerly MG7) 0]

1. Nice shiny scoreboard.

2. Zamora was quality, one of the best players on the pitch. Ditto Mark Noble.

3. Why was Ashton getting booed? So he left us to play at a higher level - so what?! How do you think we got him here in the first place?! If your career was only 10 years long you wouldn''t hang around for a year at somewhere you didn''t want to be, so why do you expect footballers to be any different?Small minded bigots, especially the guy who sat behind me and started shouting homophobic abuse at Ashton. Very clever mate, your parents must be so proud...

4. Drury is shocking. Every single time he got the ball it was a long hump up the field. Why oh why oh why can''t players learn to JUST KEEP THE BALL?!

5. Otsemobor, Marshall, Croft were our best three players. Otsemobor got forward very well and looked comfortable on the ball; Marshall made some great saves; Croft was full of running, and was willing to take players on in the final third. So what if he lost it a few times? At least he was doing it in the right areas of the pitch.

6. We need a centre back, left back and another striker to complete the squad for this season. Shackell and the Doc did ok, but were caught out of position too often. We need a quick, strong player at the back. Lappin should start ahead of Drury on that showing. Not convinced by Strwhateverhisnameis, though Brown looked ok, as did Cureton.

7. Fotheringham and Chadwick were both ok, nothing more nothing less. They seem to me as though they''re bog standard players. Players such as these will not get us promoted. Chadwick ran a lot but was ''one-paced''. Didn''t seem to speed up when he was sprinting.

8. I''m happy because I''d much rather to have Russell at the club and a million pounds in the bank that have Etuhu still here!

9. I''m also happy because I had my photo taken with Eggert Magnusson on the bridge after the game. Quite what he was doing there I have no idea. His suit felt very cheap. He''s probably got no money left for clothes, what with giving £60,000 of his money to Lucas Neill every week!  

10. Whenever the ball was wide in midfield and we were looking to feed the ball into our strikers, West Ham flooded the area with players, making it really difficult for us to pick our way through. When they had the ball wide in midfield, we kept our shape - 4/4/2 - but as a result passes into their forwards'' feet were too easy as we didn''t get extra bodies to close the space. This was the one of the major differences for me, and it explained why they moved the ball into the final third so much quicker and more effectively than we did.

Please let me know which points, if any, you agree with or otherwise.

[NCFC_Shaun 0]

nice scoreboard agreed lol ...

drury is ''shocking'' disagreed, in my opinion he wasnt THAT bad, did some decent blocks ... im thinking shocking is a strong word 4 his performance.

best players were marshall and chadwick by a mile if u ask me ...
still undecided over otsemobor, allthough showed signs of being a good attacking full back, corft played extremely well given the time he had, as did brown, martin and dion. Shackell was also good in my opinion.

agreed a new striker is needed, also not convinced by strihavka... or cureton to that fact didnt think he did very much. brown was the best of the 3.

comment on russell instead of etuhu agreed...

[Show Me What You Gooot! 0]

Lets get Riordan in then if we need another striker.

Can''t think of any CB''s or defenders in general we should get, but Davenport seems an idea (or at least a name being banded about) - any news on him? I haven''t kept up well with transfers in the last 2-3 days. All I do know is that his range rover was allegedly spotted in the area.

DtS needs the time to settle still. Too early to judge him yet but lets hope he improves.

[chicken 0]

"9. I''m also happy because I had my photo taken with Eggert Magnusson on the bridge after the game. Quite what he was doing there I have no idea. His suit felt very cheap. He''s probably got no money left for clothes, what with giving £60,000 of his money to Lucas Neill every week!"

You sure that wasn''t little "Nobby" from Harry Potter and the prisoner of Azkaban. They look very similar and the one from the fictional book and film does where very cheap clothing?

[Hard Cell 0]

MG7, agree with your post.

The only players to come out of last night with any possitives were Marshall, Otsemobor, Shacks, Brown and Croft.

Drury has not performed well since the promotion season and a four year contract and the captains armband remains a concern to me in relation to what others in the club see when they watch him play. I too would not have him in the first team.  Lappin is an alternative but his favoured position is left side of midfield so with Hucks certain to play his chances are very limited.

Hughes was yet again and again and again total and utter crap.  In 40 years of being a regular home and away city supporter I can think of several players who have disgraced a yellow shirt but Hughes takes some beating. The bloke is like a schoolboy footballer playing in his own little world.  Head the ball anywhere; play passes up "sort of towards" where a City player is but not taking the time to be accurate; cross the ball with no direction or skill;  I could go on as the bloke winds me up.   If ever the headless chicken jibe was desearved it sits sqaurely on his shoulders. The fact he was given a full 90 minutes makes me doubt Grant and Duffy''s reading of what is needed to challenge for promotion.  If Hughes plays at Preston then I seriously think our management team have lost the plot and mid-table obscurity awaits.

Otsemobor not surprisingly took time to settle but he looked good coming forward at pace.  Loved the way he shouted and gesticulated to Brown to drop off so he could play the ball into his feet rather than mimic his team mates and play long aimless balls into the box....i.e. he took some responsibility instead of the easy option.  Very encouraging...but are you watching Mr Drury.

Have not been a fan of Brown since his arrival but after the games in Holland and last night he appears to be fighting for the "big man" role....on the pitch that is!  Thought his hold up play, and willingness not to be bullied by the defenders, was admirable....and he took his goal well.

Croft changed the pace of our game when he came on and again I''m not a big fan of his.  Always full of running but has flattered to deceive in very rarely providing an end product.  However I thought, like Brown, he had something to prove.  With Chadwick looking very lightweight and all too easliy husstled off the ball and caught in possession, I''d play Croft for the first 45mins on Friday to see if he can maintain that form.  My worry is that like Rivers it may only come in flashes.

Fozzy was his old self.....anonimous.   He will never hold down a first team place if we are serious about taking on the top boys and challenging this season.  He came here with publicity about his technical ability....where?

Russell....was just workmanlike Russell, no more no less.  Hardly noticed he''d left it just seemed natural to see him in a City shirt.  Did dive in and would have been booked (at least) in a league game.  Is it a step forward and upward?  Hopefully Brellier and Smith (one back one forward) will be first team choices when fit.  Hopefully they will live up to their reputations.  Have a search on You-Tube to see various videos of them....Hearts and QPR fans obviously loved them.  I haven''t heard us (and I am one of the vocal ones in the Snakepit) sing about Fozzy, Lappin, Hughes (without the irony), Croft etc. and giving them a standing ovation.

Donkety.....where do you start....everything happens as a surprise to this "Hughes at CB".  Do others not notice his need to hold the forwards shirt in a vain attempt to slow his man down and stop being turned.  Might be worth noting how many times a season he ends up on his arse.  I wonder if he can read Noddy books in large print as he certainly has no reading of a football match.  Again, if we are serious he has to go on the bench.....please Grant get in another CB or play Dion alongside Shacks to help this promising youngster develop his game.  Dion is still the only player who actually communicates by cajoling, motivating, and organising his team during a game.  Again, are you watching Captain (cough) Drury.

While I left the ground last night worrying that PG had lost the plot I do remember Spurs out-classing us 3-0 in a pre-season friendly a few years ago and we still gained promotion. The older supporters on here might also remember when we''ve lost all our pre-season friendlies and then gone on to challenge for promotion so I guess we''ll see.

DLTFRYD

 

 

 

[listen (formerly MG7) 0]

Having read replies to this post as well as others, it appears that some people are fans of Drury and others not.

Those who are defending him are saying that he defended pretty well, got in some timely blocks, etc. Well I guess I have to agree - he did defend ok. My major gripe would be that his distribution was just so poor! He hit long hopeful balls up front nearly every time he got it. And Strihavka wasn''t winning anything in the air, which in turn led to Cureton not getting a sniff. Maybe Drury is under instruction to look long every time he gets it, in which case I don''t blame him but rather the management. When you compare Drury''s performance to that of Otsemobor, I would say they defended at a pretty similar level, perhaps Otsemobor just shaded it, and he was also far, far better going forward, overlapping, putting crosses in (did you see it when he stripped their left back for pace in the first half over a 20 yard sprint?!), and playing the ball into the midfield or forwards.

Why do we find it so hard to be patient and just keep hold of the ball? It''s not the end of the world if you have to go back to your ''keeper to retain possession on occasion.

For crying out loud, these guys are professional footballers, they should be able to keep the ball for as long as they like. I don''t think we should ever lose the ball except when taking risks, trying the killer pass, taking on defenders, but only in the final third of the pitch.

I guess Drury was just the worst culprit last night, and that''s why he annoyed me so much! But yes defensively he was ok, in my opinion.

Also, I''m aware that this was a one-off game and, not going regularly enough to get a balanced view over many games, I''m perhaps basing my arguments on rather flimsy evidence, but I''m just saying what I saw..

[Jim Smith 2,610]

My major gripe with Drury is his positioning although I will admit his aimless balls up the line are also frustrating. Drury used to be an excellent full back and still has the attributes to be an excellent fullback. The problem is that he gets dragged into the middle and leaves his man far too much space time and time again.

Now maybe he has started doing this because the central defenders he has been playing alongside have been so slow he feels he need to cover but it is a flaw in his game that needs to be addressed and, in my view, should have been addressed by now if we had half decent coaches on the staff. Ask anyone who sits in block D of the Barclay and they will tell you how obvious this point is!

Other than that i agree with the assessments above. Brown should start ahead of Dave Striker at preston on current form. Thought he was good in Holland and he looked very good last night and his hold up play brings others into the game.

Can''t believe we still have Hughes in the side and that needs to be addressed.

The weakness at CB is , and has been, obvious to all for some time. The main advantage I think Grant has over Worthington is that he does at least appear to address these areas of weakness quickly (it took Worthy 3 years to sign a right winger) so hopefully he is on the case and we will not see the Doc starting this season. My only concern is that I understand we are after a youngster on loan from a prem club and just hope that they will be able to step straight into the team beacuse there is no point in us signing up someone to sit on the bench!

 

[canary cherub 1]

[quote user="BDCSid"]

Hughes was yet again and again and again total and utter crap.  In 40 years of being a regular home and away city supporter I can think of several players who have disgraced a yellow shirt but Hughes takes some beating.

[/quote]

Hughes may or may not be any good, but a disgrace to the shirt?  imo that accolade has nothing to do with ability, it belongs to players who go missing under pressure, like Damien Francis at Craven Cottage.  If he''d been in the army he''d have been shot for desertion.  

 

[Essex_Canary 6]

Since everyone else is doing it - here are my thoughts:

Scoreboad - very flashy, like the addition of seconds rather than minutes but still only goes up to 90!

Marshall - Superb, great reaction saves and good positioning. He didn''t look 100% comfortable at time but that was more down to getting left exposed by shoddy defending than anything he did wrong.

Semi - Got forward very well, got his head up early and looked for the opportunities and also got a couple of decent crosses in. Not as convinced by his defensive ability but to be fair we aren''t gonna come across front 4 movement like that on many occasions this season

Drury - Didn''t do an awful lot wrong but he is still slow to close players down and I think that comes from a lack of confidence in the players inside him. His passing out of defence remains an issue but with Hucks infront of him he''d have had more options.

Shackell - Did well against Ashton I thought, kept tight to him when he had to and covered the runs well. Would still like to see him being more vocal and organise things cos at times the back four were chasing shadows.

Doherty - A liability, slow, clumsy and should be playing second fiddle to Dion and even Spillane on the basis of his performance tonight and over the last season or so. His awareness and reading of the game seems non existant, he gets caught out ball watching, he gives away needless freekicks and creates that nervousness amongst other defenders

Hughes - Probably the least talented footballer ever to play for Norwich, his passing, crossing and tackling was simply woeful - he makes Doherty look like Pele. He gave the ball away so many times last night through basic errors, he played balls behind peoples runs, he whipped crosses in that went straight out of play and he played teammates into trouble with underweighted or just suicidal passes. At points last night (and last season) I thought we''d be better off with 10 men.

Rusty - Looked good, got on the ball, spread it about, mixed it up a bit and linked play up well. When he is fully fit he is going to be a big asset to the club.

Fozzy - Thought he played quite well got stuck in and made more tackles last night than he did in his time here, harried and closed people down and used the ball sensibly when in possession. Still don’t think he plays high enough up the pitch to hurt other teams but if Hucks and either Chadwick or Croft are going to be bombing forward then he or Rusty could be a foil for Brellier

Chadwick – Worked hard, had some good touches and looked our most dangerous threat in the first half. Not convinced that the ‘one in the hole’ system works but he gives us a good option on the flanks or through the middle.

Cureton – ran around a lot, chased lost causes that’s about it

Strihavka – Showed some good touches but never had enough of the ball or any openings to cause any problems. Didn’t help that he and Cureton were a bit isolated but will do better against weaker defences

Subs:

Brown – Looks like a whole new player, showed good control and awareness, made good runs and caused more of a threat than Strihavka. Got physical when needed and looked a threat in the area when crosses came in.

Croft – where is the rest of him, looked fitter, leaner and quicker than ever before, chased lost causes and gave the west ham defence more to think about with his positioning out wide. Got in a couple of crosses and with the likes of brown and strihavka more of an aerial threat than Earnie this is promising1

Martin – ran around a lot, chased lost causes that’s about it

Dublin – was unlucky to get called up for a foul after he set Brown in one on one with Green and won more than his fair share of long balls. Still think he’s better suited to playing alongside Shacks at the back but then what do I know.

Spillane – Ran on, whistle went, walked off

[king of latvia 0]

i think the whole team done really well .

i have to disagre that drury was poor how many time do we see drury up against 2 or 3 players on his own .

and when he gets the ball there was no one down the wing for him .

but i have to say this season looks a lot better then last season.

dave the striker ,brown look good holding the ball up and knocking the ball off.

russell looks a good buy.

brellie and curton need a couple more games.

[O.T.B.C 1]

Like I said in another post, this is a friendly and it is all about gelling the team together and getting the fitness levels up, we still have potenially our 3 best players to come back (Hucks, Judge and Smith) and with the high chance of getting a new defender coming I feel we will be up there, Drury was Drury, steady but we were playing a good team and I thought on the whole we were ok, nothing special but steady and we will improve.

[Bomber 57]

Thought the defence needs a good overhaul - carved open far too many times and could have been 4 or 5 down by half time - at times it looked as if the West Ham forwards were just playing with them - hard to distinguish the forward lines ability with not much wide play  and not too many chances falling for them but will certainly need to give the Championship goalkeepers more to do than Green had if we are to have any hope of getting up there

[gissing canary 2]

Marshall - I get Y grant has chased him looked good.

Drury, Shackell, and Semi, all good / ish, did job, liked semi getting forward.

Doc - Y is he here?   I dont get it, I went him a west ham and tottenham supporter, and rightly they were mocking.  Headers he is fine, but on the ground.....

Russell - Welcome back, Div1 (the name the championship is rubbish) he is perfect for!

Croft - most exciting player, for me, if hucks isnt fit.  Like someone else said we lack pace, and he looked leaner than before, and i would start him over chadwick on last nights showing who for me was lightweight, and moved inside far too much.

Fozzy - nice touch, didnt do much, but first time i have seen him, and a good touch.

Hughes - Please I pray this is cos Brellier, and Smith are out, and Safri is being annoying, but he will not ever get us promoted, poor passing, no vision, didnt even say many tackles.  Get rid of, ASAP!

Dave - chasing poor balls, against prem defenders, no chance.

Cureton - Bigman / Smallman, only works if the big man gets it, I felt sorry for him.

Brown - I liked, against Div1 defenders, backing in, being strong, moving into the channels, he will be a handful on this showing, I dream or Iwan mark 2!

 

 

[Dowp End 0]

O.K read a lot of mixed reviews and opinions of the players performances so thanks for that as work kept me away from being there myself.Now then ! how did the crowd perform ? Understand there was a good turn out ---------what what the atmosphere like. Read about the reception to our ex players but did we show our new ones what Carrow Rd support can be ?

[Yellowfuture 71]

Didn`t  hear homophobic chants about Ashton but with the short blond hair I`m not surprised he created some close attention. I dont want to hear any ex City player booed, but I was speaking with a mate about it after the game and his take was that Ashton didnt try for us in his last season, until that is the transfer window opened when he played great and was transformed. That attitude is bound to lead to bad feeling and the more I think about it the more I think he deserved it.

[Essex_Canary 6]

Crowd was quiet to be honest, nobody sitting in their normal seats and quite a few regulars who weren''t there. I got a few dirty looks from some part timers around me for having the temerity to actually stand up and sing at some points and I was in my seat!

In my opinion Ashton deserves the stick he got because he didn''t work hard enough when we were back in the championship. He was there for the money and he was there to get himself a move to the premiership, he was hired help, nothing more nothing less. Green and Bellamy got good receptions because when you hear them say they enjoyed their time here and loved the club you know they mean it.

[James Kent 0]

Personally I was dissapointed with the reception for Ashton.  Lets remember we did well from Ashton we made a big profit.  Personally I have no ill feelings toward Ashton and wish him the best with his career along with Green and Bellamy.  Also notice Ashton didn''t celebrate his goal out of respect and said in an interview that he enjoyed his time here.