Richard Balls in the EEN

[ca 1]

Excellent column this week, here it is for those who missed it.

http://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/content/Sport/RichardBalls/story.aspx?brand=ENOnline&category=RichardBalls&tBrand=ENOnline&tCategory=RichardBalls&itemid=NOED20%20Sep%202007%2013%3A02%3A32%3A760

[Canarygeorge 0]

Spot on. Sadly.

[nutty nigel 7,645]

Not for me.

 

[BlyBlyBabes 0]

Highly recommended reading. Well, worth the time.

OTBC

[Syteanric 1]

agreed with it all, particulalry what he says about big dave.. Goals in games... Heading it off for a throw in doesnt.

jas :)

[Mello Yello 2,303]

[quote user="nutty nigel"]

Not for me.

 

[/quote]

Is it because there wasn''t any pictures for you to look at?

  

[lobster catcher 0]

He has summed up completely how i was feeling,anyone who can disagree with those words are so blinkered that they would still back grant to get us out of div 1 after he has taken us down.Well said Mr balls i am sure you are echoing the thoughts of many thousand norwich fans

[Unlucky Fried Kitten 0]

Yes, another excellent column from Richard. I think he has already lost faith in Grunt''s ability as a football manager - just like me.

[Kissthebadge 0]

So true.  Dave more than anyone will need to have the confidence of his manager to be a success.  We are all aware that he will need time to settle into the English game, but why isn''t he getting that now?  The other regular players are all having a so called ''bedding in'' time, so why not include Dave?  He could become part of the system instead of having to fit in when Brown is injured (surely that''s the only way he''ll start a game).  It will also do Brown good to be dropped and have to earn his place back.

[ZLF 275]

Much of what he says makes sense and is good but as a balanced piece of journalism it misses the mark. Why is his view so closed he can''t understand why PG went 4-5-1 even if it not what he would have chosen - once you chose 451 brown makes .  It becomes a flaw in any argument to not acknowledge the tactical pros, and they are there,  even if you have good reasons to prefer a 442. 

Amazing how a piece or post is excellent or rubbish depending on whether the content matches your view or not.

[Steve Ritchie 0]

An excellent observation, Zippers...  I concur with your post!.

 

Steve

[BlyBlyBabes 0]

Balls?  Awww nuts, there goes that darn zip again.[8-)]

Methinks some people''s knickers are showing.[:$]

OTBC

 

 

[Branston Pickle 3,696]

I agree with the general gist of the article, but I don''t agree about not playing Strihavka - it misses the point that he was injured and not match fit: did no one else see him limping badly after the game last week, or the fact that he was completely knackered after only 25mins on the pitch?  I can''t believe I am the only one who saw this, but it appears so!!  I wouldn''t think anyone has any doubt that he is better than Brown (though Adams was singing Brown''s praises last Sat after the game) but to have started with Strihavka against Charlton would probably have put him back rather than brought his recovery on.  

[It is also rather easy to slate decisions with perfect hindsight, but for me the general idea was not too far off against Charlton: in an open game they would stuff almost every side in this division, so to try to keep it cagey and catch them on the break made reasonable sense - and for 85 minutes it paid off until Donkey decided to act the muppet and give a pen away (and for the ref to then compund it by giving an incorrect second only a few minutes later)]. 

Out of interest, given how things have been going so far you do wonder whether this is going to be our season: even at this early stage we have had: illness to God knows how many (both from the bbq and otherwise), injuries to most of the midfield and throughout the squad, a handball in the box v Cardiff given as a free-kick for, and a free kick outside the box given as a Pen against...

[nutty nigel 7,645]

[quote user="Mello Yello"][quote user="nutty nigel"]

Not for me.

 

[/quote]

Is it because there wasn''t any pictures for you to look at?

  

[/quote]

Pictures always help, when there are no pictures I imagine them in my head... helps with me being crazy.. you should see some of the things I can see [:|]

Anyway.. I thought the first bit of the article was ok. The summing up of the Palace game was as I remembered it, including the passion and commitment of the manager and players alike. But then nothing about Tuesdays game except to slate team selection and a dig at Doherty over the pen. Seemed to me that he wasn''t there and wrote that straight off the messageboard.

Team selection was wrong on Tuesday. I was among the majority of people who stated that before the game that their preferred team would include Strihavka. But where I am at odds with what seems to be this entire messageboard and Richard Balls is that the eleven players that played on Tuesday put in a good performance which deserves to be recognised.