ZLF 271 Posted September 30, 2007 Woeful formation, uncommitted confused players, odd substitutions, no cutting edge and no responsibility (eg 90 mins on the clock, the ball has to go intop the mixer known as the penalty box and croft, otsem & Jarvis all play hot potato wide right desite all having the opportunity and angle to put a decent cross in) being taken by players. Too many defensive midfields meant not creativity but strangely they still didnt win enough possession back. A key role of the manager is to make the players know what is expected of them on the pitch and give them the confidence to perform and that really is not there. At least the back line is no longer the main worry as again that was the best performing part of the team.Marshall 6 - had little to do but claimed crosses well and dealt with weds limited threat well, little chance with the goal.Otsemebor 6 - finally got forward well in the second half having had no understanding with brown - but again we have a goal conceeded at the far right back post where smalls run was not covered by the defender. Needs to remain defensively alert all game.Murray 6 - solid if uninspiring; too easily dragged out of position but not to any cost.Doc 6 - potential motm where there are no real candidatees. A couple of poor passes and that miss from the corener aside he was the most committed player on the pitch and defended well.Drury 6 - again we are better than when he isnt here; Rossi 5 - Best midfielder, used the ball best, competed but like the rest looked a little lost. Too slow in build up and too many lateral passesSpillane 4 - ran around looking imperious, but didnt win the ball enough, was lucky he didnt connect with that tackle as it would have been a straight red and used the ball very poorly, loosing possession too easily despite not trying the risky passes. Didnt compete enough for 50/50 balls despite being a defensively minded player. Too slow in build up and too many misplaced lateral passes. Was the least effective middle man and rightly substitutedLappin 4 - wasted in the middle and must be used on the left - too much to do in marshalling his inexperienced colleagues to have the effect on the game we needed. Was out only hope of a goal through his corners and free kicks.. Too slow in build up and too many lateral passes Brown 4 - purely for effort. played in a position that was always going to make the worst of his weaknesses. To be fair he worked hard as a right midfielder, won headers as the out man and defended where needed, his touch play was OK but was a fish out of water. By the time he went up front he was exhausted.Hux - 4 A frustrated man, only striker to offer any movement in the first half but build up play so ponderous he would have been better of sitting down and waiting. Our only talent wasted by the manager who cant get the ball to him but who is also playing well well below his ability. Cureton 3 SImply shocking. Saw the ball today but simply wasted on just about every occassion. Did force their only keeper into a save but was straight at him. Again stood too far off Brown so when the flick ons came he was always second best, but effort to win those 50/50 balls was non existant. Interplay with team mates best summed up by a very lazy lay off to drury in the second half which went 5 yards behind a static drury rather than down the line into the space drury should have exploited. Woeful and should have been replaced by Martin, and Dave had brown not been shattered.Croft 4 - two early runs offered a completely false hope that was extinguished too quickly, did nothing else. reshaping of team made no impact except weakening our left flank and attacking options.Dave 4 - did he touch the ball?Where oh where do we go from here? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FilletTheFishWife . 0 Posted September 30, 2007 [quote user="ZippersLeftFoot"]Where oh where do we go from here?[/quote] Down to the lake i fear! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
charlies dad 0 Posted September 30, 2007 For the first time i can ever remember, i couldnt pick a man of the match. Spillane or doherty for effort i thought. Brown and Cureton, the least effective strikeforce in english football, and it showed. totally immobile and in each others pockets, on their heels every time, little real effort, and no instinct in the penalty area. Awful. Jarvis was innefective, the full backs made countless errors, Marshall has worse distribution skills than his illustrious namesake. Huckerby was dreadful, less than ordinary. What is left to bring in? Brellier? Shackell? God help us. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gangmower 0 Posted September 30, 2007 I must have gone to the toilet when brown put his effort in or won a header,the worst centre foward in my 42 years. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mook 0 Posted September 30, 2007 Zip, as usual you''re spot on the mark here. The only thing I could possibly disagree with is the 4 for Brown. He didn''t pick himself there, and showed more commitment, enthusiasm and guts than 7 or 8 of our other players put together.Yes, he was inneffectual, but why is a target man playing in right midfield? It''s the equivalent of Derby playing Steve Howard on the wing!And nice one for not falling for the "he''s new, I don''t hate him yet" trick with Spillane. Moving the ball quickly is great - if you can pass it to A, one of your own team and B, someone in front rather than behind you.I''d also point out Otsemobor as having a shocker. He didn''t have the balls to get forward and his lack of concentration when Marshall threw him the ball was simply shocking. As kids, you''re always taught NEVER to face away from the ball. The throw wasn''t great, but he would easily have got there if he was paying attention.I''d like to rate the crowd too.1 out of 10. Absolutely shocking. Didn''t make hardly any noise until we conceded, then it was purely negative. The treatment of Brown after he''d bust his balls for us was embarrassing. The treatment of Doherty after ONE misplaced punt was nasty, and totally out of order. Then crying for the defence to punt it down the field, only then to be replaced with howls of derision after we lose possession? Totally depressing. And finally we played a really great move, superb football, from left back position to right wing, in the penalty area and get a good chance - any cheers for that? None at all. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lobster catcher 0 Posted September 30, 2007 [quote user="Mook"]Zip, as usual you''re spot on the mark here. The only thing I could possibly disagree with is the 4 for Brown. He didn''t pick himself there, and showed more commitment, enthusiasm and guts than 7 or 8 of our other players put together.Yes, he was inneffectual, but why is a target man playing in right midfield? It''s the equivalent of Derby playing Steve Howard on the wing!And nice one for not falling for the "he''s new, I don''t hate him yet" trick with Spillane. Moving the ball quickly is great - if you can pass it to A, one of your own team and B, someone in front rather than behind you.I''d also point out Otsemobor as having a shocker. He didn''t have the balls to get forward and his lack of concentration when Marshall threw him the ball was simply shocking. As kids, you''re always taught NEVER to face away from the ball. The throw wasn''t great, but he would easily have got there if he was paying attention.I''d like to rate the crowd too.1 out of 10. Absolutely shocking. Didn''t make hardly any noise until we conceded, then it was purely negative. The treatment of Brown after he''d bust his balls for us was embarrassing. The treatment of Doherty after ONE misplaced punt was nasty, and totally out of order. Then crying for the defence to punt it down the field, only then to be replaced with howls of derision after we lose possession? Totally depressing. And finally we played a really great move, superb football, from left back position to right wing, in the penalty area and get a good chance - any cheers for that? None at all.[/quote]Do you work for norwich city,or are you related to chris brown because you weren''t at the same game as me yesterday.Nothing personal mean''t by this[:)] Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cluck 0 Posted September 30, 2007 [quote user="Mook"]Zip, as usual you''re spot on the mark here. The only thing I could possibly disagree with is the 4 for Brown. He didn''t pick himself there, and showed more commitment, enthusiasm and guts than 7 or 8 of our other players put together.Yes, he was inneffectual, but why is a target man playing in right midfield? It''s the equivalent of Derby playing Steve Howard on the wing!And nice one for not falling for the "he''s new, I don''t hate him yet" trick with Spillane. Moving the ball quickly is great - if you can pass it to A, one of your own team and B, someone in front rather than behind you.I''d also point out Otsemobor as having a shocker. He didn''t have the balls to get forward and his lack of concentration when Marshall threw him the ball was simply shocking. As kids, you''re always taught NEVER to face away from the ball. The throw wasn''t great, but he would easily have got there if he was paying attention.I''d like to rate the crowd too.1 out of 10. Absolutely shocking. Didn''t make hardly any noise until we conceded, then it was purely negative. The treatment of Brown after he''d bust his balls for us was embarrassing. The treatment of Doherty after ONE misplaced punt was nasty, and totally out of order. Then crying for the defence to punt it down the field, only then to be replaced with howls of derision after we lose possession? Totally depressing. And finally we played a really great move, superb football, from left back position to right wing, in the penalty area and get a good chance - any cheers for that? None at all.[/quote]If you had just one decent chip with your fish would you be happy?.....More apologist ranting from the king of the apologists......Your days are well and tryuly numbered. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Duffman 0 Posted September 30, 2007 1 misplaced pass by doherty? Yeah maybe in that game but what about all the others. It wasnt just the fact it was a crap pass, it was because there was no norwich player within 50 yards of where he played it.If you''re happy with a player like brown in our team then its people like you who are just happy to see us relegated this season. He doesnt offer the team anything, the donkey work he does could be done by any tall player but we need something extra.....Tell me why is it that brown never has any shots at goal ???? Is that the sign of a good striker? DD is 39 but even he manages to do all the donkey work and still score and have attempts at goal.PG is a poor manager because he knew yesterday was going to be hard, he knew any mistakes would be picked up by the crowd and he knew we needed to score goals and yet he still chose brown. Surely Dave Striker deserves a starting place at HOME not away to wolves. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Buncey 1 Posted September 30, 2007 Well where do you start with the tactics and the formation? Well, to begin with why are we playing a confusing formation that none of the players obviously know whats happening? Brown was too far behind hux and cureton to affect the game, spillane was too often found in the box where a player who has more attacking credientials could have made the difference. Jarvis and Lappin were too often wandering around the middle wondering where they should be. Our full backs were far too exposed and our biggest threat was down the wings. "A key role of the manager is to make the players know what isexpected of them on the pitch and give them the confidence to performand that really is not there. At least the back line is no longer themain worry as again that was the best performing part of the team." - Put very nicely really. The players didn''t seem to know what to do, and then it''s up to the manager to change things and make things happen, he didn''t. Poor substitutions that actaully hindered us more, until they scored. Then came the panic subs, they had little or no affect and it''s not suprising.Marshall 6 - Had another good game, without having to do much. Always looks comfortable. Dealt with all the threats that Weds posed him. No chance with the goal im afraid.Otsemebor 7/5 - 7 going forward, 5 going back. He is definately one of our best players. Very talented. Unfortunately, as things stand he is left hung out to dry by dodgey formations and no matter how good you are you are gonna struggle. Got some good ball in the box and look dangerous forward. Missed croft and without the support was often in trouble.Murray 6 - Good, doesn''t strike you as a leader though. Quiet, not what we need.Doc 6 - Solid again. Made few errors, although his distribution is still shocking. If he carried the ball forward it would make him 100x better.Drury 6 - Solid ol'' drury. Again like Ostemobor he is too often left to dry. Had no chance with the goal really. He''s not gonna be able to stop their best player on his own, and sometimes you can see he gets frustrated. Got forward well and some balls in. Needs support. Rossi 4 - well, i think he was there. I aint sure though.Spillane 5 (6 depends how you look at it) - Did some good work but was too often in positions that did not suit him, i.e. starting attacks and in the box. Not his fault, was the stupid tactics. Impressed me with his workrate and his attitude. Looks promising and if can be played in position could be a good asset, although not what the club need right now.Lappin 4 - Like rossi was too often missed in the middle and didn''t know where he should have been, whether in the middle or out wide on the left. He is better on the left.Brown 3 - Ineffective, out of position, not good enough. Say no more. Poor fella is just not good enough.Hux - 2 maybe 3 - Simply awful. Gave the ball away everytime he had it. Created nothing when we needed him most. Looked dispondent, slow and frustrated. Got oh so little help off teamates and in the end caused us to be lopsided. I feel desperately sorry for him but things are not going his way. Cureton 4 - Very poor. Poor touch and positioning, although his running was good that was about it. Never looked like scoring and frustrated time and again. Needs a partner desperately. It is clear him and hux just doesn''t work, nor him and brown. Even with strihavka on he did nothing.Croft 4 - Good idea. Just not any product. Some runs but was sloppy and did poor passes. Looked nakered after 5 minutes and didn''t help get back.Dave 5 - Effort and movement all too missing from the team. Worked hard although everyone around him had given up. Kept us proud. Need more efforts like this, he should start.We need something in the middle and upfront. Why is martin still not starting!? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dizzy Rascal 0 Posted September 30, 2007 Marshall 6 - Claimed crosses well, and looked to have safe-hands. Couldn''t do much about the goal, as the topic starter said.Otsemebor 5.5 - Although he wasn''t too bad defensively, his crosses were very poor, usually over-hit. And generally his passing was pretty off. He did seem quite lively down the right though.Murray 5.5 - Dealt with several balls, but didn''t take control.Doherty 6 - Missed the header, and looked all at sea like the rest of the defenders for the goal.Drury 5.5 - Fine, I suppose. Just doesn''t inspire confidence.R A Jarvis 5 - Didn''t see him do anything really.Spillane 6 - I like this guy, has a lot of heart, and made several tough challenges. He''s a real combatant, and I think he deserves praise and should stay in the side.Lappin 5 - Had one or two good crosses from freekicks and corners, but as with all our players, his passing was often off, and we lost possession so many times.Brown 5.5 - Doesn''t deserve the criticism he''s been receiving from Norwich fans. He had several good touches, including that header down, which Rossi eventually blasted over. He worked quite hard, but there was no end product... which is the problem, he''s not shooting, so he''s not scoring.Huckerby 5 - Was that really Darren Huckerby playing yesterday? He made two good darting runs down the flanks, crossing from the by-line, but generally his passing, and especially his crossing was really unimpressive... He didn''t take players on (no twinkle-footed runs in the penalty area), he didn''t shoot, he had little confidence, and wasn''t like himself at all. Hope he was just unfit, and that next week he''ll be more spritely.Cureton 5 - Wasn''t very impressive, but his service was abysmal. I don''t mind hoofball, if it pays dividends, but the longballs from the back didn''t find Cureton. Jamie''s shooting boots obviously weren''t on yesterday.Croft 4.5 - Didn''t look very dangerous, I recall seeing him run quite fast down the right flank at one time, but that''s all really.Strihavka 4.5 - Didn''t have enough time to have any impact on the game. But doubt he would''ve had much effect had he come on earlier, as both Croft and Huckerby''s crossing was absent or totally sub-standard. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Son Ova Gunn 165 Posted September 30, 2007 Will someone PLEASE give cluck a new word to use as ''apologists'' has been done to death now.i''m happy to offer up *level headed fans*proportionately disappointed fans*anti knee jerkersor if it must be abit stronger*delusional optermists*ostriches (heads in sand)nobody is happy with current situation or displays cluck and i dont think that was mooks point, but some fans like to look at where short term improvement may come from within current squad without being accused of having low asperations or having insufficant intellegence to know when carrow road is feeding us spin. 99% of fans cannot be lumped into one of two camps but fall somewhere between the two including myself. sorry. oops i apologised. sorry....damn. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Huddy 0 Posted September 30, 2007 Marshall - 6 Didnt have much to do, solid bar one fumble.Otsemobor 5 Poor, showed no attacking threat though maybe not his own fault. Looked weak defsively, concentration lapses and didnt pick up for goal.Doherty 6 Didnt do to badly, not outstanding but no real errorsMurray 6 Same as DohertyDrury 7 Did well i thought, battled on, was one of a handful to come out with any credit.Rossi J 6 Quiet Game, didnt do much wrong but maybe because he didnt get enough of the ballSpillane 7 MOTM - Got stuck in, wasntt afriad to get on the ball and didnt give it away much at all. Lost the midfield battle once he''d departed.Lappin 4 Awful, looked out of place in quite a central role. No quality whatsoever, gave it away, extremely weak.Huckerby 4.5 Didnt look that interested, has lost that extra yard of pace, looked a different player to the one we know and love.Brown - 5 God knows where he was supposed to be playing. Lacks that anticipation and goal threat, some neat touches but no real danger.Cureton - 5 Not much service, but didnt get in it much at all.Subs:-Croft 6.5 offered some spark, ran alot but no real quality.Strihavka 5 Didn get involvedGRANT 3: Poor formation, poor tactics, no ideas. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mister Chops 7 Posted September 30, 2007 [quote user="Mook"]Zip, as usual you''re spot on the mark here. The only thing I could possibly disagree with is the 4 for Brown. He didn''t pick himself there, and showed more commitment, enthusiasm and guts than 7 or 8 of our other players put together.[/quote] Yes, we have to have a scapegoat and it seems to be split between Brown and Doc. Brown worked really hard yesterday while being out of position for 60 of his 70 minutes. He''s a reasonable target man in the Heskey mould (doesn''t score many but puts himself about and make a few), but he''s not a right sided midfield player. The one moment of skill/quality was his backheel to Spillane. And who nodded it back from a hopeless position so Jarvis could blaze over first half? He''s getting a rough deal for no good reason other than we have to have a pantomime villain in our own team for some unknown reason. I''m sure there was a time when we got behind the players, especially those who try hard.Brown was a 5/10 yesterday, Cureton and Huckerby both 3/10. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Robert N. LiM 4,243 Posted September 30, 2007 [quote user="ZippersLeftFoot"]Woeful formation, uncommitted confused players, odd substitutions, no cutting edge and no responsibility (eg 90 mins on the clock, the ball has to go intop the mixer known as the penalty box and croft, otsem & Jarvis all play hot potato wide right desite all having the opportunity and angle to put a decent cross in) being taken by players. Too many defensive midfields meant not creativity but strangely they still didnt win enough possession back. A key role of the manager is to make the players know what is expected of them on the pitch and give them the confidence to perform and that really is not there. At least the back line is no longer the main worry as again that was the best performing part of the team.[/quote]Yes. Any chance of you applying for the manager''s job at 10pm on Tuesday night, Zipper? I wonder how much our judgment of players is affected by where in the ground we sit. I thought Spillane was excellent for the first 30 mins, then faded badly. Rossi looked way out of depth to me: I don''t think he touched the ball in the last 20 minutes. And the criticism of Drury on other threads baffles me. I thought he had a decent game.But Grant''s handling of the resources available to us yesterday was appalling. As another thread puts it, does he want the sack? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
walks on water 0 Posted September 30, 2007 [quote user="lobster catcher"][quote user="Mook"] Zip, as usual you''re spot on the mark here. The only thing I could possibly disagree with is the 4 for Brown. He didn''t pick himself there, and showed more commitment, enthusiasm and guts than 7 or 8 of our other players put together.Yes, he was inneffectual, but why is a target man playing in right midfield? It''s the equivalent of Derby playing Steve Howard on the wing!And nice one for not falling for the "he''s new, I don''t hate him yet" trick with Spillane. Moving the ball quickly is great - if you can pass it to A, one of your own team and B, someone in front rather than behind you.I''d also point out Otsemobor as having a shocker. He didn''t have the balls to get forward and his lack of concentration when Marshall threw him the ball was simply shocking. As kids, you''re always taught NEVER to face away from the ball. The throw wasn''t great, but he would easily have got there if he was paying attention.I''d like to rate the crowd too.1 out of 10. Absolutely shocking. Didn''t make hardly any noise until we conceded, then it was purely negative. The treatment of Brown after he''d bust his balls for us was embarrassing. The treatment of Doherty after ONE misplaced punt was nasty, and totally out of order. Then crying for the defence to punt it down the field, only then to be replaced with howls of derision after we lose possession? Totally depressing. And finally we played a really great move, superb football, from left back position to right wing, in the penalty area and get a good chance - any cheers for that? None at all.[/quote]Do you work for norwich city,or are you related to chris brown because you weren''t at the same game as me yesterday.Nothing personal mean''t by this[:)][/quote]Mook saw the almost the same game as me......tho I saw (with my very own eyes) Spillane pass forward to a Norwich player (crossfield too, switching the play into space) . I thought Rossi & Spillane were good, but tired and lost influence as the game went on.I think he''s a little generous giving us 1 / 10. Absolute disgrace to cheer Brown''s substitution after his performance, which was head and shoulders above others. WHAT A LOAD OF RUBBISH! just made me very angry and ashamed to be amongst you so called supporters.Oh, that was me standing up screaming WE ONLY SING WHEN WE''RE LOSING. .....you losersMany of the players that have been singled out for abuse distinguished themselves yesterday. Murray & Doherty were good (-preferred Murray''s distribution) ....whilst others who are favourites were very poor. Huckerby hang your head. Agree with the comment about Otsemobor& I don''t work for NCFC -& am not related to Brown or Mook. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Baldyboy 0 Posted September 30, 2007 marshall 6 ok but poor distribution yet againotsemobor 5 how the hell was he man of the match?drury 6 ok but no protectiondoherty 6 best game in agesmurray 6 looked good in his best positionspillane 7 was our best player with good distributionjarvis 6 did oklappin 4 awfulbrown 5 why do we persist with him when he aint gonna score?cureton 5 should have buried his only chancesubscroft 5 a couple of good runsstrihavka 4 not really in it Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Baldyboy 0 Posted September 30, 2007 i know i forgot huckerby but then i cant recall much of a contribution from him!!!! he gets 3 worst game ive ever seen him play for us. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ScottNcFc 0 Posted September 30, 2007 Went yesterday as usual...Marshall 6 - Not much to do reallySemi 5.5 - Some good running.. Would suit better as a midfielder than defender.Doc 6.5 - MOTM. Solid. Still some errors. Murrary 6.5 - Plays well with the DocDrury 5 - Was at fault for the goal. Just stood there. Apart from that some good tacklesSpillane 6/7 - Probably our biggest threat while he was on. Silly challenge he got booked for.Jarvis 6 - Plays well with SpillaneLappin 4 - Dunno what he was doing yesterday... awfulHuckleberry 4 - If he aint happy he won''t play well.. he showed us that yesterdayBrown 4 - Good at holding the ball up.. apart form that.. nothingCureton 4 - Not much of the ball... missed a couple of sitters.SubsCroft 5 - Looked decent when he came on.Striker 4 - Not enough time.. Some good touches though.All in all.. Awful, Rubbish... No other words can describe it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lucky green trainers 0 Posted September 30, 2007 summing up was spot on ZLFMarshall 6 - fumbled a shot, but got away with it - s.wed finishing was poor and so was largely untroubled.Otsemebor 5 - was ball watching for the goal, rather than getting close to the wednesday player at his post. before any crosses go over, maybe he should cast a glance over his shoulder to see any threats - rather than watch the ball come across the area, and then react far too late to close the attacker down. he''s not the only one - but surely it should be second nature, like looking in your car rear view/wing mirror before pulling out into traffic. its sloppy and crass - and yeah semmy - its NOT YOUR FIRST TIME THIS SEASON MATE!Murray 6 - looked ok - did his job - tons better than his left back efforts for sure. Doc 6 - as sky said at half time - there was a ''doherty threat,'' and at least he was trying. is looking better recent matches - has he the class and consistency we need though??? after 3 seasons - for me, no. but with no dosh, its a case of hobsons choice.Drury 6 - did well on his return. for the goal - rolled over like his defensive teammates, stood and watched as 3 wednesday players passed around us for an easy, but well taken goal. city with the same opportunity at fulham didn''t have the guile to do likewise, and fluffed their chance. Rossi 6 - competed well - but never looked comfortable in a bewildering formation. Spillane 5 - disappointed with mickey - didn''t play as well as last time i saw him. didn''t grab the midfield by the scruff of the neck - mind you, he did cop an elbow in the face and got a bloodied nose for his efforts. after his midweek exertions - perhaps this did for him. Lappin 4 - did nothing in the centre of the park - lightweight and weak in tackle. cannot believe granty cannot see this.Brown 4 - played out of position, which didn''t help - but even when played in position lacks touch, reactions, guile and awareness at the mo to suggest he can score until he beefs up enough to out bully defenders, turn and shoot ''viduka'' style. Hux - 5 showed he can still beat players, but his passing options into the box were limited and simply isn''t creating goalscoring chances as we know he can. Cureton 4 - looks as sharp as a blunt knife as the minute - is snatching at chances, and is clearly affected by our poor start. lacks service, and i feel lacking confidence. Croft 5 - did a ''rivers'' - made a couple of decent runs down the right, then faded well out of the picture. Dave 4 - poor sod ran around the pitch, but must wonder what he''s doing here - if he thought city would be a stepping stone to the prem and untold riches, his dreams well and truely shattered. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gazzathegreat 0 Posted September 30, 2007 [quote user="ZippersLeftFoot"]Woeful formation, uncommitted confused players, odd substitutions, no cutting edge and no responsibility (eg 90 mins on the clock, the ball has to go intop the mixer known as the penalty box and croft, otsem & Jarvis all play hot potato wide right desite all having the opportunity and angle to put a decent cross in) being taken by players. Too many defensive midfields meant not creativity but strangely they still didnt win enough possession back. A key role of the manager is to make the players know what is expected of them on the pitch and give them the confidence to perform and that really is not there. At least the back line is no longer the main worry as again that was the best performing part of the team.Marshall 6 - had little to do but claimed crosses well and dealt with weds limited threat well, little chance with the goal.Otsemebor 6 - finally got forward well in the second half having had no understanding with brown - but again we have a goal conceeded at the far right back post where smalls run was not covered by the defender. Needs to remain defensively alert all game.Murray 6 - solid if uninspiring; too easily dragged out of position but not to any cost.Doc 6 - potential motm where there are no real candidatees. A couple of poor passes and that miss from the corener aside he was the most committed player on the pitch and defended well.Drury 6 - again we are better than when he isnt here; Rossi 5 - Best midfielder, used the ball best, competed but like the rest looked a little lost. Too slow in build up and too many lateral passesSpillane 4 - ran around looking imperious, but didnt win the ball enough, was lucky he didnt connect with that tackle as it would have been a straight red and used the ball very poorly, loosing possession too easily despite not trying the risky passes. Didnt compete enough for 50/50 balls despite being a defensively minded player. Too slow in build up and too many misplaced lateral passes. Was the least effective middle man and rightly substitutedLappin 4 - wasted in the middle and must be used on the left - too much to do in marshalling his inexperienced colleagues to have the effect on the game we needed. Was out only hope of a goal through his corners and free kicks.. Too slow in build up and too many lateral passes Brown 4 - purely for effort. played in a position that was always going to make the worst of his weaknesses. To be fair he worked hard as a right midfielder, won headers as the out man and defended where needed, his touch play was OK but was a fish out of water. By the time he went up front he was exhausted.Hux - 4 A frustrated man, only striker to offer any movement in the first half but build up play so ponderous he would have been better of sitting down and waiting. Our only talent wasted by the manager who cant get the ball to him but who is also playing well well below his ability. Cureton 3 SImply shocking. Saw the ball today but simply wasted on just about every occassion. Did force their only keeper into a save but was straight at him. Again stood too far off Brown so when the flick ons came he was always second best, but effort to win those 50/50 balls was non existant. Interplay with team mates best summed up by a very lazy lay off to drury in the second half which went 5 yards behind a static drury rather than down the line into the space drury should have exploited. Woeful and should have been replaced by Martin, and Dave had brown not been shattered.Croft 4 - two early runs offered a completely false hope that was extinguished too quickly, did nothing else. reshaping of team made no impact except weakening our left flank and attacking options.Dave 4 - did he touch the ball?Where oh where do we go from here?[/quote] The answer zipper I fear is Division One, something I have never witnessed in my lifetime of supporting this club, us being in division three (in real terms). Shocking. Oh well, hey we can all celebrate, we have a hotel!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ZLF 271 Posted September 30, 2007 But this squad is capable of so much more. Will be there again against Scunny ( I am no fair weather supporter) but it doesnt really excite me much. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gingerpele 0 Posted September 30, 2007 [quote user="philip killington"]I must have gone to the toilet when brown put his effort in or won a header,the worst centre foward in my 42 years.[/quote]yay someone agrees, he is useless, won 3 headers, and they went to knowone Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ZLF 271 Posted September 30, 2007 [quote user="Robert no longer in Manila"]Any chance of you applying for the manager''s job at 10pm on Tuesday night, Zipper? [/quote]Lol - bearing in mind the abuse I already get for my opinions I dont think that would be a popular move.Its easy to see the faults - but a damn sight harder to put them right. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WalthamCanary 0 Posted September 30, 2007 The whole team lacks confidence. This is not helped by Grant playing people out of position. I wouldn''t start with Brown - and definately not on the right(!) but he''s the only big man we have when DD isn''t around - I hope Big Dave gets fit & gets good quickly. Huckerby is clearly out of sorts, Whether this is linked to "the worst team in all my time here" outcry, and/or lack of respect for Grant, who knows, but he hasn''t looked a good player this season. Without DD around there is no-one who inspires confidence to the team and I would say that right now the Doc is the only person giving his truest 100% yellow n green effort. We have the worrying mix of new players still finding their feet at this club and youth players breaking through with no-one to organise & guide them. I want to like Grant, I wish I could love him. His heart''s in the right place, I just hope he learns from these poor games we''re having and install some of that Scottish hard ass fire into our team, make us start passing the ball around and have confidence and purpose in our play. Maybe he can get the team to all sit down and watch Braveheart or something, I dunno. FRREEEEDOOOM!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yellow Rages 0 Posted September 30, 2007 [quote user="ZippersLeftFoot"][quote user="Robert no longer in Manila"] Any chance of you applying for the manager''s job at 10pm on Tuesday night, Zipper? [/quote]Lol - bearing in mind the abuse I already get for my opinions I dont think that would be a popular move.Its easy to see the faults - but a damn sight harder to put them right.[/quote]You are spot on though ZLF, we actually defended quite well apart from the goal which was a complete lack of concentration.But by god didn''t we look nervous passing the ball around. Two things that illistrate our nervousness and complete lack of confidence are:The corner we had when the ball was cleared and the SW player (don''t know his name) carried the ball from his own penalty area to ours without being challenged even though we had five or six players goal side.The second was a moment when we had two players jockying their attacking midfield player as he approached our penalty area. The guy slipped over and even then neither of our two marking players dare go near him. The ball was there to be won and the guy was on his backside but we were so nervous we didn''t even think it right to go and take the ball for free. So So nervous it was unreal.I wonder if Grants continuous talk of possesion is having the negative effect. Perhaps if he told his players to be more expressive then they would relax a little. Just a thought. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chipster 0 Posted October 1, 2007 i thought the whole back five did a pretty decent job, i thought murrey did well and shows signs of being a fixture there, the doc gets so much stick i hate to point out how easily players where able to come off him to play people in but apart from that not badnow midfield.....i dont know where to start, i know playing hucks is a problem that afects balance of the side but how many stupid formations are we going to play before we realise he has to play left and we just take the good with the bad, playing strikers deep is a waste of time, i thought spilaine looked class, up and down and not afraid on the flip side i thought jarvis looked out of his depth and his passing was expossed at times and he got out of position a lot, lappin was tidy but pretty ineffectivenow up front i feel for beef as he had one half chance and tested the keeper, he was forced wide hunting for the ball way too much and no one could fault his work rate, brown has to go playing a forward that cant score and doesnt even look like it is a waste of time, i would rather see martin in at least we would have a goal threat, the little time dave was on he got himself in better spots than brown did all the time he was on, brown is never going to score as he is never trying to get in the right spots, he never attacks the last man he is only interested in looking pretty going backwards, a lot has to do with the service but lets face it if we had becks knocking in perfect centres brown would be hiding around the edge of the box, at least dave gets in where it hurts, thats the only way you will get ugly goals and lets face it we will take anything at the momenti am not a massive fan of pg after his" disgrace" coments but we have to stick with him as the board backed another hunch....or was he a cheap option? whatever ,we cant aford to throw good money after bad and he has to be given time but he will have to bring a few rabbits out of hats soon or he may well end up having to gothis board does worry me football wise as they are the people that put hamilton in charge...an absalote disgrace, reading ewans book tells me what the players felt about him yet the board closed there eyes to it and they stuck with worthy way too long and they went with pg very quickly, they have a pretty poor record in my books but fingers crossed we get lucky with pg Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
albyella 0 Posted October 1, 2007 I thought Spillane did well and showed a bit of grit, for me the best player - Brown must be down in confidence, but though he is not scoring, he at least puts himself about and hunts for the ball - the rest were meiocre/bad (though Doc did ok overall).The problem for me is the lack of direction for the players - they looked out of sorts and didn''t seem to know what the hell to do in certain situations.This is down to the manager (who appears to be tactically inept) & coaching team (who would be able to offer PG some direction in tactics and positioning players to their strengths).A player like Cureton doesn''t suddenly "stop" scoring, Hucks doesn''t suddenly "stop" being expressive etc etc - we have a squad who is capable of attaining top half this season and pushing for promotion next season, but we don''t have the right coaching team in place, and until we do then we are only going in one direction..... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sam 0 Posted October 1, 2007 marshall-5 nothing to dootsemobor-6 poor defensively,some good runsdoherty-6 fairly solid murray-6 dittodrury-5 doesn''t look sharp at the moment although huckerby doesnt helpspillane-5 apart from getting booked didnt do much jarvis- 4 barely had a kicklappin-4 gives the ball away too muchbrown-5 won his headers but doesn''t look like scoringcureton- 4 very poorhuckerby-4 didn.t really look interestedcroft-5 some good play nothing specialstrihavka-4 barely touched the ball Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FilletTheFishWife . 0 Posted October 1, 2007 [quote user="ZippersLeftFoot"][quote user="Robert no longer in Manila"] Any chance of you applying for the manager''s job at 10pm on Tuesday night, Zipper? [/quote]Lol - bearing in mind the abuse I already get for my opinions I dont think that would be a popular move.Its easy to see the faults - but a damn sight harder to put them right.[/quote]and you''d need more funds than given to Grant and Worthington the past 2 seasons too! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FilletTheFishWife . 0 Posted October 1, 2007 How many shots did we allow Kavanagh have? Just as well he couldn''t hit a cow''s backside with a banjo!And how many did we have?. Just shows how poor our midfield was AGAIN. No service to the forwards and no protection for the defence (if you could call Drury and Otsemboor defenders).marshall 6Otsemboor 5Murray 7Doherty 7Drury 5Huckerby 6Spillane 6Jarvis 5Lappin 5Brown 6Cureton 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites