The Defence.

[Boyo 0]

Our defence is very poor indeed.  I would go as far as saying nearly all our defenders are not good enough.  Next season we definately need a rock at the back, and maybe another CB, also you can include a right back possibly.

Otsemobor - Now dont get me wrong, I think Semmy is okay, but he does have his weaknesses, and alot of them!  He is to slow at getting to the ball.  When the oppositions left winger has the ball  and he is running towards our box, semmy is far to slow at getting to the player.  He lets the defender get within yards of the box without even going towards him, and often a midfielder has to come to the rescue.  But on some occasions the midfielder isn''t there and when Semmy does finally decide to come to the ball he often gets skinned easily or he lets the player get in a cross easily, and you would think with all his pace he could get to the player quickly and stop and attack, but he dosn''t and it puts us in trouble alot.

Doherty - This season he has been alright for us at times but like Semmy he is a bit of a liabilty.  Whenever a long ball is pumped forward, he always grabs hold of his player and pulls him all over the place, and more often than not he gives away a free kick.  Even when the ball is not in the air, he still can''t resist to give his player a bear hug and he gives away alot of free kicks.  He also isn''t the best in the air, on the rare occasion when he isn''t having a piggy back from a striker, his headers go all over the place.  He also try''s to play a 50 yard ball that only someone like Beckahm could pull off.  He always hoofs a long ball towards Hucks and it never works, and we lose the ball and we are in danger, again.

Pearce - His first couple of games were quite good but from there he has gone down hill.  Whenever he clears a ball it slices off in the wrong direction.  He can''t header either, it either goes straight down to an attackers feet or it goes nowhere at all.  He is also a very poor passer and alot of his passes get intercepted and then we are in danger.  He is a liability, and I don''t feel safe with him at the back.

Shax - Probably the best out of this lot but he too is not a safe palyer to have at the back.  He is really good at heading it clear, he is strong and he is very good at getting in the way of the ball, but his passing often puts us in trouble.  He will either play a stupid ball across our own box, pass it straight down the middle into an attackers path or play it to the wings where it get s intercepted.  He has put us in danger time and time again because of his passing and he needs to sort it out soon.

These three have been very poor this season, and they have let us down alot.  (notice I havn''t mationed Camara as he hasn''t played many games, and when he has played he has done quite well.  Also I ahvn''t mentioned Bertrand because he has been brilliant, pure class (apart from Ipswich!) and you can see he plays for Chelsea, he is awesome!)

It just proves how much we need a defender.  Martin Taylor anyone!

[Graham Humphrey 13]

We''ve still only let in 55 goals however - less than Stoke and only one more than West Brom. I would suggest that only scoring 45 times in 44 matches is a bigger problem.

[macdougalls perm 0]

[quote user="Graham Humphrey"]We''ve still only let in 55 goals however - less than Stoke and only one more than West Brom. I would suggest that only scoring 45 times in 44 matches is a bigger problem.[/quote]

I would agree with this GH - and its not like we haven''t been creating chances. I lost count of the number of decent crosses on Saturday which were met by ........ no-one. Admittedly, the central defensive pairing (mainly Shackell imo) were badly at fault for WBA''s goals - although I don''t think that the first one should have been allowed.   

[ZLF 335]

There were two soft goals conceeded on sat;  but had we taken the numerous chances we had against the all but promoted baggies we would have taken all three points.  The stroy of our season is our poor attack,  not the paucity in defence who have actually performed well above average for the league since Roeder took over.  

[kdncfc 0]

I never feel comfortable  with any of our defenders tbh, Doherty has been the best of a poor bunch but his next cock up is never far away, Shackell is ok in the air but his positional sense is awful, he hasn''t really improved and a move away from here would do him good. Pearce has looked very good in a couple of games but very average in others, he is only young so he has plenty of time to improve.

Scoring goals has been the biggest problem for us, our strikers have let us down badly but we also lack a midfielder capable of scoring a few goals, West Brom have done so well because of the amount of goals their midfield have scored, Greening, Koren and Gera between them have probably scored more goals than all of our strikers put together. The reality is that we are poor right through the team and if the money is not made avaliable to address the problems in the summer then if we survive this year we will almost definitely go down next.

[ricardo 8,034]

We are the third lowest scorers in the division.

It is quite plain where the problem lies

[silver fox 0]

Dear boyo can you confirm that you have only seen Pearce play against Ipswich because your description of him as a liability is absolutely ridiculous.  Even at the age of 19 he is a class above our current bunch of defenders.  He is good in the air, brings the ball down to play it out of defence, and his distribution is generally excellent.  Yes he did have a poor game against Ipswich, but so did the rest of our players on the day.  If we can keep him next season along with Bertrand, and perhaps buy Taylor from Birmingham then we will have the nucleus of a good back four.

[Salopian 1]

I agree that the defence has conceded some silly goals that greater concentration would have stopped. Against WBA, the first goal was jolted out of Marshall''s hands, and slightly dubious, the second perhaps was froma mistake.Considering their firepower, to concede two such goals is not dreadful.The real problem is in scoring goals. On Saturday we actually had more chances in total than the Baggies, and the same number on goal. The problem is the number which missed the goal. Apart froma few games like the one at Porteloo Road we are certainly creating chances.If we are relegated, it will be because we have not scored enough  goals. This is partly because the strikers are missing good chances, but it is also because there are very few coming from midfield or defenders up for corners.I have to say that in "big games", against good footballing sides, our defenders cope pretty well with the leading marksmen. We are torn apart by fast wingers and highly mobile midfields. I still feel that with Hux playing wide left our left back is very exposed and the three remaining midfielders  struggle. This is surely what is behind GRs decision not to play two out and out wingers.

[Buncey 1]

[quote user="ricardo"]

We are the third lowest scorers in the division.

It is quite plain where the problem lies

[/quote]In the midfield. Slate Jamie all you want but the two chances he got were set up by himself with superb runs and all that was needed was a 5 yard pass for one and a hoof for another. Time and again on saturday the crossing was awful and the we created half-chances. I think Ched will be a superb player in the future but we are making it so difficult for him and jamie to score goals. Nobody in the midfield has that killer pass, or that special cross. It''s been costly.Now for the reason that both the "good" defence and the "bad" offense this season. Look at our midfield against WBA.Hux, Pattison, Fozzy and Gibbs.Our two central midfielders are defensively minded, they join attacks yes, but seldom go into the box. We are also only playing one winger. Like we have done through most of the season, it means we are a lot less stretched (of course a lot less potent as well). Most of the time we''ve also had a LB playing at left wing as well. And our most attacking (and successful goal scorer from midfield) is a defensive midfielder called russell who is the most defensive midfielder out of our whole squad.Blame the defence and the strikers all you want, their both not up to it. But the midfield has let us down. You can sacrifice chances and goals for being more sturdy defensively but if you still conceed 1 to 2 goals a game your never going to get those goals with defensive midfielders and only 1 winger playing.

[Citizen Journalist Foghorn 0]

[quote user="ZippersLeftFoot"]There were two soft goals conceeded on sat;  but had we taken the numerous chances we had against the all but promoted baggies we would have taken all three points.  The stroy of our season is our poor attack,  not the paucity in defence who have actually performed well above average for the league since Roeder took over.  [/quote]

hmmm  the decent defensive record has a lot of to do with the defensive formation Roeder plays with only one real attacking player in midfield (Hucks or Croft).  In fact when he plays two we tend to lose.

[ricardo 8,034]

[quote user="Fellas"][quote user="ricardo"]

We are the third lowest scorers in the division.

It is quite plain where the problem lies

[/quote]

In the midfield. Slate Jamie all you want but the two chances he got were set up by himself with superb runs and all that was needed was a 5 yard pass for one and a hoof for another. Time and again on saturday the crossing was awful and the we created half-chances. I think Ched will be a superb player in the future but we are making it so difficult for him and jamie to score goals.

Nobody in the midfield has that killer pass, or that special cross. It''s been costly.

Now for the reason that both the "good" defence and the "bad" offense this season.

Look at our midfield against WBA.
Hux, Pattison, Fozzy and Gibbs.
Our two central midfielders are defensively minded, they join attacks yes, but seldom go into the box. We are also only playing one winger. Like we have done through most of the season, it means we are a lot less stretched (of course a lot less potent as well). Most of the time we''ve also had a LB playing at left wing as well. And our most attacking (and successful goal scorer from midfield) is a defensive midfielder called russell who is the most defensive midfielder out of our whole squad.

Blame the defence and the strikers all you want, their both not up to it. But the midfield has let us down. You can sacrifice chances and goals for being more sturdy defensively but if you still conceed 1 to 2 goals a game your never going to get those goals with defensive midfielders and only 1 winger playing.
[/quote]

Enough chances were made on Saturday to at least get a draw. A similar situation has occurred in numerous games this season

Whilst I agree that the rest of the team have not been brilliant this season you really cannot deflect the blame from where it truly lies. The forwards have squandered far too many chances to escape the main portion of blame. Obviously Jamie can do no wrong with some of you. If all it takes to make an NCFC striker legend is to dye your hair green then he is your man. In my opinion the record books don''t lie. Scoring an average of 1 goal a game is what gets you relegated and if your "main man" can only average 1 in 3 you are in trouble.

[Buncey 1]

[quote user="ricardo"][quote user="Fellas"][quote user="ricardo"]

We are the third lowest scorers in the division.

It is quite plain where the problem lies

[/quote]In the midfield. Slate Jamie all you want but the two chances he got were set up by himself with superb runs and all that was needed was a 5 yard pass for one and a hoof for another. Time and again on saturday the crossing was awful and the we created half-chances. I think Ched will be a superb player in the future but we are making it so difficult for him and jamie to score goals. Nobody in the midfield has that killer pass, or that special cross. It''s been costly.Now for the reason that both the "good" defence and the "bad" offense this season. Look at our midfield against WBA.Hux, Pattison, Fozzy and Gibbs.Our two central midfielders are defensively minded, they join attacks yes, but seldom go into the box. We are also only playing one winger. Like we have done through most of the season, it means we are a lot less stretched (of course a lot less potent as well). Most of the time we''ve also had a LB playing at left wing as well. And our most attacking (and successful goal scorer from midfield) is a defensive midfielder called russell who is the most defensive midfielder out of our whole squad.Blame the defence and the strikers all you want, their both not up to it. But the midfield has let us down. You can sacrifice chances and goals for being more sturdy defensively but if you still conceed 1 to 2 goals a game your never going to get those goals with defensive midfielders and only 1 winger playing.[/quote]

Enough chances were made on Saturday to at least get a draw. A similar situation has occurred in numerous games this season

Whilst I agree that the rest of the team have not been brilliant this season you really cannot deflect the blame from where it truly lies. The forwards have squandered far too many chances to escape the main portion of blame. Obviously Jamie can do no wrong with some of you. If all it takes to make an NCFC striker legend is to dye your hair green then he is your man. In my opinion the record books don''t lie. Scoring an average of 1 goal a game is what gets you relegated and if your "main man" can only average 1 in 3 you are in trouble.

[/quote]You miss my point completely with your obsession with jamie. We didn''t create enough chances. How many good chances did Ched get to score. None. How many decent oppotunities did dublin get to score from. None. Cureton can make his own chances, dublin and ched need service (cureton needs some as well). Quite frankly the crossing we displayed against WBA was absolutely shocking. Our best shot at goal was a cross that was horribly misqued by huckerby. That is not good enough. Semmy, a good player that he is, is a rubbish crosser, croft is a about as accurate as a 14th century cannon, don''t get me started on gibbs.We could have played for 16 games and we would never have scored a goal from open play against WBA. That''s not Ched''s fault, or dublin''s fault. The service was cr@p. You harp on about how the team is rubbish these days, well you know which player we miss the most from the promotion season. Mcveigh. There is no creativity and we have never replaced McVeigh.

[Jack Flash 17]

I think the defence would be just about OK if they had a better/stronger Midfield in front of them. The Midfield has been ineffective in all three key departments - so many times there is a huge gap in front of the defence for opposition forwards to exploit; the creativity is just not there to set up more than half chances; and how many goals do they contribute - all great midfields can find 10 to 20 goals in a season. A good Midfield is the catalyst for a good Team and we do not have one, thats for sure. Doc and Shacks are solid enough, but its no surprise to see them under pressure, with the inadequacies of our Midfield, and those who criticise Doc for holding, and making it difficult for forwards to get passed him, by fair means or otherwise, should watch a few of the so-called super star defenders in the Prem - its perhaps an unacceptable part of the modern game, but the "though shall not pass" attitude is prevalent.

[ricardo 8,034]

[quote user="Fellas"][quote user="ricardo"][quote user="Fellas"][quote user="ricardo"]

We are the third lowest scorers in the division.

It is quite plain where the problem lies

[/quote]

In the midfield. Slate Jamie all you want but the two chances he got were set up by himself with superb runs and all that was needed was a 5 yard pass for one and a hoof for another. Time and again on saturday the crossing was awful and the we created half-chances. I think Ched will be a superb player in the future but we are making it so difficult for him and jamie to score goals.

Nobody in the midfield has that killer pass, or that special cross. It''s been costly.

Now for the reason that both the "good" defence and the "bad" offense this season.

Look at our midfield against WBA.
Hux, Pattison, Fozzy and Gibbs.
Our two central midfielders are defensively minded, they join attacks yes, but seldom go into the box. We are also only playing one winger. Like we have done through most of the season, it means we are a lot less stretched (of course a lot less potent as well). Most of the time we''ve also had a LB playing at left wing as well. And our most attacking (and successful goal scorer from midfield) is a defensive midfielder called russell who is the most defensive midfielder out of our whole squad.

Blame the defence and the strikers all you want, their both not up to it. But the midfield has let us down. You can sacrifice chances and goals for being more sturdy defensively but if you still conceed 1 to 2 goals a game your never going to get those goals with defensive midfielders and only 1 winger playing.
[/quote]

Enough chances were made on Saturday to at least get a draw. A similar situation has occurred in numerous games this season

Whilst I agree that the rest of the team have not been brilliant this season you really cannot deflect the blame from where it truly lies. The forwards have squandered far too many chances to escape the main portion of blame. Obviously Jamie can do no wrong with some of you. If all it takes to make an NCFC striker legend is to dye your hair green then he is your man. In my opinion the record books don''t lie. Scoring an average of 1 goal a game is what gets you relegated and if your "main man" can only average 1 in 3 you are in trouble.

[/quote]

You miss my point completely with your obsession with jamie. We didn''t create enough chances. How many good chances did Ched get to score. None. How many decent oppotunities did dublin get to score from. None. Cureton can make his own chances, dublin and ched need service (cureton needs some as well). Quite frankly the crossing we displayed against WBA was absolutely shocking. Our best shot at goal was a cross that was horribly misqued by huckerby. That is not good enough. Semmy, a good player that he is, is a rubbish crosser, croft is a about as accurate as a 14th century cannon, don''t get me started on gibbs.

We could have played for 16 games and we would never have scored a goal from open play against WBA. That''s not Ched''s fault, or dublin''s fault. The service was cr@p. You harp on about how the team is rubbish these days, well you know which player we miss the most from the promotion season. Mcveigh. There is no creativity and we have never replaced McVeigh.
[/quote]

You continue to make exscuses for the guy who misses the chances. If that''s not obsessional then I don''t know what is. Further more I don''t agree with your analysis that Jamie makes his own chances while Ched needs service. I can recall many of Cheds goals where he has had to do the major work himself ( Cardiff, Burnley, Ipswich spring immediately to mind) in contrast to some horrendous close range misses by Jamie (unfortunateley too numerous to mention).

I grant you we have a lack of creativity in midfield. Not really a new problem is it? We bought Russell in the summer, a decent midfielder for breaking up play but not really a creative player is he? If you look at any of my posts during last summer you will see that I was crying out for creative midfielder, a decent replacement for Earnie and another centre half. We did not fill any of those positions with sufficient quality.

This thread is about blaming the defence for our failure. We have conceded 55 goals, 14 best defence in the division. We have scored 45 goals 21st best attack in the division. Not really difficult to see where the problem is?

I gave my opinion of Jamie and Rusty in the summer and I am sorry to say I have been proved right. Where quality is concerned, Jamie is no Earnie and Rusty is no Safri (or even Etuhu).

[Robert N. LiM 6,279]

Before Roeder''s arrival our weaknesses were:1) Not being able to defend set pieces2) Not being able to defend in open play3) Not creating any chances4) Not converting any of the chances we did create.In other words, we were hopeless in every way,Since Roeder''s arrival I think he''s dealt with two of those weaknesses. Two remain:1) Not being able to defend set pieces2) Not converting our chances.I would agree, CJF, that he has managed to stiffen the midfield defensively. And we also create loads more than we did, we''re just not taking those chances. Just to take one example, Stoke at home. We generally defended very well against one of the top teams in the league. We went to sleep for a long throw and were one down. Despite that, we created more than enough chances to win the game. We didn''t take any of them. How did we not win that 0-0 against Leicester? How were we not 3-0 up after 15 mins against Bury in the Cup? Why did it take us until the 90th minute to secure the win against Burnley. We didn''t take our chances. I wasn''t at the WBA game, but it sounds as though we could have nicked a point if we''d converted one of four very good opportunities.Cureton has been disappointing, but to put all the blame on him is absurd. He gets more chances than Evans and Dublin because his movement in the box is better than either of them. To get back to the thread, our defending has not been the problem.

[Captain Holt 580]

Shackell was at fault for the second goal on saturday with a header down straight to their player. Why didn''t he just knock it back to Marshall, or if Marshall didn''t call head it behind? He is the liability, not Pearce, Doc or Semmy.

[macdougalls perm 0]

Actually Fellas, I think Dublin had a great chance on Saturday but completely mistimed/misjudged his header which I thought was very uncharacteristic.

[Buncey 1]

[quote user="ricardo"][quote user="Fellas"][quote user="ricardo"][quote user="Fellas"][quote user="ricardo"]

We are the third lowest scorers in the division.

It is quite plain where the problem lies

[/quote]In the midfield. Slate Jamie all you want but the two chances he got were set up by himself with superb runs and all that was needed was a 5 yard pass for one and a hoof for another. Time and again on saturday the crossing was awful and the we created half-chances. I think Ched will be a superb player in the future but we are making it so difficult for him and jamie to score goals. Nobody in the midfield has that killer pass, or that special cross. It''s been costly.Now for the reason that both the "good" defence and the "bad" offense this season. Look at our midfield against WBA.Hux, Pattison, Fozzy and Gibbs.Our two central midfielders are defensively minded, they join attacks yes, but seldom go into the box. We are also only playing one winger. Like we have done through most of the season, it means we are a lot less stretched (of course a lot less potent as well). Most of the time we''ve also had a LB playing at left wing as well. And our most attacking (and successful goal scorer from midfield) is a defensive midfielder called russell who is the most defensive midfielder out of our whole squad.Blame the defence and the strikers all you want, their both not up to it. But the midfield has let us down. You can sacrifice chances and goals for being more sturdy defensively but if you still conceed 1 to 2 goals a game your never going to get those goals with defensive midfielders and only 1 winger playing.[/quote]

Enough chances were made on Saturday to at least get a draw. A similar situation has occurred in numerous games this season

Whilst I agree that the rest of the team have not been brilliant this season you really cannot deflect the blame from where it truly lies. The forwards have squandered far too many chances to escape the main portion of blame. Obviously Jamie can do no wrong with some of you. If all it takes to make an NCFC striker legend is to dye your hair green then he is your man. In my opinion the record books don''t lie. Scoring an average of 1 goal a game is what gets you relegated and if your "main man" can only average 1 in 3 you are in trouble.

[/quote]You miss my point completely with your obsession with jamie. We didn''t create enough chances. How many good chances did Ched get to score. None. How many decent oppotunities did dublin get to score from. None. Cureton can make his own chances, dublin and ched need service (cureton needs some as well). Quite frankly the crossing we displayed against WBA was absolutely shocking. Our best shot at goal was a cross that was horribly misqued by huckerby. That is not good enough. Semmy, a good player that he is, is a rubbish crosser, croft is a about as accurate as a 14th century cannon, don''t get me started on gibbs.We could have played for 16 games and we would never have scored a goal from open play against WBA. That''s not Ched''s fault, or dublin''s fault. The service was cr@p. You harp on about how the team is rubbish these days, well you know which player we miss the most from the promotion season. Mcveigh. There is no creativity and we have never replaced McVeigh.[/quote]

You continue to make exscuses for the guy who misses the chances. If that''s not obsessional then I don''t know what is. Further more I don''t agree with your analysis that Jamie makes his own chances while Ched needs service. I can recall many of Cheds goals where he has had to do the major work himself ( Cardiff, Burnley, Ipswich spring immediately to mind) in contrast to some horrendous close range misses by Jamie (unfortunateley too numerous to mention).

I grant you we have a lack of creativity in midfield. Not really a new problem is it? We bought Russell in the summer, a decent midfielder for breaking up play but not really a creative player is he? If you look at any of my posts during last summer you will see that I was crying out for creative midfielder, a decent replacement for Earnie and another centre half. We did not fill any of those positions with sufficient quality.

This thread is about blaming the defence for our failure. We have conceded 55 goals, 14 best defence in the division. We have scored 45 goals 21st best attack in the division. Not really difficult to see where the problem is?

I gave my opinion of Jamie and Rusty in the summer and I am sorry to say I have been proved right. Where quality is concerned, Jamie is no Earnie and Rusty is no Safri (or even Etuhu).

[/quote]I wrote a long reply, but my computer crashed before I could finish it so I''ll just summaries what I said:I''m not making excuses for cureton, I am merely not being hyper-critical of one player just because he''s not doing his job as well as he should (none of the entire squad have). I am merely defending him to draw responce from you, just because you dislike him so much. Personally I think cureton has been cr@p this season but I don''t critise him any more than I critise russell, donk, shax and semmy.I agree rusty, fozzy and cureton are a poor replacement for etuhu, safri and earnshaw.We have missed those 3 (I think our best 3) and haven''t been good enough this season.Earnshaw missed bucket loads of chances (maybe more than cureton and evans have) but because we created more it wasn''t as bad.The board and the manager took the cheap option in the summer, I was not happy with what we bought and I thought rusty was the worst buy compared to what we had before.I have been saying we''ve had no creative spark since mcveigh was dropped and we were relegated.None of our current players cross the ball anywhere near as good as mcveigh did and don''t create enough good chances.Our defence has been average at best. They have been poor. The strikers have been poor. But we have had an awful midfield this season. They have not covered the defence enough and have not created ENOUGH chances.To M''s perm. Yes dublin missed "that" header but the cross to him was a poor one. He had to generate all the pace on it himself and in doing so mis-qued the head awfully.

[Buncey 1]

In addition. No the defence is not the sole reason we are near the bottom, but they are partly responsible and not good enough.

[Graham Humphrey 13]

[quote user="Fellas"]Earnshaw missed bucket loads of chances (maybe more than cureton and evans have) but because we created more it wasn''t as bad.[/quote]

I think your memory is playing tricks on you - we certainly didn''t create more last season, indeed since Roeder took over we''ve created far more chances than we ever did the start of this season or most of last season. Frankly I think it''s bizarre logic to say that Earnshaw missed more chances playing in a poor side when he averaged better than a goal every two games than Cureton who has averaged roughly one in three but has missed many, many more opportunities (and many clear-cut ones at that) also playing in a poor team.

[ricardo 8,034]

[quote user="Fellas"][quote user="ricardo"][quote user="Fellas"][quote user="ricardo"][quote user="Fellas"][quote user="ricardo"]

We are the third lowest scorers in the division.

It is quite plain where the problem lies

[/quote]

In the midfield. Slate Jamie all you want but the two chances he got were set up by himself with superb runs and all that was needed was a 5 yard pass for one and a hoof for another. Time and again on saturday the crossing was awful and the we created half-chances. I think Ched will be a superb player in the future but we are making it so difficult for him and jamie to score goals.

Nobody in the midfield has that killer pass, or that special cross. It''s been costly.

Now for the reason that both the "good" defence and the "bad" offense this season.

Look at our midfield against WBA.
Hux, Pattison, Fozzy and Gibbs.
Our two central midfielders are defensively minded, they join attacks yes, but seldom go into the box. We are also only playing one winger. Like we have done through most of the season, it means we are a lot less stretched (of course a lot less potent as well). Most of the time we''ve also had a LB playing at left wing as well. And our most attacking (and successful goal scorer from midfield) is a defensive midfielder called russell who is the most defensive midfielder out of our whole squad.

Blame the defence and the strikers all you want, their both not up to it. But the midfield has let us down. You can sacrifice chances and goals for being more sturdy defensively but if you still conceed 1 to 2 goals a game your never going to get those goals with defensive midfielders and only 1 winger playing.
[/quote]

Enough chances were made on Saturday to at least get a draw. A similar situation has occurred in numerous games this season

Whilst I agree that the rest of the team have not been brilliant this season you really cannot deflect the blame from where it truly lies. The forwards have squandered far too many chances to escape the main portion of blame. Obviously Jamie can do no wrong with some of you. If all it takes to make an NCFC striker legend is to dye your hair green then he is your man. In my opinion the record books don''t lie. Scoring an average of 1 goal a game is what gets you relegated and if your "main man" can only average 1 in 3 you are in trouble.

[/quote]

You miss my point completely with your obsession with jamie. We didn''t create enough chances. How many good chances did Ched get to score. None. How many decent oppotunities did dublin get to score from. None. Cureton can make his own chances, dublin and ched need service (cureton needs some as well). Quite frankly the crossing we displayed against WBA was absolutely shocking. Our best shot at goal was a cross that was horribly misqued by huckerby. That is not good enough. Semmy, a good player that he is, is a rubbish crosser, croft is a about as accurate as a 14th century cannon, don''t get me started on gibbs.

We could have played for 16 games and we would never have scored a goal from open play against WBA. That''s not Ched''s fault, or dublin''s fault. The service was cr@p. You harp on about how the team is rubbish these days, well you know which player we miss the most from the promotion season. Mcveigh. There is no creativity and we have never replaced McVeigh.
[/quote]

You continue to make exscuses for the guy who misses the chances. If that''s not obsessional then I don''t know what is. Further more I don''t agree with your analysis that Jamie makes his own chances while Ched needs service. I can recall many of Cheds goals where he has had to do the major work himself ( Cardiff, Burnley, Ipswich spring immediately to mind) in contrast to some horrendous close range misses by Jamie (unfortunateley too numerous to mention).

I grant you we have a lack of creativity in midfield. Not really a new problem is it? We bought Russell in the summer, a decent midfielder for breaking up play but not really a creative player is he? If you look at any of my posts during last summer you will see that I was crying out for creative midfielder, a decent replacement for Earnie and another centre half. We did not fill any of those positions with sufficient quality.

This thread is about blaming the defence for our failure. We have conceded 55 goals, 14 best defence in the division. We have scored 45 goals 21st best attack in the division. Not really difficult to see where the problem is?

I gave my opinion of Jamie and Rusty in the summer and I am sorry to say I have been proved right. Where quality is concerned, Jamie is no Earnie and Rusty is no Safri (or even Etuhu).

[/quote]

I wrote a long reply, but my computer crashed before I could finish it so I''ll just summaries what I said:

I''m not making excuses for cureton, I am merely not being hyper-critical of one player just because he''s not doing his job as well as he should (none of the entire squad have). I am merely defending him to draw responce from you, just because you dislike him so much. Personally I think cureton has been cr@p this season but I don''t critise him any more than I critise russell, donk, shax and semmy.
I agree rusty, fozzy and cureton are a poor replacement for etuhu, safri and earnshaw.
We have missed those 3 (I think our best 3) and haven''t been good enough this season.
Earnshaw missed bucket loads of chances (maybe more than cureton and evans have) but because we created more it wasn''t as bad.
The board and the manager took the cheap option in the summer, I was not happy with what we bought and I thought rusty was the worst buy compared to what we had before.
I have been saying we''ve had no creative spark since mcveigh was dropped and we were relegated.
None of our current players cross the ball anywhere near as good as mcveigh did and don''t create enough good chances.
Our defence has been average at best. They have been poor. The strikers have been poor. But we have had an awful midfield this season. They have not covered the defence enough and have not created ENOUGH chances.

To M''s perm. Yes dublin missed "that" header but the cross to him was a poor one. He had to generate all the pace on it himself and in doing so mis-qued the head awfully.
[/quote]

Thanks for your reply Fellas.

I should like to correct one thing. I am sorry if my critisism of Jamie makes you think that I dislike him. I do not and never have. I think he is a decent enough little player and I believe he loves the club and supporters. It is no surprise to me that so many people have a soft spot for him. The fact remains that so many people had highly inflated expectations of him based on his fine season with Colchester. When I pointed out his obvious limitations in the summer and that his best years were in the lower leagues I was given a right roasting by many posters on here.

The fact remains that he and Rusty were cheap and inferior replacements to what we had before.Although I have been impressed with Rusty''s contribution this season. he is still not the creative midfielder we were crying out for.I don''t blame either of them personally, they are only doing their job to the best of their abilities. I simply wish to point out that it was obvious in the summer that we bought the cheap options. Surely everyone can see that now?

I also still firmly believe that if we had bought a decent centre half in the summer or even Taylor in January, then we wouldn''t be in the position that we are now.

 

[Buncey 1]

[quote user="Graham Humphrey"]

[quote user="Fellas"]Earnshaw missed bucket loads of chances (maybe more than cureton and evans have) but because we created more it wasn''t as bad.[/quote]

I think your memory is playing tricks on you - we certainly didn''t create more last season, indeed since Roeder took over we''ve created far more chances than we ever did the start of this season or most of last season. Frankly I think it''s bizarre logic to say that Earnshaw missed more chances playing in a poor side when he averaged better than a goal every two games than Cureton who has averaged roughly one in three but has missed many, many more opportunities (and many clear-cut ones at that) also playing in a poor team.

[/quote]Not playing tricks on me. I went to the opening game of the season last year against leeds and recall him missing several one on ones. And that was a recurring theme throughout his time at carrow road. To be honest, anybody saying that Earnshaw didn''t miss extremely easy chances just is playing tricks on themselves. And also it''s not bizarre logic. Just think about it. That said I don''t even know why im debating this when earnshaw is clearly better than cureton. (and why people still keep trying to undermine my points, for no reason and with no evidence...)

[Boyo 0]

I think that the moral from this thread is that the whole team has been poor this season!