Can we agree on........?

[Salopian 1]

I was not at the game, and did not watch the broadcast on line, but I have waded through the reports. There are disagreements - over Marshall and Fozzy for instance, but some things seem clear:1) There was little physical competition, - few hard tackles made, which may well have favoured Spurs2) We had several new players, one of whom, Stephanovic, had not played a game with his colleagues previously3) We were limited in choice of strikers as Lupoli''s papers have not been settled yet, and GR clearly still does not entirely value Martin. Having only Curo up front necessarily limited options.4) We looked very good for the first 30 minutes, but went ragged in the second half. (Where have I heard this before?). Did this correspond to the loss of Bertrand, and could this have been a pivotal moment?5) Pattison, (overweight?), could not cope with the speed of Lennon and others. This is worrying, - Drury still does not seem fit enough even for a brief appearance, and with Bertrand injured, it seems that we have no cover at LB.6) GR seems keen to do something about the loss of Doc for 3 months, by bringing in cover - a short term loan? He seems to realise that he needs two more strikers - "the lovely mover" who could have a good season, that is will be coming on loan, and a more solid player. It seems that we may be kept afloat by loan players. Is money that short, and are we going to have to go through the whole business every summer as we find 6 or 8 loan players?7) There were concerns about Marshall - some good saves, but prone to blunders (like the rest of our defence last season?) Is this why GR will not rely on Rudd for the occasional game and is looking at the Hungarian?8) We were short of a number of first team players - Bell, Doc, Drury, Kennedy, Lupoli, etc., which meant squad players were pressed into service.9) There were some positives that most could agree on - Wes and Clingo in particular, the former showing creativity and the latter consistent accuracy.

As some have said, "It was only a friendly", and most agreed that we played well until Bertrand left, so we need not be too donwnhearted. I still think that we shall do better this season, though only an outside bet even for the play-offs perhaps. We have a better midfield with the advent of Wes and Clingo. I am concerned about the reliance on loan players, - any improvement in defence will disappear when the loan periods end, and our attack will be virtually non-existent. Perhaps a junior or two will burst through...........

[Tony Harrison 0]

I can agree! The lack of physicality about the game played into their hands. Modric looked set to burst into tears when Fozzie actually stuck a challenge in. Dos Santos very skillful but looked like a 12 year old girl. Had it been a proper match they would still have won easily but never would it have been 1-5.

[spudgfsh 0]

I''ll agree with that (I watched it on satan sports) in the first half we passed the ball well and looked like we could score

During the second half we were not given the opportunity to pass the ball and ended up lumping the ball into areas where there were either no norwich players or there were spurs players.

[The Doc 0]

I agree totally, the loss of berty was key to our demise last night. During the first half hour or so Fozzy and Clingan really impressed me against a superior midfeild, Hoolahan was sheer quality, all we lacked was something up front (anything!). Loved seeing Hoolahoop skip past 3 of their players at one point and when curo left King on his ass I was laughing by butt off! Unfortunately after Berty left the pitch so did our formation, it kind of resembled from what I could make out:

                                           invisible striker

   invisible winger                  Everyone else                     Croft

Fatty Patty               Steffo                    Omuzumi           Semmi

Not surprisingly Dos Santos, Lennon et al raped us down the left wing whilst everyone else ran around the middle of the park like school boys- a recurring theme last year! Felt a bit sorry for Patty must admit, at many times he was the only player on our left side facing two or three players at once - totally outclassed

Still think we are capable of reaching play-offs/promotion, with the addition of a quality strong striker. Just look at who was promoted last season, we have to be better than Stoke!