morty 0 Posted August 21, 2004 Ok, a win was maybe too much to hope for but on that showing I''m full of optimism for the coming season. I thought we looked a lot better when Docherty and leon came on and just how good was damian Francis, the man was a collossus!! Brilliant, enjoyed the game very much and hopefully theres some neutrals out there who know what we''re about now!! Oh yeah, and we''re not bottom!!! Keep it low Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kent Canary 0 Posted August 21, 2004 Absolutely, did much better second half after struggling to connect passes in the first. Commitment was great, we can be well pleased with the team performance. Francis, Docherty, Leon, especially Drury, Fleming and Greeno had great games. Shows the so called experts were not going to take it lying down. Not many teams come away from Man U having accounted for themselves as well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
el chorizo!!! 0 Posted August 21, 2004 listen, the boyz did ok - they worked very very hard and limited man united to very few clean cut chances, but you´ve got to say that our passing was awful. they must practice on the training ground no? that said, the attitude was superb and they thoroughly deserved a goal and some heart to take into wednesdays match. wasn´t francis awesome - a true legend. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
el chorizo!!! 0 Posted August 21, 2004 i forgot to mention on my first post! we were watching in southern spain and i was so proud of all the supporters who went to OT. we could hear u out-signing the united faithful easily. well done all those who went. V PROUD Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pyro Pete 1,849 Posted August 21, 2004 I ''m really proud of our boys after that spirited display. Shame we couldn''t have nicked a point - if only Bentley''s shot had gone in! But if you''d told me this time last year that we would be at Old Trafford making Man United sweat in the last 15 minutes as they hung on to a one goal lead, I''d have laughed my head off. I hope Worthy and the players take confidence from that performance, and now step up their game and look to beat Newcastle. McKenzie and Doherty (great debut) should now be considered ahead of Svensson who looked way out of his depth, unlike the rest of the team. One great goal seperated the two teams, and I can live with that.As Worthy said in his post game interview, now we need some points. So let''s start at St James'' Park. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gazzathegreat 0 Posted August 21, 2004 have to agree damo was superb, our man of the match easily - i was so proud, great atmosphere in squares when we scored!! good on We love you!we were far from disgraced and were brilliant once they scored their second, and scoring at old trafford so proud, and i have lost my voice!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
moobag 0 Posted August 21, 2004 Really proud & we will survive Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kdncfc 0 Posted August 21, 2004 Excellent performance but as someone else said Svennson and Holty looked out of their depth. We def need a good target man then we will win some games. Overall very encouraging. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
alex_ncfc 643 Posted August 21, 2004 What top performances from the whole of our back 4, plus Greeno. Drury had a solid game, and I agree, Francis definitely MOTM. Plus things livened up when Doherty came on, so could go on to be another great signing by Worthy. Oh and McVeigh must start on the right. Great performance. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
whoareyou? 0 Posted August 21, 2004 Did anyone else feel an immense amount of pride just seeing our team in the tunnel before the start? There we were lining up with Keane, Scholes, Giggs etc. We have come a long long way i twelve months. And then we put in a performance to match........... Francis was superb...Viera eat your heart out! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
0ridgemanddMMyyyy0Falseen-USTrue 0 Posted August 21, 2004 I felt the players who got promotion done well with the exception of Svennson who is out of his depth. Helveg is a different class and it is not premiership, second to everything, even beaten in the air by Giggs in the build up to the second goal. Had we had eleven players trying we would have won that game. Well done to those that tried. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Necton Canary 1 Posted August 21, 2004 I am usually so nervous watching us on the television - but today I really enjoyed the match. Once we settled I thought we performed superbly and in the second half we could so nearly have drawn level. A great team performance and the players should take great heart from the fact that they did so well against a very good United side.Man of the match was without doubt Damien Francis - he was superb as was Adam Drury and Simon Charlton. I have to say I liked what we saw of Gary Doherty too - he seems to be able to hold the ball and lay it off to the likes of Leon and Darren.So many plusses from this game when most of the country and the media were looking for us to be thrashedWell done to everyone today for a super performance Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LinkNR9 0 Posted August 21, 2004 Pyro Pete, a good post. It took a £7 million striker to seperate the teams. I think that today signalled the end of Matt Svensson''s current run in the team. I know that Doc doesn''t want to play up front, but our fight-back was sparked by his arrival and he was instumental in all of best chances, including the goal. A fine debut. Thomas Helveg worried me - by the time that he realises that, unlike Italy, you can''t stroll out of defence with the ball over here, he''ll be undone a number of times. Apart from his wonder-shot, David Bentley didn''t have a good game; he needs to realise that he can''t produce a "Hollywood ball" with every pass, sometimes you have to keep it simple in order to keep possession. I agree with the comments of other posters. Watching Damo was like watching Vieira, Drury/Flem/Charlton/WeloveyouPaul/Hucks were very good, and Greeno was as brilliant as we already know - wake up, Sven! If we play for the rest of the season like we did in the last 20 minutes or so, we''ll surprise a lot of people. Very encouraging. OTBC. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Northern Canary 0 Posted August 21, 2004 ill never forget the site of Huckerby skinning Keane and Leon just forcing him out of the way. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
0Amarillo<P><FONT color=#cccc00 size=4><EM> º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸ Amarillo ¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°<EM><FONT><P>ddMMyyyy0Falseen-US<P><FONT color=#cccc00 size=4><EM> º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸ Amarillo ¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°<EM><FONT><P>True 0 Posted August 21, 2004 I was in the pub and it felt like we had Won in the end. if Some of our players looked second best to theirs , that''s because they are ! Superb Performance against a top 3 club. i felt really proud today, this is what it''s all about . And were still not in the bottom 3!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hucks fizz 0 Posted August 21, 2004 well,all i can say is i''m a very proud city fan today.which is nice to say when i have a younger brother constantly going on at me about how great his team are (man utd).my only concerns are just when is matt svenson gonna produce the end of season form he showed us before and is mattias jonson ever gonna do anything worth mentioning????other than that we looked very impressive for so called walk-overs!!!if we play like we did today for the rest of the season i think we''ll do ok.one last note:i thought our fans were magnificent today!!!!the whole club did us proud.otbc Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
susie b 0 Posted August 21, 2004 hucks fizz, you''ve hit the nail on the head re: the fans. To outsing 64000 (supposed) ManUre fans was a terrific achievement. More of the same at St. James'' on Wednesday please! Also, I hope there will be a massive effort to emulate their decibels next Saturday when the guys are going to need every ounce of support they can get. Remember Portsmouth! 0-5 down and still singing their hearts out. We MUST do the same - we wear the No 13 shirt after all! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kent Canary 0 Posted August 21, 2004 I think also this is what gives us fans our good reputation, this is just the kind of support the team need! Shouted myself hoarse and I was just at home. Anyone else think the referee was playing favourites? ''Ever generous'' as the match report goes, Huckerby being blocked early on was blatant, and when Smith brought (?) down later that was nothing, but when Francis won the next tackle it was a free kick. Hmm.. Still, not to let negativity get in the way, as Worthy says these things even themselves out. Still well pleased with today! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Syteanric 1 Posted August 22, 2004 I got back an hour ago...Excellent performance!!!!! the best i have seen in 13 years of supporting the club.... i dont think there was anything wrong at all with our passing.. Utds was far worse than ours... Agreed with the comments about Holty.. sadly he''s starting to look a Liability... which is a shame as we all want him to succeed... i fear unless he gets a good showing under his belt soon then he might become a target for boo boys... once Safri;s fit then holt might find the reserves beckon... Cant fault Helveg.. true he chopped down Giggs (who, lets face it, went over like he''d been shot) but his overall game was excellent...Damien Francis is god!.... i have got his name on the back of my Home shirt and think hes one of the best players we have.. he does that week in, week out its only when he does it against Man utd does it really get noticed though... u watch him boss it against the gooners next week too...itwas an awesome day out though! im convinced if Bentleys shot had gone in we would of won!Ratings for todayGreeno - 8, made some superb saves, particularly a double froma header from Smith in the 2nd halfHelveg- 7 Solid perfomance blighted by a silly challenge.Drury - 8 Showed that he can hold his own in the prem... led from the back, passed well and made countless tacklesFlemmo - 7 should of cut out smiths goal by closing him down (Hucks had a right go at him.. not sure if it was shown on TV).Charlton - 7 Confident showing... did well in the airBentley - 7, Hit the bar, but needs to show us what all the fuss is about and quickly.Holt - 6, Oh dear.... much as we want Holty to succeed he was out of his depth today... as said above he needs a good performance soon or things are going to get uncomfortable for him.Francis - 10, Absolutley Faultless! world class perfomance!Jonsson - 6 needs more games to get fitSvenners - 5, A waste of time today, as he was last week.. he went 2 years without a goal in the premiership for Charlton... and he played almost 60 times (40 starts) in that 2 years.. he''s not going to do it for us im afraid... Huckerby - 9 Excellent as always... terrorised Gary Neville and Roy Keane...Mcveigh - 8 well taken goal.. worked so hard for it, good well force Bentley out...Docherty - 8 looks, runs and plays like IWAN!!!! did realyl well and could of scored himself if he had the service.McKenzie - 8 looked fired up... why bother with Svensson when we have Leon.. almost made the dream come true with an equaliser but was unlucky... if he doesnt start on wednesday then somethings wrong..by the way, i got on TV.. just after we scored they showed a group of Norwich fans.. i was standing in a state of disbelief with my hands being my head.. wearing the old away shirt and wrapped in my banner.. did anyone see me??jas :) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Helsinki canary 222 Posted August 22, 2004 I saw the game live here on Canal+, great support form the travelling green & yellow army - well done. The team put up a spirited attack and should build on that for wednesday night where i think atleast a point is possible, saw the toon on TV aswell and their defence was dodgy. Concerning the player performance ranking - fully agree with the points given. However I cannot agree with the passing in the 1st half it was poor - main culprits were jonson, bentley and Helveg and Svenson - seems to me they were all too nervous and just wanted to get rid of the ball as soon as they got it and ended up passing it to UTD. The whole game changed for Norwich when Doherty came on - suddenly there was someone up front to aim for, and when Mckensie came on he and Huckerby created some chaos. My man of the match goes to Francis "Brilliant" second goes to Drury - very steady and composed! I think Worthy will ring the changes for Wed at St. James''s here is my guesstimate.Green,Drury,Flem,Charlton,Helveg,Francis,Holt,Mcveigh,McKensie,Hucks & Doherty. Im afraid Jonson and Bentley have not shown enough yet to get a regular place . I admit Bently hit a cracking shot - but his passing was too wasteful at times - just because he is an Arsenal boy doesnt mean he is guaranteed a starting place... Come on City! bring on the Toon. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kent Canary 0 Posted August 22, 2004 Good article on Sky Sports website covering the match, very positive for us. http://skysports.planetfootball.com/list.asp?hlid=221023&CPID=8&CLID=&lid=3&title=Red+Devils+seal+victory Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kevsamegastar 0 Posted August 22, 2004 I would like to thank the 3000who travelled north yesterday,not only did the boys do well but did we make some noise,Iam proud to say I was there more of the same this week we are NORWICH SUPER NORWICH. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tumbleweed 106 Posted August 22, 2004 Great second half performance but Nige must work on why in the first half we were second to most balls, passing was poor and Helveg and Jonson seemed to be daydreaming. That second half, particularly the final quater showed we have nothing to be afraid of, seeing Hux skin Keane and place a great little ball through the middle was a delight and Leon looked classy and busy when he came on- he had the pace to harry their defender which Matt couldn''t do.Observations from an enforced armchair viewer:Positives:Huckerby as everGreeno outstanding (that palm away from Scholes was world class)Leon (my favourite player in the squad)Drury (I thought he ran Francis close as he was superb and untroubled all game)Charlton (excellent)Flem as ever tooDocherty- I was worried when he came on to play up front (memories of Rob Newman up there) but gave us time and held the ball up when we needed itMcVeigh- what can you say. Whenever you think he''s not going to get back in he pops up and does the business. What a man.Francis- immense in the second half. Our own Patrick Viera- Real Madrid stay away from our lad!WorriesHolt- really poor in the first half and gave away possession very easily. Short of pace and couldn''t control the ball which often pinged off him to a Utd player. A bit better in the second half but still left us worryingly exposedHelveg- did not impress me. Too slow to react and passing poor (big hoofs). No understanding with Jonson yet. On this showing what has he got that Edworthy doesn''t?Jonson- took a long throw in the first half but other than that the same as Helveg. Looked well off the paceBentley- yes, a bit controversial, but his shot at goal apart his passing into the front two from some promising positions was poor. As Gordon McQueen said on Sky our midfield was giving abysmal service to the front two in the first half and let Utd run things. 4-3-3 every week from now on Nigel?Don''t want to focus on the negatives too much, it was just superb being able to watch us back where we belong. That final half hour made me so proud. Roll on the Toon!!! Can''t wait tilll I get to my first live game against Villa or a job where I work fewer Saturdays. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites