Minster Canary 0 Posted January 3, 2009 If I''m perfectly honest, you could tell the two teams were at the bottom end of the league but as the cup does, it allowed both ourselves and Charlton to come out and attack certain pieces of play that maybe wouldnt be attemped had it been a Championship fixture. Great finish from the Charlton lad it has to be said, Marshy (who may I add had an absolute blinder) had no chance. However, my main reason of posting is to comment on our fantastic support today - I rarely am able to enjoy the away day for numerous reasons including the obvious finance and working commitments, but today I truly admired what great supporters we have. We must have packed their South Stand today, and the official attendence of just over 12,000 - 3,000 of which were City fans just shows the commitment and passion we all have for the team, for me the fans are the core reason we find ourselves in the pot tomorrow for the fourth round draw, we were the ones who screamed Arturo Lupoli''s name from about 10 minutes onwards pleading for Glenn to grow the balls to make such a decision, and we got the rewards. Times are bloody tough with all who are connected to Norwich City but when we come together to show such determination and passion to see a winning team I reckon that in time we''ll see it - Glenn could quite easily have turned to Carl Cort today as an alternative (as he has done in the past few weeks) but for me today he gave in to the supporters, maybe he became the bigger man today and listened - time will tell.Anyway, ratings for the lads today in my opinion:Marshall: 9 - Fantastic performance, made an exceptional save from a pin-point header in the first half, we''re lucky to have him, we''ll be even luckier to have him on Feb 2nd.Omozusi: 6 - Nothing that really caught the eye, lost the ball needlessly a couple of times, taken off at HT.Doherty: 6 - Hardly solid, a tad careless with passes that put the team under pressure but all in all he did the job.Drury: 7 - Seeing as he was playing out of position he did a grand job, did well under pressure and looked very capable.Bertrand: 7 - Linked well with Pattison and Hoolahan, made some crunching yet fair tackles.Croft: 7 - A good game from Crofty today, ran at the defenders as per usual and was one of our main attacking forces.Clingan: 8 - This guy is a rock, just never stopped, a great performance.Fotheringham: 5 - Poor passing, poor decisions under no pressure, played the ball back to the Doc and Drury far too often.Pattison: 6: Didn''t think he was too bad in the first half, lacked creativity at times, taken off at HT.Russell: 7: Playing just behind Sibierski, did an okay job, cracked a couple of decent shots but none that troubled Elliot in goal.Sibierski: 4 - He had concrete in his boots.Subs:Otsemobor: 7 - A couple of good runs made in the secod half, linked up well with Croft.Hoolahan: 8 - Great control and had the ability to just take it past four or five players at once before opening up play with great passes, looked very sharp.Lupoli: 8 - Grabbed a goal which clearly meant a lot to him, had a great game after he came on, hopefully this will spur him on for the rest of the season. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Aussie Canary 0 Posted January 3, 2009 Just back myself and have to admit, both sides really need a change of luck and tact if they are going to pull away from the relegation scrap. This was my 5th away game this season and the most enjoyable by far, not in terms of what we saw on the pitch, but by the fantastic support and noise we made throughout the game. Hoolahan to me was the difference in us going out and still being in the draw for the next round, although he lost the ball on occasions it was only down to him trying something that was a bit more direct, I really think he just needs a proper run in the team not two games and bench him. As for Lupoli, well he done what we needed him do - SCORE, he looked lively and made some great runs, and we all certainly enjoyed his celebrations. Ratings: - Just my view (Yes Glen just a supporter''s view - that has not managed a football club!)Marshall: 9 - Pulled of some great saves and was commanding throughout the gameOmozusi: 6 - Not sure he was there - Hence the change - (Unless he was injured)Doherty: 6 - Ok but did not look as comfortable as his last couple of gamesDrury: 7 - Played with some real commitment and done very well, in a position he has only played a handful of timesBertrand: 6 - Again done ok, but got caught out a couple of times, I thought he pulled out of a couple of 50-50 balls as wellCroft: 7 - Ran hard as usual - final ball was a bit better today, just thought we needed to play him in more than we did as he had the beating of the full backClingan: 7.5 - Always there tidying up, real workhorse performanceFotheringham: 4 - I just don''t rate him, not creative enough, terrible first touch on too many occasions which put us under pressure in terrible positions, when he got the ball he went backwards (suprise). He just is not captain material. (Bad decision by Roeder to play him)Pattison: 6.5 - Solid performance - he is defintley getting more consistent, felt a bit sorry for him when he did not appear second half (unless injured?) Should have been fotheringham and put patty in the middle, alongside Clingan.Russel: 6.5 - Worked hard for the team, he is just not a striker - enough saidSibierski: 6 -For the support he got in the first half he did well, as the balls into him were poor. He did actually stay on his feet for most of the game, looked miles better when playing with Lupoli, they linked well.SubsOtsemobor: 6.5 - Much better link up with croft - Sometimes just seemed to hesitant about whether to push on or hold.Hoolahan: 8 - If only he would have started, the creative edge needed to unlock the door.Lupoli: 8 - Again needed to start - excellent running off the ball, and took the goal very well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bungay Canary 0 Posted January 3, 2009 doc and drury played well our two fullbacks were crap first half , hooligan was far better than patty but not worth 8 why the hell didnt rodent drop russell back into midfield and get rid of fotheringham instead of subbing him again .the mind boggles Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
O.T.B.C 0 Posted January 3, 2009 FA Cup Round 3The Valley03/01/09 - 15:00Attendance: 12,615Referee: Steve TannerStats: Charlton v Norwich 03/01/09 - 15:00Charlton1 - 1NorwichShelvey 20 Lupoli 71 Venue: The Valley Attendance: 12,615The TeamsElliot Marshall Moutaouakil Omozusi 45Fortune Doherty Holland Drury Basey Bertrand Sam Croft Shelvey 80 Fotheringham Semedo Clingan Bailey Pattison 45Bouazza Russell 64Burton 75 Sibierski SubstitutesRandolph Nelson Youga 75 Otsemobor 45Todorov Hoolahan 45Wright Lupoli 64Wagstaff Lappin Dickson 80 Smith McLeod Cort Game Statistics13Goal Attempts77On Target28Corners915Fouls100Yellow Cards10Red Cards047%53 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kick it off 1,927 Posted January 3, 2009 Just back myself - the joys of living in worcester and missing the 20past 6 from paddington by 2minutes because the f**king tube was shut for one station.Anyways, have to agree with the above comments, the only rating i particularly disagree with is Sibs - i dont like the guy, i dont think he''s tried whilst he''s been here but thought he had a decent game by his own poor standards, second half he looked a lot more interested and showed some nice touches and actually won a few balls in the air to be fair to him.Lupoli should be in the first eleven. end of. he would be the first name on my teamsheet in the situation we''re in at the moment, the whole team looked better when he came on, hoolahan had a very good game tooand really made the difference.You could really see that it meant alot to Loops to score today, and i also noticed he ran over to Roeder but couldnt see if he made a gesture of any kind. He was the only player who showed any real class today and looked the best player on the pitch. It only took us chanting his name 40million times before Roeder put him on too! Fans were exceptional today, apart from a 20minute lull at the end of the first half, has to be said though, i have never encountered support as sh*t as charlton 12000 when the most expensive ticket is a tenner and u18s get in for a quid is shocking. Even more so when 25% of them were our fans!! They sung their first song after 25minutes, absolutely pathetic, i hope they bomb down the leagues, their support deserves no better.On a tangent, did anyone else think Semmy was carrying a bit of xmas weight?Overall it was a poor game between two poor sides and didnt really liven up until we equalised. Last game for 8months for me as i''m going to be working abroad so a win would have been nice, but i enjoyed myself nonetheless. and i couldnt be more chuffed for Lupoli, not starting him today lost me even more confidence in roeder, he took his chance and deserves a run in the team. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites