Brennan

[DONT REMEMBER YOUR TENURE AS ENGLAND MANAGER 0]

I for one am very surprised not to have seen Brennan play any part this season. Brennan played some of his pre-season football for Canada and was one of their outstanding performers. From what i heard he was ok in pre season for the mighty yellows. I think the guys deserves a chance. If anyone remembers the excellent Forest side which included Huckerby, the pair of them seemed to have a real good understanding, which with the Hucks always on a lone furrow, Brennan could be the midfield support to aid the Hucks. I was at the Coventry away game and the Brennan goal was superb, very reminiscent of the damage the pair caused when they played for Forest.

Just to add i am enjoying the season immensely, and i must admit i kinda got used to Division one football, and wasn''t to bothered about the premiership, but after eight games i love that we are a premiership side again, and i would be gutted to go down, but i have every confidence in everyone at this club. It is so important that we keep our expectation levels realistic, and not get on the players backs no matter how bad they are playing. Portsmouth fans performance against Arsenal when they lost 5-0 at home is a prime example, of how to back your club.

Anyway the future is yellow.

Peace to y''all, Dazza

 

 

[Ayrton Twigge 0]

Agree with your views on Brennan - where is he. He''s strong defensively, can operate left midfield, gets forward - and has a great shot.

Interested in your point about the standard of football.

Like you, I was happy enough on Div 1 fayre, especially when we were winning. But haven bitten into the Premiership apple, boy it tastes good. Its not just the football quality, its all the hype and interest that surrounds it. Lots of media attention increases the interest no end and widens the circle to the peripheral or occaisional football follower. All of a sudden, Norwich are far more widely known, players names recognised,  etc etc.

Yesterday I was in a pub at lunchtime and saw some of the Coventry-Ipswich game. Forgetting for the moment it was Ipswich, I have to say it was pretty dire. The football quality was poor - but the overall package was way below that we''ve now become used to. Frankly, if football were a person, then this was definitely John Major - grey and boring.

Nigel and the boys must be feeling the same as us. The Board too, I hope.

Lets make sure we don''t return pronto.

[nolegs 0]

Have to agree,its been dissapointing that he''s been noticable by his absence.I don''t normally give any credence to the "conspiracy" theories oft vented on this site but someone ,somewhere must have some idea why he''s not had even a sniff at the 1st team squad.....is that someone out there???

[bananaman 0]

Speculation I reckon.

And ''m not talking about Brennan''s "disappearance" either.

Yes, he "could" be the missing piece of the jigsaw, he "might" do well with Hucks, he "can" get forward and have a shot but WILL HE? Well, that''s an entirely different matter.

And I for one believe that if the answer was staring Nigel in the face, he would have used it by now.

Every other player that has been let go by Nigel has not been missed by the club - I don''t believe that Nigel would let a personal vendetta come between him and some premiership victories.

I just think that Brennan is our stand-in leftback/left winger.

[Morph 19]

Actually given all the flak that Holt is getting in this forum would Brennan be another option as a replacement for Holt. Stick Brennan in the middle of the park and see:

a) how good his distribution is;
b) how good he puts in the effort up and down the park.

I have to say what little I have seen of Holt there isn''t many in the squad that will match his stamina. But as many have been saying there''s more to the Premiership than stamina.

On the more negative side perhaps Brennan is another one of those players, like Mullers now, whose face does not fit the picture that Worthy has of the team. Both are being unfairly dealt with, in my opinion.

[Fife Canary 0]

Agree that Worthington usually has a good eye for who is/isn''t good enough. Although 18 months ago a certain Nacho Novo had a weeks trial at Norwich (when he was at Raith) and failed to make the grade. He''s banging them in fairly at the moment for Rangers - just the striker we could do with right now.

[Canary Boy 0]

I for one am a great admirer of Jim Brennan. He is naturally gifted and would have liked to have seen him play some part up till now. The question is...where?

We know his place is usually left sided but with Jonson now looking to feature more (he did well on Saturday) it looks even more likely that Brennan is not going to get a look in.

I have heard that he does not put enough hard work in and this is opposite to NW''s thinking. However, I don''t consider Jim a lazy person. From what little I have seen of him in matches, he always gives his all.

The problem is, Worthy seems to like the hard work/ball winning style of midfield and although there is nothing wrong with this, I think most would agree we need an Ian Crook...someone who can play a killer pass through defense beating everybody. I haven''t seen Norwich do that for a long time! Safri has shown signs of it and Mulryne can sometimes but they just don''t seem to be fitting Worthy''s style at the moment.

Still, REALLY enjoying life in the Premiership...we all wanted it and here it is...and you know what?

I have a sneaky feeling we are going to be out of relegation in the next few weeks!!!

[FatMan Fat 0]

Unfortunately Brennan is in the Malky/Mullers Club in that he will not get a fair crack under Mr W.

Despite that I have no doubt that many will leap to N.W''s defence.

The next member will be Thomas Helveg so I hear.

Oh, and the net result of Nigel''s management - we are now bottom of the Premier

[NavMan 0]

Yes and the reason we are bottom is because West Brom, Crystal Palace and Us all had home games against teams who we all if we wish to stay up should be capable of beating especially at home.  Two of the three managed it.  We did''nt. Hence psychologically now we are bottom it is now going to be even tougher to climb the league especially with our next game being a 6 pointer against West Brom away.  Lose that one and that would be two games with only one point out of our clutter of 10 which everyone said we must get a good haul of points from as these are the teams apparently on a level par with us.  In order to stay up we will need 10 wins as well as a few draws to reach the required points.  In all honestly I cant see where these 10 wins are going to come from.  Pray god I eat my words but I am only being realistic. Lets just hope the Tarn dont come up and pass us on the way down. 

[NavMan 0]

Yes and the reason we are bottom is because West Brom, Crystal Palace and Us all had home games against teams who we all if we wish to stay up should be capable of beating especially at home.  Two of the three managed it.  We did''nt. Hence psychologically now we are bottom it is now going to be even tougher to climb the league especially with our next game being a 6 pointer against West Brom away.  Lose that one and that would be two games with only one point out of our clutter of 10 which everyone said we must get a good haul of points from as these are the teams apparently on a level par with us.  In order to stay up we will need 10 wins as well as a few draws to reach the required points.  In all honestly I cant see where these 10 wins are going to come from.  Pray god I eat my words but I am only being realistic. Lets just hope the Tarn dont come up and pass us on the way down. 

[Bayern Eunuch 0]

Come on . it took NW 6 games and 45 mins of humiliation at Anfield before he finally gave in and put Mckenzie in the team. How many points will be adrift before he stops giving JB the cold shoulder too? Looks like he''ll get a season in the reserves and then we''ll give him away shocking though it is.The fact remains that we should stop making excuses for having a difficult start and recognise we should have beaten CP and Portsmouth.

[bananaman 0]

The fact is that you don''t know the facts.The fact is that Brennan may not be the answer, but so desperate are you to chop and change, you are convinced he is.What makes you certain that he will be the man to change our fortunes? What makes you certain that Leon will be too?

[susie b 0]

I want to put a positive (some might say foolish) slant on us being bottom at the moment.  We are equal on points with Palace and Southampton - yes - but we have lost three (we all know who to) and have drawn five, whereas Palace and the Saints have lost five and not all five were to teams that are most likely going to end up in the top six or so.  Ok, I might be clutching at straws and, yes, I would be among those of you saying that wins against Palace, Portsmouth and maybe even Villa could and should have been executed, but it would be far worse, I believe, if we had been beaten in those and other games (e.g. Spurs and Newcastle) and cut adrift already with our confidence in tatters.  Once that first win is achieved we will have a springboard into these vital October/November fixtures, so the sooner the better...it goes without saying.  (Another positive from yesterday''s result was the form, or lack of, of Fulham.  They seem to be pushing the self-destruct button, which again could be good news for us). 

[alex_ncfc 644]

Saw Jimmy Brennan last night at the roadshow at Atlantis. He looked mighty fed up (well ok, they all did) and when the team were asked by someone in the audence who they were most looking forward to playing, Brennan''s reply was "Anyone", "would be nice just to get a game"! And you can see where he''s coming from. Wasted talent in our squad, with he, Helveg, etc always missing out.

[ZLF 271]

Last season Brennan and McVeigh swapped positions on the left flank virtually week in week out because neither was consistent enough to make the position their own. Like Mullers it is unlikely that they will improve enormously in the next league up.

I dont think there is much doubt that Brennan is a good left back but Drury is the better option. This season Bentley has first stab at left wing and more games like Sat and there can be no dispute about that either. As Jonson is the right midfielder and I dont think Brennan has ever played centre midfield (may be worth a go in the reserves though) I dont see a place in the starting line for him. This leaves the subs bench.

Brennan was better defensively and got forward well, while McVeigh is far more inventive and gives us a spark or creativity but is still lacking when working back. Given our main issue is scoring goals and creating chances I would always go with the option of McVeigh. Helveg and Doc give us defensive options and some versatility which leaves only 1 other subs spot which like Worthy I would give to an out and out striker - preferably Jarvis but I am happy for it to be Sven.

When we have a bigger squad it is inevitable that some players will rarely get a game - Brennan is one of these unless Drury gets injured.

OTBC

OTBC

[DumbleDelia is Magic 0]

I have been an admirer of Brennan ever since he shrugged off his awful injury.  It''s hard to find a naturally left footed player who can swing in a good cross.  Obviously we don''t know what goes on behind closed doors but I''m still in the "trust Worthy" camp.  He''s sees these players everyday, knows how they perform and knows their temprement.  Surely his judgement is best?

[bananaman 0]

But ... but ... but ... Brennan is awesome dude, and surely the best player we''ve got, and the answer to our prayers, and shows EVERYONE that Worthington can''t man manage, and ... and ... and ....Sensible words Zipper. Brennan is our stand in leftwing/leftback. Therefore he will not play much.Now - those people that want to glorify Brennan UNTIL he has two bad games and goes in the same rubbish bag as Svensson, Helveg, Holt, Jonson et al please feel free to do so.But I believe that he is deservedly on the fringe at the moment, and may get his chance with injuries.Then we''ll see.

[Bayern Eunuch 0]

[quote]The fact is that you don''t know the facts.The fact is that Brennan may not be the answer, but so desperate are you to chop and change, you are convinced he is.What makes you certain that he will be th...[/quote]

Bananaman,

Do you not think McKenzie''s return was belated and that once the Newcastle honeymoon was over that it was apparent that Doherty wasn''t the answer?

As for Brennan, I''m not advocating that he replaces Drury or that he is an option for anywhere but left midfield where I personally think he can provide defensive support for Drury and attacking support for Hucks. Its not a call for chopping and changing - its a view I''ve held since the start of the season after reading pre-season match reports.
True, there may be an underlying reason for Brennan''s omission but he hasn''t even made it to the bench and its not unreasonable to ask why.

p.s. I have never agreed with the Holt bashers.

[bananaman 0]

No, you''re right, a change was due up front. However, I am reading on this board comments like "We always knew Mackenzie was the answer up front" but I was TOTALLY unconvinced by his performance on Sat.

Sure, he harrasses defenders but we were still not good as a team, highlighting that it''s not just the personell that need changing but the tactics and awareness on the field.

I believe that all of our players are capable of filling each other''s role (perhaps Green and Hucks are irreplaceable), and should be picked on form and training application.

The way that the team performs runs much deeper than "pick him ahead of him" and should be looked at as a whole unit, rather than the notion that changing one player for another will affect everything.

[ZLF 271]

I think totally unconvinced by Mackenzie overstates it a bit! The team formation had a huge influence too but Leons overall performance was head and shoulders better than any put in by The Doc or Sven.

Unlike them he was actually looked like he might score and also created chances for others. Over the last few games the number of times Hux other partners have looked like scoring is minimal.

My big concern with Leon is how many chances does he need? Not one of three good chances on Sat were on target, had the have been we would probably have had a win - with the 1st half header the worst example.

Now if we had Leons mobility on Svens body I can see we would be on a winner!

OTBC