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Rivers and the mysterious art of crossing a ball

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Christ. The man is a winger and he cannot hit a decent cross to save his life. He beats a man, shandies around a bit more and looks chuffed when he wins a corner. Edworthy should take him aside and give him some lessons.

Not sure if I mentioned this in my piece a few weeks back on Francis not being played on the right of midfield but , according to the video database on the Canaries site, the last time Rivers got an assist was August 2002 on the opening day of the season against Grimsby. For a winger that is plainly not good enough.

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Blimey - good research!! I agree, though - he''s never been able to cross a ball convincingly, and your statistic is proof that something''s wrong. Whilst he''s good running at players (thankfully he''s been better at this of late), the final ball is lacking. Given that he''s not in the side for his workrate or defensive abilities, what is he in there for? Maybe a central role would suit him?

However, I''m not sure I''d like to see Francis out wide instead. If he gets fit, surely it''s time for Alex Notman to get another go? He seems to work harder, and (from the little I''ve seen of him between injuries) appears to be able to cross the ball better than Rivers.

Any thoughts?

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Phew, a similar set of views! As you say, I agree Rivers is good going at players but how often does he stop and look up and lose the chance?

Francis if far better through the middle. He looked totally lost vs Wimbledon on the right and was taken off at half time vs Wigan for the same reason I think. This obviously leaves us with a slight conundrum as to where to play Mulryne (if at all!).

The best crosser of a ball we had was Steeno and I was gutted to see him go. Edworthy and Harper knock in a decent ball but the lack of ability to put in a decent ball from Rivers does, as you say, raise a question mark over his value to the team as a whole. We can''t play him as an out and out striker like last night either!

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I think that''s a little unfair - after all, we didn''t have any front men capable of receiving assists last season. Nor did we have any midfielders giving him options. He''s not the best winger but he does very well at drawing defenders out of the box. Now that we finally have a) someone for him to aim for and b) two decent strikers to pick up on his hard work, we should see some vast improvement. Personally I think he started this season better than any, and his ability is very much down to his confidence. Let''s make sure we don''t start destroying that like we have with Easton.

By the way, I thought he did very well last night, but you''re right, he''s not an out and out striker!

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Sorry folks I can''t beleive what I''m reading here. One of the great things that came out of last nights super performance was the way Rivers came in and ''did a Huckerby'' - well almost! Surely he can''t have a higher accolade than that.
All this business about crossing a ball is one of the biggest discussion points with all supporters in whatever team you support. I agree Rivers can be frustrating but I understand his best position at Crewe was as a striker or just behind. Certainly that''s where he looked dangerous when he played against us.
As I say; elsewhere on this board we are reflecting on a goods night work from both team and supporters and yet here we are reverting to Rivers bashing.
Of course the great thing about this board and others are the opinions expressed by us all but for me he is, at the very least, a damn good squad member and did a great job last night.

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I don''t think we''ve destroyed Clint''s confidence, I simply believe he isn''t good enough to play at this level. I don''t hurl abuse at him (I appreciate that''s counter-productive) but I don''t think he works hard enough, nor has the ability to get away with not working hard enough. His aimless jogging around the pitch and non-effective passing doesn''t help us and it''s no coincidence that we look a better side with McVeigh down the left.

Don''t forget that Rivers still had Roberts to aim for last year - and let''s be fair to the big man, he''s doing ok so far this season - yet his never set anything up. I agree that his start to the season has been impressive, but he still doesn''t provide dangerous crosses, which is essentially what he''s in the team for. I hope he goes on to prove me wrong, of course, but I think a few sessions after training working on whipping the ball into the box wouldn''t go amiss!!

But, working on the Steeno idea of "no pace but can cross a ball", what about Mulryne out wide?

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I wonder if some of the contributors to this topic were at West Ham Last night. Perhaps Bury Yellow and I were at a different match. Why bash Rivers- on the night overall he did better than Hucks who was a marked man. After all I think we all agree the team played better in the second half than the first. If we can proove that we can still play well without Hucks it will keep his price down hopefully. You must still play the long game with regard to players their cost and wages etc. We showed last night that we do have the ability to live with the top teams. I only wish we will learn to close down players as well as West ham did to us. Just compare the time we had to make a shot compared with the half a dozen clear chances that the opposition created. It will come keep giving the support that was there last night.

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Hi Heraldo. How are you? Haven''t seen you for some time. I agree with you and Bury Yellow. More importantly however...Does anyone know who those girls were at half time parading around the ground?
Let''s sign them up for Carrow Road. The whole night changed for the better from half time onwards.
PS Don''t tell Doomcaster - far too exciting, far too adventurous!!

Keep it Low

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I think the original point has been missed here by many.

The first three opportunities Rivers had to cross the ball from the right all resulted in either the ball being cut out by the first defender, or the cross was too long. Whether or not there was a target to receive the ball is irrelevant if he consistently fails to deliver suitable dangerous balls into the box.

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No assist since August 2002? Are you joking? He assisted the last goal of last season against Preston for Mulryne. He''s also scored 4 goals this season - more than Huckerby, Crouch or anyone else.

Rivers was superb against West Ham and gets too much unjustified stick.

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if you were at west brom yesterday you would have seen what an embaressment he was to the team .thank god worthy took him off at half time he is just not good enough.

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Sorry, I was only going by the video search on the website. So, we have an assist vs Grimbsy (Aug 02) and an assist vs Preston (May 02). Hmmmmm. Hardly consistent is he. The point raised above that he is better as a striker may be true (excluding his clearance from under Pompey''s bar a couple of year back), but the truth is that as a winger he is not good enough.

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I agree with you he isn''t good enough, he has had long enough here to prove his worth, and I don''t think he has, he is an enigma. he can be outstanding, frustrating or doing his impression of the invisible man.. We have christened him Marmite.. ypu either love it or hate it.. Sorry Mr Rivers your time has ebb away

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