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NCFC_Shaun

Todays game - much better.

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Really impressed with the performance today, played some lovely football and proved we were no pushovers against a team 2 divisions higher than us. Not sure why Gunn decided to play Chris Martin left mid, although he didn''t do too badly there and not sure why Cody McDonald came on in left mid either.
Anyway, some individual pointers;

Hoolahan - ran the show for me. Was everywhere, involved in the play, starting all of our attacking moves. Wasn''t afraid to challenge and although he lacks pace, his ability on the ball makes up for it. His ball to Whaley for our winner was superb.

Spillane - Don''t rule him out as a potential starter in the game against Colchester at centre-back, especially after this performance. A good game from him. Rarely put a foot wrong and looked calm and composed on the ball when he could bring it out of defence. When he needed to get rid asap, there was no problems either.

Otsemobor - Brilliant. Twice the player we saw last season. Many people seem to want a new right-back, but I certainly dont after this performance. Constantly overlapping Whaley, getting into forward positions, brilliant peices of skill to beat his man, and using his pace to create chances as he did for Martins first.

Martin - Continues to impress me since returning from Luton. Again looked composed on the ball, happy to hold play up rather than give it to someone else at every opportunity, and seems to be putting a lot of effort into games. Also, did a good job in left midfield which is, in my opinion, not his best position. I would expect him to start on saturday now after 2 good games and 2 goals.

Whaley - Looked promising. Much better positioning than he seemed to have against Man Utd. Created space out wide and used it. Unfortunately, a few of his crosses were extremely bad and I''m hoping this isn''t going to be a major problem with his overall game like it was with Croft. Did really well for his goal - used his pace, got into a dangerous position and produced a nice finish.

Matt Gill - Was pleasantly suprised. I wasn''t too sure that Gill would be a good signing but today he looked really good. Not afraid to stick his foot in, produced some good challenges to win the ball back and wasn''t too bad with the ball at his feet either. Did particularly well in the build up for Whaleys winner - combining with Hoolahan in the break away.

 

Owain Tudor-Jones - I can see why people are so impressed with him as he does do a lot of the donkey-work. Braking up play and using his strength in the middle of the park. But he doesn''t stand out for me and I was still not overly impressed with his ability on the ball. One particular moment when he tried some ''skill'' and ended up flicking the ball straight to a Wigan player. Nevertheless, I think we could do with a strong player like him in the middle in league 1.

Grant Holt - Had plenty of time to impress today, but didn''t really do it for me. Didn''t seem to do much apart from a few decent knock downs with his head and a decent effort on goal. However, I don''t think this was helped by the fact he was playing against a premiership defence as a lone striker. Thought he could have done with Martin or McDonald alongside him.

Hughes - biggest dissapointment of the game for me. I was really excited about his signing and felt he would be an excellent player for us. It was his first game so there is plenty of time to improve and I hope he does - but didn''t get into the game at all today. Was much more impressed by Gill in the middle.

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Holt is a fantastic player, when he had players near him he never gave the ball away - I agree he needs Cody/Chris to play alongside him just for some link up play, heskey style.Hats off to Otsemobor, he had a stonking match.

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[quote user="missing in action"]martin was playing at LM because hoolahan kept wandering off when he was supposed to be there!
[/quote]

I''m quite sure he wasn''t. He was clearly supposed ot be playing left-mid with Hoolahan having a free role in the centre behind Holt.

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[quote user="NCFC_Shaun"]

Spillane - Don''t rule him out as a potential starter in the game against Colchester at centre-back

[/quote]

Unless we''ve got injury and fitness problems it ain''t going to happen. Not good enough, too weak.

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[quote user="NCFC_Shaun"]

[quote user="missing in action"]martin was playing at LM because hoolahan kept wandering off when he was supposed to be there![/quote]

I''m quite sure he wasn''t. He was clearly supposed ot be playing left-mid with Hoolahan having a free role in the centre behind Holt.

[/quote]im sorry, but chris martin is a striker, supposed to be playing upfront, the same thing happened the other week when hooly went walkies and martin was chasing balls in the full back channel.He spent a lot of time on that left side today. id rather he spent more time up top that having to play out of his position to allow hoolahans random waltzes into nowhere....

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So did Ots leave NZogbia unmark from the set piece?

Hearing lts of postives with him getting forward but right back is a defensive role - did he cost us as well as create us a goal today?

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[quote user="missing in action"][quote user="NCFC_Shaun"]

[quote user="missing in action"]martin was playing at LM because hoolahan kept wandering off when he was supposed to be there!
[/quote]

I''m quite sure he wasn''t. He was clearly supposed ot be playing left-mid with Hoolahan having a free role in the centre behind Holt.

[/quote]
im sorry, but chris martin is a striker, supposed to be playing upfront, the same thing happened the other week when hooly went walkies and martin was chasing balls in the full back channel.
He spent a lot of time on that left side today. id rather he spent more time up top that having to play out of his position to allow hoolahans random waltzes into nowhere....

[/quote]

 

Well, others seem to agree it was a 5 man midfield - http://www.pinkun.com/cs/forums/1781480/ShowPost.aspx Yes he''s a striker, but that doesn''t mean he''s not playing left-midfield. Christopher Samba is a centre-bnack. When he played upfront last season, was he ''supposed'' to be playing centre-back aswell?

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[quote user="ZippersLeftFoot"]So did Ots leave NZogbia unmark from the set piece? Hearing lts of postives with him getting forward but right back is a defensive role - did he cost us as well as create us a goal today?[/quote]

Nope, not from what I saw. N Zogbia cut in slightly from the right, meaning it was no where near Otsemobors area. I think it was Doherty who missed the challenge and he scored, although it was very nice footwork from N''Zogbia.

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martin was playing at LM because hoolahan kept wandering off when he was supposed to be there!

I''m quite sure he wasn''t. He was clearly supposed ot be playing left-mid with Hoolahan having a free role in the centre behind Holt.

im sorry, but chris martin is a striker, supposed to be playing upfront, the same thing happened the other week when hooly went walkies and martin was chasing balls in the full back channel.He spent a lot of time on that left side today. id rather he spent more time up top that having to play out of his position to allow hoolahans random waltzes into nowhere....

To me it sounded like Martin was asked to play left and Hoolahan to roam - and to most he seems to have done so v effectively. Hux had the same tendency to go to the left flank in the champs and prem - if Hoolahan can have that effect against a prem side he should be able to do the same against league one teams surely???

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I agree with Shaun''s appraisal of the players (apart, perhaps, for Semmy who was better but I''ll wait to see how is concentration is for a few games)

As for Wes, he was playing in the middle - Martin was most definitely playing out on the left of a 4/5/1 or 4-3-3 style formation. Considering it''s not a natural position for him he did well, coming in from the left to score his goals.

Wes was MOM for me, running the show. Despite that, he was at fault for the first goal and needs to learn to cure that Huckerby-itus (the temptation to take one just one more player, and one more, and one more...)

All in all very promising.

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[quote user="NCFC_Shaun"][quote user="missing in action"][quote user="NCFC_Shaun"]

[quote user="missing in action"]martin was playing at LM because hoolahan kept wandering off when he was supposed to be there![/quote]

I''m quite sure he wasn''t. He was clearly supposed ot be playing left-mid with Hoolahan having a free role in the centre behind Holt.

[/quote]im sorry, but chris martin is a striker, supposed to be playing upfront, the same thing happened the other week when hooly went walkies and martin was chasing balls in the full back channel.He spent a lot of time on that left side today. id rather he spent more time up top that having to play out of his position to allow hoolahans random waltzes into nowhere....[/quote]

 

Well, others seem to agree it was a 5 man midfield - http://www.pinkun.com/cs/forums/1781480/ShowPost.aspx Yes he''s a striker, but that doesn''t mean he''s not playing left-midfield. Christopher Samba is a centre-bnack. When he played upfront last season, was he ''supposed'' to be playing centre-back aswell?

[/quote]im not saying martin didnt play on the left today, he spent a lot of time there. most of the time. thought it silly that we had hoolahan bouncing around the place, when he is a good left footed player, maybe oughta have pinned him left and kept martin up top. and i find it very frustrating when you find a fragile player like him losing the ball in bad positions (first goal) and whilst he is creative, he goes missing, doesnt help in terms of marking etc when you have alad out there, no idea where he is running to next. not a set position.

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[quote user="NCFC_Shaun"]

[quote user="ZippersLeftFoot"]So did Ots leave NZogbia unmark from the set piece? Hearing lts of postives with him getting forward but right back is a defensive role - did he cost us as well as create us a goal today?[/quote]

Nope, not from what I saw. N Zogbia cut in slightly from the right, meaning it was no where near Otsemobors area. I think it was Doherty who missed the challenge and he scored, although it was very nice footwork from N''Zogbia.

[/quote]

Accept that Doc missed the challenge - but suggestion was NZogbia (who I think is a fab player) unmarked from a set piece - some one (and it wasnt doc) should have been picking him up...

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If Hoolahan moves into the middle he is bound to take one or two players with him, thus freeing up space for Martin to drift in from the left and hopefully score goals like he did today.Players like Hoolahan need to be given the freedom to roam and create, to prevent this would mean he could be easily picked up by the opposition. One of the best things Gunn has done is to allow Wes to have the freedom to do this.

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Cheers for the run down Shaun.Very interesting[Y] Slightly OT but what was the crowd like today?

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[quote user="missing in action?"][quote user="NCFC_Shaun"]

[quote user="missing in action"]martin was playing at LM because hoolahan kept wandering off when he was supposed to be there!
[/quote]

I''m quite sure he wasn''t. He was clearly supposed ot be playing left-mid with Hoolahan having a free role in the centre behind Holt.

[/quote]
im sorry, but chris martin is a striker, supposed to be playing upfront, the same thing happened the other week when hooly went walkies and martin was chasing balls in the full back channel.
He spent a lot of time on that left side today. id rather he spent more time up top that having to play out of his position to allow hoolahans random waltzes into nowhere....

[/quote

What are you talking about!!?, today''s formation was clearly designed to match Wigan''s style of play with 3 in midfield. If we had have gone in against them with 442 we could have got murdered. I''m sure when the season starts against side of our "own level", it''ll be 442 Hoolahan left and two strikers.

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[quote user="Herman "]Cheers for the run down Shaun.Very interesting[Y] Slightly OT but what was the crowd like today?[/quote]

 

8-thousand and something. Not bad, really.

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[quote user="GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary"][quote user="missing in action?"][quote user="NCFC_Shaun"]

[quote user="missing in action"]martin was playing at LM because hoolahan kept wandering off when he was supposed to be there![/quote]

I''m quite sure he wasn''t. He was clearly supposed ot be playing left-mid with Hoolahan having a free role in the centre behind Holt.

[/quote]im sorry, but chris martin is a striker, supposed to be playing upfront, the same thing happened the other week when hooly went walkies and martin was chasing balls in the full back channel.He spent a lot of time on that left side today. id rather he spent more time up top that having to play out of his position to allow hoolahans random waltzes into nowhere....[/quote

What are you talking about!!?, today''s formation was clearly designed to match Wigan''s style of play with 3 in midfield. If we had have gone in against them with 442 we could have got murdered. I''m sure when the season starts against side of our "own level", it''ll be 442 Hoolahan left and two strikers.

[/quote]i would sincerely hope so as we need set formations and not the fluidness we had today, prem teams usually allow open football. and time on the ball. wont have that advantage in  league 1

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[quote user="ZippersLeftFoot"][quote user="NCFC_Shaun"]

[quote user="ZippersLeftFoot"]So did Ots leave NZogbia unmark from the set piece? Hearing lts of postives with him getting forward but right back is a defensive role - did he cost us as well as create us a goal today?[/quote]

Nope, not from what I saw. N Zogbia cut in slightly from the right, meaning it was no where near Otsemobors area. I think it was Doherty who missed the challenge and he scored, although it was very nice footwork from N''Zogbia.

[/quote] Accept that Doc missed the challenge - but suggestion was NZogbia (who I think is a fab player) unmarked from a set piece - some one (and it wasnt doc) should have been picking him up...[/quote]

Oh, erm. Well I''m not too sure who that would have been. But wouldn''t have been Otsemobor as he came further in from the right, not the left. Meaning he would have been no where near Otsemobor''s area.

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Very worried if Gunn plays that formation in league 1. Holt on his own upfront must have been thinking what the hell have I joined. Get someone along side him Gunn or your going to waste a goal scorer. Waley o.k for me not great, OTJ not a good game, Hoolahan brilliant, Spillane solid, Otsemobor - best game i''ve seen him play, the rest very average. I don''t think Gunn knows his best team so get ready for chop and change from week to week. Other than that not too bad, but remember league 1 teams are not going to keep the ball down and play like Wigan did today. Hoolahan will get smashed every time he''s on the ball and not sure if we can afford to let him have a free role.

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[quote user="Herman "] Slightly OT but what was the crowd like today?[/quote]

Just under 9,000.  I was expecting slightly more but it is peak holiday time.

 

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[quote user="canary cherub "]

[quote user="Herman "] Slightly OT but what was the crowd like today?[/quote]

Just under 9,000.  I was expecting slightly more but it is peak holiday time.

 

[/quote]

Start winning first few games, we willget a over 20k ,if we lose i dont expect much more then 18k....

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[quote user="canary cherub "]

[quote user="Herman "] Slightly OT but what was the crowd like today?[/quote]

Just under 9,000.  I was expecting slightly more but it is peak holiday time.

 

[/quote]

And it wasn''t Man Utd''s youth team [;)]

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Some interesting comments but wouldn''t agree with them all. Otsemobor twice the player from last season? Hardly. Offensively good, defensively poor. I think with Nelson, Askou and Stefanovic coming back, Spillane will be utilised as a right back over Otsemobor because he is defensively stronger. But I agree that he had a good game at center half, and good to know we have options. Martin on the left didn''t do it for me, and only when he was pushed further up and encouraged to push forward did he start coming into it. Whale I agree, Gill I agree - but I felt Hughes was decent enough and would put him on a par with Gill. Was more impressed with Tudur Jones than both Gill and Hughes. 

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[quote user="CT "]If Otsemobor is better at going forwards than defensively then why the hell is he a right back?

Going forward as much as he did today is always going to leave us exposed.
[/quote]

 

Jesus. Can he win? If he doesn''t get forward people claim he will ''get a nose bleed if he passes the half way line''. Yet if he does get forward, he''s leaving us exposed [:|]

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[quote user="NCFC_Shaun"]

[quote user="CT "]If Otsemobor is better at going forwards than defensively then why the hell is he a right back?Going forward as much as he did today is always going to leave us exposed. [/quote]

 

Jesus. Can he win? If he doesn''t get forward people claim he will ''get a nose bleed if he passes the half way line''. Yet if he does get forward, he''s leaving us exposed [:|]

[/quote]Is him getting forward lots going to leave us exposed? Nothing wrong with that statement. Sometimes I think you criticise my posts for the sake of it...  You are getting very very boring my friend.

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[quote user="CT "][quote user="NCFC_Shaun"]

[quote user="CT "]If Otsemobor is better at going forwards than defensively then why the hell is he a right back?

Going forward as much as he did today is always going to leave us exposed.
[/quote]

 

Jesus. Can he win? If he doesn''t get forward people claim he will ''get a nose bleed if he passes the half way line''. Yet if he does get forward, he''s leaving us exposed [:|]

[/quote]

Is him getting forward lots going to leave us exposed? Nothing wrong with that statement.
 Sometimes I think you criticise my posts for the sake of it...  You are getting very very boring my friend.
[/quote]

 

Erm ... right [^o)]

I stand by what I said. It makes no difference if you said it or if anybody else said it. He can''t win either way.

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As much as I like Semmy to go forward the big problem is that it then takes him another 5 minutes to actually get back into position.

But in general good performance today and if we play like that against colchester shouldnt have too many problems.

Did anyone else not find Wigans support slightly pathetic. I mean i know its pre season but there couldnt have been more than 100 of their fans their and for a premier league club thats pretty poor. Was anyone else not getting annyoed by that fat women in the wigan crowd who kept on shouting come on wigan

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