Tonight's Game - Player Ratings

[sgncfc 1,089]

All of these subject to me not knowing who lost his man for the first goal, but general comment is that we were outplayed in midfield for 75 minutes (until he brought Hughes on). Defence wasn''t that bad, strikers weren''t good. We fell apart again after they scored the first and for 20 minutes were as bad as against Colchester.

 

Alnwick - 6 - one good save, otherwise no chance with either goal

Spillane - 5 - did OK

Askou - 6 - our best player on the night

Doc - 5 - gave away the usual free kicks from which we were lucky they didn''t score

Drury 5- OK again

Gill - 3 - just doesn''t get involved enough and doesn''t tackle. Passes sideways, and forward distribution is appalling.

Tudur Jones - 5 - some promise there, but again he disappears for long periods and doesn''t put it about like a man of his stature should do. Good shot on him though, just needs to be more positive.

Whalley - 3 - dreadful. Just dreadful. When he went off we almost instantly improved and became the better side.

Hoolahan -5 - Tried hard again but always had two or three on him and no ball winning support. At the heart of everything going forward.

Holt - 4 - Pretty poor. Can''t fault the effort, but lack of quality is obvious. Not the answer. He will score a few but not enough.

McDonald - 3- if Cureton had missed the two or three decent chances he has had in the last 3 games, you lot would be going mad. Pacey and a trier but he isn''t going to get the goals we need.

 

Subs - Hughes 6 - potentially our best player. Quality.

           Martin 6 - had one excellent effort which brought a decent save and got involved, but also missed a decent chance.

 

We could and should have got something from this game. Brentford wanted it more and worked their socks off - same old story.

[Sam-NCFC 0]

[quote user="sgncfc"]

Subs - Hughes 6 - potentially our best player. Quality.

[/quote]Quality and only a 6?

[Excited Canary 17]

Well he didn''t have long did he Sam?

[Excited Canary 17]

I mean "Well Hughes didn''t have enough time to make a real impact did he?"

[felixstowe canary 0]

Alnwick- 6 ................Did little wrong, no chance with either goal  kicing couldve been betterDrury - 4..............Needs to leave for the sake of Norwich and his own career.  Looks a shadow of his former selfDoherty-2...........Time for him to leave im afraid.  No pace, no positional awareness, got beaten in the air countless times.  Certainly not the leader our team needs  Hads on hips, head down after both goals, couldnt see him organising things eitherAskou-4.............Did ok in the air, but again not quick and bullied by their front two on occasions  Will get better imho, but needs to not play next to DohertySpillane-4.................few decent interchanges down the right, but in general poor.Hoolahan (first 80 minutes-3, last ten minutes 6)......Poor to start  Gave the ball away and dwelled on it too often, and did not want to stick his foot in where it could get hurt.  At 2-0 down after 80 minutes, came into the game and started to orchestrate our attack  Must improve, but must stay, is clearly going to be at the centre of all that is goo about our creative play this seasonGIll-2  Might as well of not played tonightTudor-Jones-3  Looks lost in the midfield batlle, gets beaten in the air too much for someone his size  and didnt make his presence felt Whaley-3  Poor  Looked bright on occassions, but no end product what-so-everHolt-5   Poor service, but never stopped trying  Is not the target man we neeed thoughCody-5  Bright, but raw.  Clearly has talent, but more reseerve games needed for meMartin-5 Did ok but no real impactHughes-6  Got it down and kept it well  needs to start

Fans at 0-0   10   excellent, good atmosphere, good banter with the home fans and not too many dissenting tonesFans at 1-0 onwards     0   Silence  (i was sat in the brentford end)  we couldnt hear a peep from the away end

[Being Jan Kristiansen... 0]

We looked ok going forward but abysmal at the back. Priority has to be two

new centre backs and a confidence inspiring goalie.

Alnwick - 5 – He did do one good save but his distribution was awful and he

looked very nervous on crosses.

Spillane - 5 – Got forward ok, without threatening to do anything

productive and defended ok but was beaten for pace a couple of times. He is a

solid player.

Askou - 4 – He was a complete lump. His best moments were when he had

to head the ball away. When the ball was at his feet he would just punt it

aimlessly up the pitch. Got turned way to easily too.

Doc - 4 – I could write exactly the same as I did for Askou. If I was a

forward in League One I would be rubbing my hands with glee over the prospect

of play against these two. I don’t care if Stevanovich is a mercenary. We need

footballers.

Drury 6- Was pretty solid in the tackle and

distributed ok. It is tough having Hoolahan playing in front of you as there

isn’t much cover.             

Gill - 2 – Forgot he was on the pitch for the first 25 minutes. When I

remembered I though that I would watch him for a few minutes to see what he was

doing. This is what I saw: …………………………………..

Tudur Jones - 5 – He can tackle, play the ball simple and score from free

kicks. He is the definition of towering presence. OTJ wont set the world alight

but he can be a good foil for Hughes and Hoolahan.

Whalley - 4 – Showed some nice touches but apart from that did absolutely

nothing. He is a liability when we don’t have the ball. It also worries me that

for a winger he doesn’t beat defenders.

Hoolahan -6 – He really seems to care. He ran around a lot, played some

incisive passing and tried to be positive. His link up play with Hughes was one

of the encouraging things to come out of tonight.

Holt – 6 I like how Holt plays. He lays the ball off well, gets into good

positions and gives his all. But he needs the right service (ball to chest or

feet). He is not big enough to be a target man or quick enough for over the

top. The service tonight was awful but he still set up a number of goal scoring

chances.

McDonald - 4- I have mixed feelings here. Cody is both almost good and a

long way off from being a first team regular. He is not the finished article.

In fact he is a long way off. He has pace and he will chase every hoof ball

that the defenders send over the top but he doesn’t have a quick enough

instinct for this level. We should use him as an impact player and then assess

how he develops. .

Subs - Hughes 7 – This guy is better than the division that we are in. He

passes and moves in a neat but penetrating way. I do not understand why he did

not play at least the whole of second half. A non-match fit Hughes is double

the player Gill is.

Martin 5 – He was played out of position on the right wing. He tried his

hardest and had one excellent effort.

Manager Butterworth – Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. As its his last game I will

be kind and give him no mark. Whoever thinks that Team Gunn needed more time

should have anything of any value confiscated from them.  

[paul moy 235]

We just did not play well tonight. We just kept giving the game away by hoofing rather than playing a passing game. It was such a contrast to the Yeovil game last week when we did get our passing going well in the second half. Every time tonight that we gained possession, we gave the ball away almost immediately and showed vitually no composure throughout the game. 

I would have liked to see substitutions much earlier in midfield because we were outplayed in the second half and I think Adeyemi should have been playing from the start. The game was crying out for a change and the first sub was not made until the 70th minute, which was far too late. Too much of the play was hoofing and long balls which overran, rather than passing and thus we played into Brentford''s hands and not to our strengths.

Having seen the game at Yeovil I know that we are capable of much better than this performance, and Holt is better quality than he showed. He needs more balls along the ground and not so much hit high and hope.  We need to have confidence in our own passing game and stick to it, otherwise we are in for a season of struggle if we lower ourselves to long-ball tactics as we did tonight.

 

 

 

[Crew Cut Wes 0]

Doherty is certainly no leader. I have no problem with him as a CB since he seems solid most of the time but I think the first goal was a lack of communication, very similar to the Exeter goal. After the first goal it all went potty and for ten frustrating minutes our centre backs kept hoofing the ball. Butterworth is sh*t and is incapable of winning any games. He should''ve made some changes when it was clear that we were struggling in midfield but took too long. The formation was all over the place aswell with Holt hogging the touchline at times (wtf?).Gill is clearly a player that plays on the back of confidence. I really don''t think he is used to such pressure with all the success at Exeter. In all fairness he can tackle but his passing is all over the place. Adeyemi and Hughes should play ahead of him I feel. I hope Lambert can get him playing well since he seemed to impress the Exeter fans so he cant be that bad.Whaley and Spillane need to link up more. Spillane looked lost at times when going forward and even when Whaley made runs he didn''t play the throughballs.Also our strikers need to play off the shoulders of the centre backs more and the midfield needs to pass more throughballs instead of balls over the top. Holt played well and was one of the few that didn''t give up when we went down one.Just glad that Butterworth is off and I hope that Lambert can restore some fight and confidence within the players and that he can find a leader within the team so that when we go down one we dont start pooing our pants. I would actually give the armband to Holt because his work ethic stands out so much against the hesitation and lack of confidence.P.S. Anyone know where Adeyemi was today?

[DONT REMEMBER YOUR TENURE AS ENGLAND MANAGER 0]

Lets not beat around the bush, Brentford were simply shocking; well that means we were worse. This team lacks leadership which has become the culture for the whole club top to bottom as we continue our fall into obscurity. Nobody took the game to the opposition; we looked scared and hesitant allowing Brentford to take the foothold in the game. Lamberts first job is to find a leader to lead this team on the pitch. This I feel will be a tough task as nobody out there looks up for it; however Docherty needs to be relieved of his duties as captain. Butterworth clearly has no clue; persisiting with Gill and Jones just doesn''t add up and no subs until 70 minutes. Hmmmmmmn and he wonders why he wasn''t in the running.Lambert has a massive job on his hands. Promotion is a definate no no; we are all living in cloud cukoo land if we think any different. Right now I would take mid-table

 

Alnwick - 6 - better than the Greek

Spillane - 5 - Nothing amazing but Whaley offered no support

Askou - 5- Was ok but defensively the whole unit does not look good and another Colchester is around the corner if changers are not made

Doc - 4 - Should not be te captain; team has no leadership. The Doc''s confidence is down and it shows in his poor decsion making at present

Drury 4- Way passed his best; real shame

Gill - 3 - Looks out of his depth; not good when you are in centre midfield

Tudur Jones - 5 - Maybe a player in their somewhere but I am still no closer to being convinced; Jones and Gill should not be starting together

Whalley - 3 - Offered no threat or defensive cover; really poor

Hoolahan -5 - Missing for long periods but raelly was our only creative spark

Holt -6 - Offered a target but the balls forward were constantly poor

McDonald - 4- pace is a threat but needs the service along with coaching

Subs - Hughes 6 - changed the game upon arrival; was clever with the ball

           Martin 6 - was decent though should have scored

Cant believe I went and watch this pile of shizzle. Fast losing the will with this team and protests are now the only way I feel changes will take place. The club is a laughing stock on and off the pitch!!!

 

[NCFC_Shaun 0]

Just back from the game - an awful performance from us, and these are my individual ratings:

Alnwick 5 - Not much to do in all honesty.

Spillane 4 - Poor.

Doherty 4 - One free kick he gave away was simply ridiculous. He grabbed the player and hauled him to the ground.

Askou 5 - Did OK, but far from great.

Whaley 3 - Very poor. Doesn''t seem to create anything. Sorry, who said Croft was bad?

Gill 3 - Bad. Doesn''t have much to his game.

Tudor-Jones 3 - Do not rate him at all.

Hoolahan 5 - Glimpses of good touches and passes, but drifted in and out of the game and also had some very poor spells.

Holt 5 - His shooting in the practice before the game was bad and that continued during the game. Puts himself about a lot but that was about it.

McDonald 4 - I fear he may be found out this season. Not sure he will be as good as we had hoped.

[CanaryRyan 0]

How any of these players deserve more than a 3 i dont know! In some ways it was more painful watching that than it was losing 7-1 the other week, it was dreadful, completely and utterly dreadful!

[Brendo 0]

Just got back from the game. Very disappointing!

Lambert has a very big job on his hands, with the fans such high expectations. The fans really annoyed and bemused me tonight! They want gunn out, then sing about hm tonight. Ask for Delia out tonight, does she pick the team or play terrible on the pitch? They sing "sack the board" when they did what the fans wanted in sacking gunn??

I really dont understand. Please fill me in if im missing something here... [:S]

COYY - E,I,E,I,E,I,O................Lambert is our King [;)]

[Evil Monkey 51]

[quote user="Brendan"]The fans really annoyed and bemused me tonight! They want gunn out, then sing about hm tonight. Ask for Delia out tonight, does she pick the team or play terrible on the pitch? They sing "sack the board" when they did what the fans wanted in sacking gunn??

I really dont understand. Please fill me in if im missing something here... [:S][/quote]

''Sack the Board'' is a rather lame chant that should in fact be ''We Want Delia Out'', as that is, for all intents and purposes, what many Norwich fans want.  Under her stewardship we have sunk to our lowest point ever, and although Gunn was sacked, you can bet he would still be in were it not for the guiding hands of McNally and Bowkett.  For their appointments to the board, Delia and the two Michael''s should be praised, however its too little too late for me.  If they cannot sell their shares, or do not wish to, then they should shrink into the background and appoint a board that have business acumen and footballing knowledge.  Bowkett, McNally and Phillips seems to have been a good start, but time for D&M to step down and leave the running of the good ship NCFC in the hands of more capable people.  If they don''t, and they continue to be allowed to make decisions, we could be in big trouble....

Help us Obi-Wan McNally, you''re our only hope.....

If that all seems rather simples, then trust me, you''re going to get a lot more sarcastic replies than that...

[3canaries 0]

I was at the game last night, first of the season, so wasn''t sure what to expect.

Where''s my team gone?  I want the old Norwich back, the team that played attractive football only a few seasons back.  We were woeful, and didn''t look like scoring, even our goal was deflected.

Our central midfield is the worst I''d ever seem.  Matty Gill in completely out of his depth now, yeah probably a reasonable player in the conference or League 2, but he makes Fotheringham look like Lampard.  Don''t get me started on Tudor-Jones, for such a big lump he''s like bambi on ice, I''ve never seen such a big lump get muscled off the ball so easily.

Spillane and Drury were OK, but they''ll never overlap successful and offer us something new on the wings.  Doc and Jens were poor on many occasions, I lost count of the number of random hoofs up in the air (and not to any distance either).  Not a great fan of Whaley (or Where''s Wally), couple of decent crosses in, but didn''t take on his man and lost the ball numerous time.  Hoolahan was probably our best player and looked the only one who could open their defence, but again he lost the ball at key stages in the game.

Cody''s first touch is awful, yes I appreciate that it''s his first full season in the professional game, but even at this level you cannot afford to take that extra touch, or give the defender an opportunity to hoof the ball away.  He''s got pace to burn, but will not be effective unless he works on his first touch.  Grant put himself about a bit, but had to come so deep to collect the ball because of the lack of service.

All in all I was very dissappointed, the standard of football was very poor.  Good atmosphere in the terraces until the first goal went in, It astonishes me how gutton for punishment we all are by going week in week out for such an awful display!  I was going to by a ticket for the Wycombe game this saturday, but I won''t waste my money now.

I WANT THE OLD NORWICH BACK!

[YoungCanary 0]

Alnwick - 6 - wasnt really at fault for much to be fair

Spillane - 6 - panicked a bit but much better than semmy would have been, least he put effort in

Doherty - 5 - clumsy, gave away pointless free kicks as he usualy does. he did win some vital headers etc but this wasn''t his best night

Askou - 7 - i actually thought he had a decent game, put his body about, won some headers. i also noticed it was him picking the ball out of the net once tj had scored, everyone else just stopped

drury - 5 - got made a fool of by their winger, although wasnt supported by hoolahan very well

whaley - 6 - didnt do too much wrong, but didn''t get in the game much

hoolahan - 6 - a few great runs and touches but wasn''t very effective and didn''t help drury out enough

gill - 4 - lost the ball alot, didn''t dominate at all, should have gone off earlier

TJ - 5 - pretty invisible throughout the game but did give us our goal

holt - 5 - i thought he had a very poor game, didnt go up for many headers, didn''t link with cody and missed chances where he should have jus put his footy through the ball!

big mac - 6 - did a lot of running but had chances he should have put away

hughes - 6 - didn''t have time to impact the game but didn''t do much wrong

semmy - 6 - i still don''t know why he put this guy on when clearly another striker (maric) would have been better

martin - 7 - i know he didn''t  get long on the pitch but he actually created chances and took some shots, we barely had any shots in the 2nd half (that was worth calling ''a shot'') until he came on