Spillane...or Semmy?

[hogesar 9,756]

I, personally, am not a fan of Semmy. Few are at the moment. I don''t agree with those that say he''s absolutely no use, because if he had half a brain he''d be very good. He has fairly good strength, an okay right foot, and an exceptional amount of pace. When he does attack the flank he does offer alot, but it happens so rarely at the moment.Spillane, on the other hand, is a much more defensive choice. He doesn''t have the pace, but he''s a very hard tackler and desperate to do well. As a unit we were solid yesterday, and i think having a right back that can defend has much to do with that!It was great to see him get a goal, and once we were 1-0 up he attacked very well i thought, and retained the ball when he needed to.So, if it was up to you...Semmy or Spillane? [:)]

[Mister Chops 7]

I think Semi causes more problems than he solves, to be honest.  You never know when he''s going to have a mental walkabout.  I''d keep the same back 4 as I think Spillane''s a better right back than centre back.

[Jonny O - disgrace in yellow 0]

Spillane. No hesitation. Semi shouldn''t even still be here. How many chances does he need?

[B-ru 0]

It''s Spillane for me, (sorry Brendan)

One of the main priorities is to defend and Spillane is much better at actually making the tackle.

Semmy is good going forward, if he can be bothered. Spillane did some good work last night going forward, grabbed a goal so fair play to the lad.

[ryan1992 0]

Mickey easy. good defensively and in the second half attacked alot. scored a belter, why drop him?

[hogesar 9,756]

[quote user="Mister Chops"]I think Semi causes more problems than he solves, to be honest.  You never know when he''s going to have a mental walkabout.  I''d keep the same back 4 as I think Spillane''s a better right back than centre back.

[/quote]Agreed. Doc gets slated for making a costly mistake but Semmy makes just as many, if not more. When he doesn''t concentrate he is so often caught out of position which is a crime considering the amount of pace he has.

[pete_norw 0]

Semmi for me is out of his depth as daft as that sounds, He gets lost far to oftern and causes us more hassel Spillane has come on in leaps and bounds and should be 1st choice

[John 0]

I personally feel Spillane attacks far more often than Otsemobor anyway to be honest.He could of scored a brace yestarday, and he provided countless (decent) crosses, played a part in much of the build up play on the right hand side, as well as provding a significant danger in the oppositions box in set pieces.And not to mention he''s unlucky not to have 2 or 3 goals to his name already this season.Otsemobor only attacks on the rare occasion that he can bring himself past the half way line, and unless he cuts inside he doesn''t tend to provide much.And for what it''s worth i feel what Spillane had to do defensively for most of the game was far more impressively performed than Otsemobor has proven to be of recent.Otsemobor really needs to start bucking up his idea''s if he is to have any hope of having regular first team football again.

[nu_matik 167]

SPILLANE. every time. especially after last night.

[Brendo 0]

In all fairness, Spillane is better than Otsemobor in every aspect of the game imho. The only 1 i can think of, is that Otsemobor is quicker, but cant take people on so its a 100% Mickey for me!

[Boyo 0]

Spillane 100%.  He is a very good defender but in my opinion not quite a centre back.  Although the pace might not be there he knows when and how to tackle.  I also think he was very good at going forward last night and it is clear to see that Lambert has the full backs working well up the pitch.  I think Spillane played some good one two''s with Smith, Wes and Rusty and it looks like he can cross a ball as well.

Same back four vs Bristol Rovers please[:D]

[JTG 0]

Of course Spillane, it''s not even a debate is it?If either Nelson or Doherty are available to play centre half then Spillane must lay right back. People moan about Doherty making costly errors but I can guarantee you Otsemobor makes a lot more.

[the stump 0]

spillane for me otsemobor frustrates me with his style of defending i was impressed with spillane last night hope he starts on saturday

[Canary Man of Kent 0]

Perhaps a better question is would you rather have spillaine at right back and doc at centre back, or semi at right back and spillaine at centre back?

I know doc played well last night but those were the worst strikers we''ve come up against, rovers strike force will be a hand full!

I would personally go for doc and spillaine, I''m sure lambert will go for that too, lets hope it works out well. My only concern is that we might be due a bit of a reality check at some point (a la Preston at home when worthy took us to 5 wins in a row)

[Graham Humphrey 13]

I think Spillane''s a total liability at centre-back. He was very impressive last night at right-back and I think he should stay there.

[G 0]

Spillane was like Glen Johnson last night. Spillane all season.

[GJP 79]

Well after last nights performance you''d have to say the rightback slot is there for Spillane to lose.

However, Leyton Orient didn''t offer much going forward but when they did have a go in the first few minutes Spillane was caught out 2 or 3 times.

I think he''ll need to prove he can do it against the better sides in the league.

 

[ricardo 7,401]

If Spillane is the answer at right back, only time will tell.

What has been plain for two seasons now is that Semmy, (whatever his attributes are at going forward) has been the main problem in our poor defensive record.

It was very noticeable last night that the centre backs were not being pulled out of position anywhere near as much as when they have to cover Semmy''s forward runs or poor tackling ability.

Ive been saying that the fullbacks have been the main problem for a long time now. At last others are beginning to see what I keep banging on about.

[Hooleyfan 0]

Semmy has incredible pace when he chooses and has a great cross if he hits it early, without thinking too long about it. Until Spillane has a bad game or gets a knock, I think he is first choice. Like we''ve seen with Russell, Doc and Hoolahan it seems to have a good effect to freeze players out for a while.

[hogesar 9,756]

[quote user="ricardo"]

If Spillane is the answer at right back, only time will tell.

What has been plain for two seasons now is that Semmy, (whatever his attributes are at going forward) has been the main problem in our poor defensive record.

It was very noticeable last night that the centre backs were not being pulled out of position anywhere near as much as when they have to cover Semmy''s forward runs or poor tackling ability.

Ive been saying that the fullbacks have been the main problem for a long time now. At last others are beginning to see what I keep banging on about.

[/quote]Agreed. People say it''s not even a debate but this is after one game. He''s never looked awful but who knows.For me its Spillane - he''s young and should only improve. His crossing is actually better than most people realise in my opinion.

[ellis206 0]

I have said for ages that Semmy has been our biggest problem in our defence over the last couple of years, yet people carried on blaming the Doc, watch highlights from our last 10 games last season, and Semmy is at fault for 75% of those goals, look at his hoof back to Theo for Colchesters first goal, and look at his "defending" against Charlton, cost us 2 goals then as well, the guy is the worst right back I''ve seen in my 20 years of supporting Norwich. Also the Doc and Askou are our best centre back pairing, seen all of Nelsons games and he is terrible, his headers and clearances put us under pressure, he gets turned to easy and has no pace. Doc gets bashed 24/7 yet with no facts to back up the claims, he doesn''t constantly give away penaltys, he doesn''t always pull people down on the edge of the box, and he isn''t slow, in fact wasn''t it released on canaries.co.uk that he was our second quickest player at full sprint behind Semmy?

[XXL16 0]

Spillane of course, because he was from our academy :)

[Graham Humphrey 13]

Just because someone is from our academy doesn''t mean they are better...

[Xavi- Poor Mans Ian Crook 0]

Spillane every time. I would prefer it if Semmy never wore a norwich shirt again.

[king canary 7,679]

Spillane. Its a shame cos Semi''s problem are all the mind. He has bags of ability just lcks concentration and is often too scared to get forward when there is space in front of him.

[crab 0]

Sorry, could you enlighten me as to what his ''abilities'' are. I really must have missed something over the past 2 or 3 seasons.

Worst right back in history? I think he''s got a fair shot at worst player in our history.

[Nigel Worthless 0]

Absolute no brainer. Spillaine every time, as unlike Semmy he can actually defend!

[Nigel Worthless 0]

Why are people still clutching at straws with Semmy''s "ability". His only good attribute is pace, which he only uses to dig himself out of a hole when he loses concentration and has to catch up the player he has allowed to skip past. Considering the pace he has, if he was any good, he would not only be plaing for a decent club, he would be scoring regularly and creating assists for others week in week out!

In my opinion he is getting worse, rather than better!!

 

[Hog 0]

Spillane for me as well, Semmy has been a hugely frustrating player, I can''t help but think that somewhere inside him is a pretty decent footballer, trouble is I don''t think he is very bright (Football wise that is!) he so often looks lost and devoid of ideas, when he should be bombing forward (which we know he can) he often stops, loses the ball or makes a poor pass. As a defender Spillane is also much stronger though whether he is to be our long term right back or another central defender I guess only time will tell.

[7rew 0]

[quote user="SimonOTBC"]Perhaps a better question is would you rather have spillaine at right back and doc at centre back, or semi at right back and spillaine at centre back?

I know doc played well last night but those were the worst strikers we''ve come up against, rovers strike force will be a hand full!

I would personally go for doc and spillaine, I''m sure lambert will go for that too, lets hope it works out well. My only concern is that we might be due a bit of a reality check at some point (a la Preston at home when worthy took us to 5 wins in a row)[/quote]This is indeed the question.My view of it is this.  Doherty is slightly better as a centre back than Semi is as a right back and Spillane is slightly better at right back than at centre back, so the Spillane/Doherty/Askou/Drury combination wins out agaionst the Otsemobor/Spillane/Askou/Drury combination.The other thing I wonder is what people''s opinions of Doherty would be if he had been played as the left sided central defender rather than the right sided one, as the right back position has been weeker than the left back position for several seasons now imo.