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Jim Smith

A few thoughts on yesterday

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Col U at home aside our worst performance of the season and not making the FA Cup 3rd round has to be a new low for the club - a timely reminder that despite the fact things are looking promising this season Delia & Co have still landed us at our lowest ebb for over half a century and that must not be forgotten. I thought when I saw the draw that this was a potential tricky one. Carlisle have picked up of late and despite the fact that they are still not very good a further away tie, 500 miles from hom with late kick-off and a small away following was always going to be a testing evening if we didn''t hit the ground running. We didn''t and as a result we deservedly lost. I thought for the one spell of the game where we actually kept the ball and played properly (middle 20 minutes of first half) we looked pretty decent and far superior to our opponants. For the rest of the game, however, we were just sh*t and di not deserve to progress. Couple of comments on a couple of particular points (which I am sure have already been said by others below):

1. Its time for Korey Smith to have a rest. He has done well and i''m not slagging him off at all but the last few games he has not had the impact he did previously and his performance levels have dropped. He had a great chance right at the start of the game yesterday when he inexplicably didn;t shoot and things generally just are not happening for him right now. I would play Hughes on Tuesday and have Korey on the bench.

2. That defence yesterday is not good enough. Personally I am not convinced by the defence full stop this season but I think we get away with it most of the time because we are foten on top in games and teams look to contain us rather than have a real go. Also our midfield and strikers mean the defence has a relatively easy ride. I thought we looked dodgy at the back against Brighton to be honest. Last night though as soon as I saw Nelson in the team i knew we were in trouble. Having been at the away game up there I could tell you that Carlisle''s main threat is that quick black guy up front (no 7 who''s name escapes me for the time being) who caused Doc and Askou lots of problems in the league game. With Nelson there we were always going to be in trouble and, even though it was a blatant handball for their second, thats how it worked out. Nelson is simply not good enough to play for Norwich City Football Club. I have nothing against him personally and by all accounts he is a good character but from the moment I saw him play half a game against Man United kids in the pre-season game it was obvious he is an utter cart-horse. If he is going to play he at least needs to have someone next to him with a bit of pace and some discplined full backs. Yesterday he had neither. I just hope that until Spillane comes back Martin can help shore things up at right back and perhaps in jan we can get another CB is as I still think we are dodgy in this area against teams with any kind of pace and when we come to play Leeds and Charlton in the new year we could be undone.

3. Everything good we did went through Hoolahan. We simply cannot afford to lose him in January.

In general i''m not really that bothered about going out of the cup. We were going to lose eventually and I would rather we got it out of the way in this game than at Southend on Tuesday. Hopefully Lambert will give them a bit of a roasting after that and we will see a reaction at Roots Hall. Hopefully also Mcnamee may give us a bit of spark if he gets on the pitch.

 

 

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Not far of their!

 

Yes Nelson is OK as a back up but I''d not want to see him regularly in the team. Those suggesting he was better than the Doc earlier in the season were deluding themselves!

 

Otsemobor can be good but can also be woeful. Hopefully this new guy Martin is a step above and then when Spillane comes back we can afford to let Otsemobor go.

 

Smith has done well this year but he has waned recently and last night was one of our weak links. A rest is needed I think!

 

We were due a bad performance some time and I''d rather that came in a cup competition rather than the League although I''m gutted we aren''t in the 3rd round draw!

 

Although Carlisles 1st goal once the guy got the ball was unstoppable and apparently the 2nd goal involved a handball.

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To be honest I thought their first goal was a bit of a fluke really as Pericard just flicked his leg at it and can''t have had any control over where it went but I guess credit to him for having the instinct and reactions to get something on the ball.

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