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Mister Chops

Norwich City v Brighton - player ratings

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An entertaining match with bizarre and irritating refereeing throughout which disrupted the flow.  I actually think this worked in our favour because for long periods of the first half Brighton looked a very decent side on the counter attack and pressed us hard up until we went 3-1 up with a wicked Lappin free kick which caused all kind of problems in the box, and then Brighton fell apart.  Highlight was their goalkeeper taking a free kick 5 yards from the left hand touchline and slicing it straight out of play.4-1 flattered us, Brighton looked a good side but short on confidence.  Their goal appeared to come from a misdirected shot which hit another one of their players who had the sense to square it for a tap-in.  Both sides were lucky to finish with 11 on the pitch after some handbags threatened to spill over into an Arsenal-Norwich style fight club.The linesmen had absolutely no balls at all and relied on the ref to give everything.  However, to say he was pedantic, fussy and over-controlling would be like saying Cumbria''s a bit wet at the moment.Anyhow.  We weren''t at our best but we were good enough.  I still think 4-1 flattered us though.Forster - 6.5Drury - 7Doc - 6.5Askou - 7Semi - 6 - the number of times he appeared to forget where he was makes me wonder if he has serial amnesia.  Closed down time after time after time.Russell - 7.5 - thought he would be sent off but the yellow card seemed to improve his gameSmith - 6.5Lappin 7.5 MoM - some great set piece deliveries and solid all through the matchHoolahan - 7Holt 7.5Martin 7Brighton physio - 3 - looked like our old fitness coach and had the pace of Jan Molby on valium.

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Thanks for the ratings. Interesting you had Lappin as your MoM when MB gave him the lowest rating out of the starting 11.

I remember Dagenham & Redbrige having a huge physio when we played them a few years ago, was the highlight of an awful game!

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Forster - 6- didn''t have any real saves to make, kicking wasn''t very good
Drury - 8- He was really sterdy, made a mistake or two, but so did everyone.....
Doc - 7- Did well, good partnership with Askou, and somehow they both managed to keep the pace up
Askou - 7- same as Doc, maybe a bit better
Semi - 7- Very good today i thought, much better than normal
Russell - 7- ran around lots, did really well on the ball i thought

Smith - 7- again ran around lots, looked good on the ball at times, had one good attempt before 10 mins.....
Lappin 6/7- I thought he was average, but better than he has been for a while
Hoolahan - 7/8- you never know when Hoolahan will do something amazing, we could have scored a couple more times from his skills
Holt 8- chased, seemed to be quite upset later in the game though....
Martin 6- didn''t really get a chance, but well taken goal....

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Think we were typing these at the same time Chopsy, here are mine again...Made it home double speed as desperately needed a pee.....Forster- Solid, not much to do really. Looked calm on crosses, distributed short and well. 7/10Semi-

Best game in a while yet still the weakest player on the pitch.

Switched off a couple of times but also made some solid blocks and good

runs. 6/10Askou and Doc- Basically both solid and dependable,

even when Brighton looked to get in behind they looked like they knew

where the attackers were. 7/10Drury- Played really well until the last 15 minutes when his passing went a bit rubbish. 7/10Rusty-

Tough one this. Based simply on his football he gets an 8. Solid strong

and kept things simple. However his temper is a joke at his age, he is

a senior player at Norwich now and needs to stop flying off the handle

at the slgihtest provocation, especially with lots of young lads like

Smith looking up to him.Smith- Apart from a silly challange after the brawl was great. Ran his heart out and gave lots of support to Wes. 7/10Lappin- Great game. Used the space brilliantly, offered options and space for Drury. 8/10Wes-

Lost the ball a couple of times, scored an great goal and in general

did things nobody else in this suqad or even division can do. One

equisite pass the Martin was particularly special. 8/10Holt-

Led well, scored a great goal, could and maybe should have had another.

His battle with the Brighton number 6 was entertaining. MoM 9/10Martin-

I have heard people accuse Martin of being lazy- not tonight. Ran his

nuts off without much reward until his late goal. The cahnge in

attitude from a couple of seasons ago is astounding. 7/10All in

all a good game with two teams who wanted to get the ball down as play,

even if Brighton had some right dirty buggers in their team.

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A good team effort - loads of passion and movement using the space the early opening goal gave us.  I though thedefence handled a pacey determined dickinson well and got on with teh game despite some persistent heavy early challenges from Brighton.  Its hard to see why they are so near the bottom as they are far better than many teams we have seen down here.  

Forster 7 - did nothing wrong

Ots 6 a mixed game,  some good work but sometimes simply too dozy and dar too slow.  Offered less attacking threat than drury. I am sure he landed several right hooks in fracas the which could see him serve  a ban if seen on tv :-s

Drury 8 Thought he was excellent again - defended well and got forward really well my motm

Askou 6 for me his weakest game for a while,  too many lost aerial balls but

Doc 7 terrific commitment, solid and coped with dickinsons pace well - deserved yellow card for the stupidity of the tackle

Rusty 7 How did we all know he would be the city player getting a card in the melee?  Only surprise is it was yellow

Lappin 7 Close to my motm,  have been critical of him recently but while he set pieces were not great again his effort cover and overall play was excellent today

Smith 6 Excellent in the first half but faded badly in the second - looked jaded and due a rest..

Hoolahan 7 Started slowly but played so many dangerous through balls.  Youhave to take the too many touches with the creativity he gives us. Good goal - when did we last have a midfielder score double figures in a season??

Martin 7 Good movement and effort - caused them problems and unlike many city players is prepared to shoot - as his goal showed.

Holt 7 Terrific commitment and lovely finish for the opener,  should have had a hat trick though

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[quote user="can u sit down please"]Why do people always say...Hoolahan...lost the ball a couple of times!??He''s a playmaker! It happens! What about the amount of times he created, linked up play or took men on?

[/quote]dont know if you noticed the 8 out of 10 I gave him, it was more a comment on the hysterical over reaction to the Soton goal at the weekend.

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[quote user="king canary"][quote user="can u sit down please"]Why do people always say...Hoolahan...lost the ball a couple of times!??He''s a playmaker! It happens! What about the amount of times he created, linked up play or took men on?

[/quote]dont know if you noticed the 8 out of 10 I gave him, it was more a comment on the hysterical over reaction to the Soton goal at the weekend.[/quote]I cant knock your rating at all, it just makes me laugh how people have the urge to say about him losing a couple of passes!!As for Southampton...he did lose the ball in a midfield area, was it entirely his fault? no....

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Forster - didn''t have a lot to do and didn''t do anything wrong

Semmy - didn''t play particularly well but I''ve seen him play worse. Did ok.

Doc - very solid, harshly booked early on I thought, especially when you consider how long it took the Ref to book the lad who was all arms and elbows into Holt.

Askou - another good performance from him. Always challenges for the ball. Doesn''t sit off. Definitely the best defensive partnership we''ve got.

Drury - good game, defended well.

Smith - always gives you the work, sometimes a little short on product, could do with learning how to finish a bit better as well because he will get into good positions.

Rusty - superb performance. Battled hard in there (again) and kept moving the ball. Very important to us at the moment.

Lappin - pretty good game from Lappin. One of his better ones in recent weeks, I thought.

Hoolahan - he''s just a brilliant player, that''s all there is to it.

Holt - should have scored 1 or 2 more than he did but the typical kind of performance you expect from him. Needed a bit more help from the Ref.

Martin - our poorest performer, I thought. Rarely did anything of note and didn''t put in the hard work of others. Scored a goal, though.

 

Not much to say about the subs really except that I didn''t think Stephens Hughes looked as sharp as he could have done.

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[quote user="Mister Chops"]An entertaining match with bizarre and irritating refereeing throughout which disrupted the flow.  I actually think this worked in our favour because for long periods of the first half Brighton looked a very decent side on the counter attack and pressed us hard up until we went 3-1 up with a wicked Lappin free kick which caused all kind of problems in the box, and then Brighton fell apart.  Highlight was their goalkeeper taking a free kick 5 yards from the left hand touchline and slicing it straight out of play.4-1 flattered us, Brighton looked a good side but short on confidence.  Their goal appeared to come from a misdirected shot which hit another one of their players who had the sense to square it for a tap-in.  Both sides were lucky to finish with 11 on the pitch after some handbags threatened to spill over into an Arsenal-Norwich style fight club.The linesmen had absolutely no balls at all and relied on the ref to give everything.  However, to say he was pedantic, fussy and over-controlling would be like saying Cumbria''s a bit wet at the moment.Anyhow.  We weren''t at our best but we were good enough.  I still think 4-1 flattered us though.Forster - 6.5Drury - 7Doc - 6.5Askou - 7Semi - 6 - the number of times he appeared to forget where he was makes me wonder if he has serial amnesia.  Closed down time after time after time.Russell - 7.5 - thought he would be sent off but the yellow card seemed to improve his gameSmith - 6.5Lappin 7.5 MoM - some great set piece deliveries and solid all through the matchHoolahan - 7Holt 7.5Martin 7Brighton physio - 3 - looked like our old fitness coach and had the pace of Jan Molby on valium.[/quote]Your having a laugh arent yer? Semmy was excellent tonight, gave the ball away a couple of times but defended well and got forward lots and was involved in a lot of good work down the right with Martin. He put in a lot of good crosses and low forward passes infield to the strikers. He actually looked much more confident and comfortable tonight than he has done in a long while.You just sound like youve got it on for Semmy like the Doc haters and will bash Semmy no matter what.

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[quote user="Barclayman"][quote user="Mister Chops"]An entertaining match with bizarre and irritating refereeing throughout which disrupted the flow.  I actually think this worked in our favour because for long periods of the first half Brighton looked a very decent side on the counter attack and pressed us hard up until we went 3-1 up with a wicked Lappin free kick which caused all kind of problems in the box, and then Brighton fell apart.  Highlight was their goalkeeper taking a free kick 5 yards from the left hand touchline and slicing it straight out of play.4-1 flattered us, Brighton looked a good side but short on confidence.  Their goal appeared to come from a misdirected shot which hit another one of their players who had the sense to square it for a tap-in.  Both sides were lucky to finish with 11 on the pitch after some handbags threatened to spill over into an Arsenal-Norwich style fight club.The linesmen had absolutely no balls at all and relied on the ref to give everything.  However, to say he was pedantic, fussy and over-controlling would be like saying Cumbria''s a bit wet at the moment.Anyhow.  We weren''t at our best but we were good enough.  I still think 4-1 flattered us though.Forster - 6.5Drury - 7Doc - 6.5Askou - 7Semi - 6 - the number of times he appeared to forget where he was makes me wonder if he has serial amnesia.  Closed down time after time after time.Russell - 7.5 - thought he would be sent off but the yellow card seemed to improve his gameSmith - 6.5Lappin 7.5 MoM - some great set piece deliveries and solid all through the matchHoolahan - 7Holt 7.5Martin 7Brighton physio - 3 - looked like our old fitness coach and had the pace of Jan Molby on valium.[/quote]Your having a laugh arent yer? Semmy was excellent tonight, gave the ball away a couple of times but defended well and got forward lots and was involved in a lot of good work down the right with Martin. He put in a lot of good crosses and low forward passes infield to the strikers. He actually looked much more confident and comfortable tonight than he has done in a long while.You just sound like youve got it on for Semmy like the Doc haters and will bash Semmy no matter what.[/quote]Disagree. I think he''s a very poor defender and therefore he should get forward as much as possible. Doesn''t seem to like it past the half way line bar a couple of times. Don''t think he closed down their winger well on the very rare occasions they got forward. Certainly not his worst game by any stretch, but there are times he has so much space and just refuses to run into it. Still, weakest player in our starting eleven.

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Gingerpele...

How was Forster''s kicking poor tonight??? Other than when he had little choice he kept it short and simple.

Bit harsh no??

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[quote user="Mister Chops"]An entertaining match with bizarre and irritating refereeing throughout which disrupted the flow.  I actually think this worked in our favour because for long periods of the first half Brighton looked a very decent side on the counter attack and pressed us hard up until we went 3-1 up with a wicked Lappin free kick which caused all kind of problems in the box, and then Brighton fell apart.  Highlight was their goalkeeper taking a free kick 5 yards from the left hand touchline and slicing it straight out of play.

4-1 flattered us, Brighton looked a good side but short on confidence.  Their goal appeared to come from a misdirected shot which hit another one of their players who had the sense to square it for a tap-in.  Both sides were lucky to finish with 11 on the pitch after some handbags threatened to spill over into an Arsenal-Norwich style fight club.

The linesmen had absolutely no balls at all and relied on the ref to give everything.  However, to say he was pedantic, fussy and over-controlling would be like saying Cumbria''s a bit wet at the moment.

Anyhow.  We weren''t at our best but we were good enough.  I still think 4-1 flattered us though.

Forster - 6.5
Drury - 7
Doc - 6.5
Askou - 7
Semi - 6 - the number of times he appeared to forget where he was makes me wonder if he has serial amnesia.  Closed down time after time after time.
Russell - 7.5 - thought he would be sent off but the yellow card seemed to improve his game
Smith - 6.5
Lappin 7.5 MoM - some great set piece deliveries and solid all through the match
Hoolahan - 7
Holt 7.5
Martin 7

Brighton physio - 3 - looked like our old fitness coach and had the pace of Jan Molby on valium.

[/quote]

I don''t think 4-1 flattered us at all, according to the stats we had 60% posession and even though Brighton looked dangerous in the first half I always felt that we would score every time we attacked. My only critisicm of us is that we try and overplay when we get to within shooting distance when a shot would be the better option, Wes is the biggest culprit but it''s unfair to be overly critical with us playing so well and scoring so many goals. Brighton looked one of the better sides to come here this season but we were quite simply far to good for them and beat them comfortably in the end.

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[quote user="kdncfc"]

[quote user="Mister Chops"]An entertaining match with bizarre and irritating refereeing throughout which disrupted the flow.  I actually think this worked in our favour because for long periods of the first half Brighton looked a very decent side on the counter attack and pressed us hard up until we went 3-1 up with a wicked Lappin free kick which caused all kind of problems in the box, and then Brighton fell apart.  Highlight was their goalkeeper taking a free kick 5 yards from the left hand touchline and slicing it straight out of play.

4-1 flattered us, Brighton looked a good side but short on confidence.  Their goal appeared to come from a misdirected shot which hit another one of their players who had the sense to square it for a tap-in.  Both sides were lucky to finish with 11 on the pitch after some handbags threatened to spill over into an Arsenal-Norwich style fight club.

The linesmen had absolutely no balls at all and relied on the ref to give everything.  However, to say he was pedantic, fussy and over-controlling would be like saying Cumbria''s a bit wet at the moment.

Anyhow.  We weren''t at our best but we were good enough.  I still think 4-1 flattered us though.

Forster - 6.5
Drury - 7
Doc - 6.5
Askou - 7
Semi - 6 - the number of times he appeared to forget where he was makes me wonder if he has serial amnesia.  Closed down time after time after time.
Russell - 7.5 - thought he would be sent off but the yellow card seemed to improve his game
Smith - 6.5
Lappin 7.5 MoM - some great set piece deliveries and solid all through the match
Hoolahan - 7
Holt 7.5
Martin 7

Brighton physio - 3 - looked like our old fitness coach and had the pace of Jan Molby on valium.

[/quote]

I don''t think 4-1 flattered us at all, according to the stats we had 60% posession and even though Brighton looked dangerous in the first half I always felt that we would score every time we attacked. My only critisicm of us is that we try and overplay when we get to within shooting distance when a shot would be the better option, Wes is the biggest culprit but it''s unfair to be overly critical with us playing so well and scoring so many goals. Brighton looked one of the better sides to come here this season but we were quite simply far to good for them and beat them comfortably in the end.

[/quote]

Agreed

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[quote user="can u sit down please"][quote user="king canary"][quote user="can u sit down please"]Why do people always say...Hoolahan...lost the ball a couple of times!??

He''s a playmaker! It happens! What about the amount of times he created, linked up play or took men on?


[/quote]
dont know if you noticed the 8 out of 10 I gave him, it was more a comment on the hysterical over reaction to the Soton goal at the weekend.
[/quote]

I cant knock your rating at all, it just makes me laugh how people have the urge to say about him losing a couple of passes!!

As for Southampton...he did lose the ball in a midfield area, was it entirely his fault? no....
[/quote]

It depends for me on how the ball is lost and where. Against Southampton he was trying to be too cute in a dangerous area of the pitch (i.e. our half with our midfield further up the pitch than him), if he tries something clever in the middle of the oppositions half and it doesn''t come off, then fine, that''s what he''s like, he''ll create plenty of goals as well as give the ball away.

I don''t want him to change, but as was noted when he first came back into the team at the tip of our diamond, it''s much better having him in a more advanced position as he doesn''t do us harm when he gives the ball away, Southampton was the first time that had happened since he came back into the side.

I agree with what you''ve said about people complaining if he gives the ball away, to the extent that it relates to when he''s on the attack, not when he''s trying to be too clever in our half.

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Drury Was Outstanding - Again, My MOTM, Followed By Lappin Who I Thought Had Improved Since I Last Him Saw Him (Tranmere Game). I Was All For Lambert Bringing Cody On To Replace Martin But Then He Went And Scored! I Was Impressed With Smith And Holt Of Course.

Glad To See Lambert Used Up Some More Subs Tonight, As I Think It Did Hughes, McDonald And Adeyemi Some Good Getting On the Pitch And Playing For 10 Minutes Or So :)

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[quote user="Lambo"]Gingerpele... How was Forster''s kicking poor tonight??? Other than when he had little choice he kept it short and simple. Bit harsh no??[/quote]

Agreed, he didn''t make many kicks and prefered to roll the ball out or kick it on the ground to our players, one of the reasons his kicks may have gone astray might be due to the gusty wind.

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But how was the burger, Mr Chops?

I thought Lappin was excellent last night, full of energy and industry. My man of the match, edging out Drury who was typically unflustered apart from one spell where he repeatedly gave the ball away unnecessarily.

The fact that I''m putting those two ahead of Wes just shows how accustomed we''ve come to him playing superbly. His pass to Martin midway through the first half was the best moment of the match and he took his goal stunningly well. We just must keep hold of him in January.

I thought Semi had a decent game by his standards, but agree that he needs to get forward more, given his great pace. I wondered how much this has to do with the relative experience of Lappin and Smith - does Drury get forward more because Lappin takes up better positions and is able to cover at LB if Drury is too far up the pitch; does Smith''s positioning make it more difficult for Semi to get forward? I''d be interested to hear what any tactical experts think about this. It does seem strange to me that in a formation whose biggest weakness is lack of width we''re not encouraging Semi to bomb on at every opportunity.

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[quote user="Barclayman"][quote user="Mister Chops"]Semi - 6 - the number of times he appeared to forget where he was makes me wonder if he has serial amnesia.  Closed down time after time after time.[/quote]Your having a laugh arent yer? Semmy was excellent tonight, gave the ball away a couple of times but defended well and got forward lots and was involved in a lot of good work down the right with Martin. He put in a lot of good crosses and low forward passes infield to the strikers. He actually looked much more confident and comfortable tonight than he has done in a long while.You just sound like youve got it on for Semmy like the Doc haters and will bash Semmy no matter what.[/quote]Not true.  He was our weakest defender of the back 4 last night, though he did look surprisingly good in the air.  He was caught in possession far too many times, closed down too easily and keeps going AWOL.

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[quote user="Mister Chops"][quote user="Barclayman"][quote user="Mister Chops"]Semi - 6 - the number of times he appeared to forget where he was makes me wonder if he has serial amnesia.  Closed down time after time after time.[/quote]Your having a laugh arent yer? Semmy was excellent tonight, gave the ball away a couple of times but defended well and got forward lots and was involved in a lot of good work down the right with Martin. He put in a lot of good crosses and low forward passes infield to the strikers. He actually looked much more confident and comfortable tonight than he has done in a long while.You just sound like youve got it on for Semmy like the Doc haters and will bash Semmy no matter what.[/quote]Not true.  He was our weakest defender of the back 4 last night, though he did look surprisingly good in the air.  He was caught in possession far too many times, closed down too easily and keeps going AWOL.[/quote]I think Jon''s main problem is that he''s not a quick thinker - compare him to someone like Hoolahan who has already made their mind up about what to do before they get the ball, Otesembor seems to not make up his mind until it''s far too late. Admittedly we seem very static in midfield, so there never seem to be too many options on for him, but he was dangerously charged down too many times last night.That said, I don''t think he''s looked anywhere as much of a liability as he has done in the past. I really do think he''s a confidence player, as he was far more positive towards the end of the game when we had already wrapped it up.

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