Player ratings

[king canary 7,580]

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.

[GJP 79]

[quote user="king canary"]

Martin- 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. 7/10


[/quote]

Funny ol'' game is football...

I thought Martin was rubbish apart from scoring the goal late on.

Didn''t put in the work that the likes of Holt and Hoolahan were, did very little with the ball when he got it. In my opinion, he''s lucky he got the goal because it made up for a poor performance.

[king canary 7,580]

[quote user="GJP"]

[quote user="king canary"]Martin- 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. 7/10

[/quote]

Funny ol'' game is football...

I thought Martin was rubbish apart from scoring the goal late on.

Didn''t put in the work that the likes of Holt and Hoolahan were, did very little with the ball when he got it. In my opinion, he''s lucky he got the goal because it made up for a poor performance.

[/quote]Think he did alot of solid if unspectacular work tonight. Was always in the channels, trying to link play, hold it up and bring others in to the game. He didnt do anything as spectacular as Wes or Holt graned but what he did do counted for alot in my opinion.

[GJP 79]

[quote user="king canary"][quote user="GJP"]

[quote user="king canary"]

Martin- 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. 7/10


[/quote]

Funny ol'' game is football...

I thought Martin was rubbish apart from scoring the goal late on.

Didn''t put in the work that the likes of Holt and Hoolahan were, did very little with the ball when he got it. In my opinion, he''s lucky he got the goal because it made up for a poor performance.

[/quote]
Think he did alot of solid if unspectacular work tonight. Was always in the channels, trying to link play, hold it up and bring others in to the game. He didnt do anything as spectacular as Wes or Holt graned but what he did do counted for alot in my opinion.
[/quote]

Fair enough.

I thought his contribution was very limited. Didn''t think he caused them any problems until they were well beaten at the end and he scored. Up until then I thought it was half-ar$ed and sloppy from him.

[king canary 7,580]

[quote user="GJP"][quote user="king canary"][quote user="GJP"]

[quote user="king canary"]Martin- 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. 7/10

[/quote]

Funny ol'' game is football...

I thought Martin was rubbish apart from scoring the goal late on.

Didn''t put in the work that the likes of Holt and Hoolahan were, did very little with the ball when he got it. In my opinion, he''s lucky he got the goal because it made up for a poor performance.

[/quote]Think he did alot of solid if unspectacular work tonight. Was always in the channels, trying to link play, hold it up and bring others in to the game. He didnt do anything as spectacular as Wes or Holt graned but what he did do counted for alot in my opinion.[/quote]

Fair enough.

I thought his contribution was very limited. Didn''t think he caused them any problems until they were well beaten at the end and he scored. Up until then I thought it was half-ar$ed and sloppy from him.

[/quote]Agree he want getting much joy out of them but I dont think half arsed is fair. Agree he didnt cause them many problems himself but I felt he moved the ball neatly. I am a little worried by comments from people around us that with us doing so well Martin may become a bit of a target, simply for not being as spectacular as Holt or Wes at times.

[GJP 79]

[quote user="king canary"][quote user="GJP"][quote user="king canary"][quote user="GJP"]

[quote user="king canary"]

Martin- 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. 7/10


[/quote]

Funny ol'' game is football...

I thought Martin was rubbish apart from scoring the goal late on.

Didn''t put in the work that the likes of Holt and Hoolahan were, did very little with the ball when he got it. In my opinion, he''s lucky he got the goal because it made up for a poor performance.

[/quote]
Think he did alot of solid if unspectacular work tonight. Was always in the channels, trying to link play, hold it up and bring others in to the game. He didnt do anything as spectacular as Wes or Holt graned but what he did do counted for alot in my opinion.
[/quote]

Fair enough.

I thought his contribution was very limited. Didn''t think he caused them any problems until they were well beaten at the end and he scored. Up until then I thought it was half-ar$ed and sloppy from him.

[/quote]
Agree he want getting much joy out of them but I dont think half arsed is fair. Agree he didnt cause them many problems himself but I felt he moved the ball neatly. I am a little worried by comments from people around us that with us doing so well Martin may become a bit of a target, simply for not being as spectacular as Holt or Wes at times.
[/quote]

You mean a target for criticism?

I don''t think so. In general I think Martin has the support of the fans.

He''s going to be in the shadow of Holt and Hoolahan because they are top players for us who we rely on.

I like Chris Martin as a player, when he has a go, he''s talented. But for me he''s still guilty of being lazy and casual, which I think was again the case tonight.

[king canary 7,580]

[quote user="GJP"][quote user="king canary"][quote user="GJP"][quote user="king canary"][quote user="GJP"]

[quote user="king canary"]Martin- 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. 7/10

[/quote]

Funny ol'' game is football...

I thought Martin was rubbish apart from scoring the goal late on.

Didn''t put in the work that the likes of Holt and Hoolahan were, did very little with the ball when he got it. In my opinion, he''s lucky he got the goal because it made up for a poor performance.

[/quote]Think he did alot of solid if unspectacular work tonight. Was always in the channels, trying to link play, hold it up and bring others in to the game. He didnt do anything as spectacular as Wes or Holt graned but what he did do counted for alot in my opinion.[/quote]

Fair enough.

I thought his contribution was very limited. Didn''t think he caused them any problems until they were well beaten at the end and he scored. Up until then I thought it was half-ar$ed and sloppy from him.

[/quote]Agree he want getting much joy out of them but I dont think half arsed is fair. Agree he didnt cause them many problems himself but I felt he moved the ball neatly. I am a little worried by comments from people around us that with us doing so well Martin may become a bit of a target, simply for not being as spectacular as Holt or Wes at times.[/quote]

You mean a target for criticism?

I don''t think so. In general I think Martin has the support of the fans.

He''s going to be in the shadow of Holt and Hoolahan because they are top players for us who we rely on.

I like Chris Martin as a player, when he has a go, he''s talented. But for me he''s still guilty of being lazy and casual, which I think was again the case tonight.

[/quote]Maybe its just the people around me. They like to have a person to have a go at. As I said I dont think lazy is ture but agree to disagree.

[B-ru 0]

Forster- Didn''t have a great deal to do, collected a few crosses comfortably, kicking was an improvement, but nothing to shout about. Not at fault for the goal, not ure who was meant to be picking up Tunnicliffe but the ball was past Forster before he knew it. 7/10

Semi- Can''t see how people can rate him above 5/10. He seems to lack the pace he had last season, his confidence in running into to acres of space that the narrow midfield gives him license to run into. Not much done to note, a couple of blocks, some early crosses. 5/10

Askou and Doc- Looked solid at the back, a couple of wobbles early in the first half that Dickinson could have capitalised on. I think one of them is at fault for the goal, but couldn''t work it out. Great to see them both caring so much about their football and wanting perfection from every kick they do. A partnership that is growing well and if they continue on this learning curve may be able to hold their own in the Championship. 7/10

Drury- A very solid game for me. Always looked to over lap Lappin, agreed that he tired quickly towards the end. Almost back to his best, and as he was someone I used to watch with intent as a full back, I couldn''t be happier to seem him back in the yellow and green. 8/10

Rusty- Great disclined display, protected the back four well and showed some nice touches and passes. Gret to hear him say that he wants to win trophies with City, will this hold if/when a team come along in January? Although his temper flaired up during the "brawl" it is understandable when a two footed, late high challenge just misses you... had it have contacted, he could be serious trouble. 8/10

Smith- Ran his heart, showed high energy and closed down quickly. Had one or two sights of goal. 7/10

Lappin- Very impressed with his work rate yesterday, like Smith, closed down quickly, provided cover for Drury when he got forward. Good delivery from set pieces with his left peg. Always looked for trouble and never seemed to switch off. 8/10

Wes- Excellent again last ngiht, he did lose the ball a couple of times, but with the amount of passes and runs he tries this is understandable and not everything will come off. Showed some quickness of mind in tight spots and beat the RB (who went off shortly after) simply by moving his body in a move that should be dubbed the "Travolta" . 8/10

Holt- Came deep a lot in the first half and battled well. Not forgetting the goal that was disallowed, deserved at least one goal last night. Kept his head when all those around were losing theirs (he''s a man my son!). Looks the part now he is fit and terrorised their defence all day. El-Abd I think it was that kept trying to wind up. 9/10

Martin- Ran his socks off all ngiht, but looked tired late on and would liked to have seen Lambert replace him. Not knocking the performance though and he grabbed his goal, fair play to him. A yard of extra pace for this young lad ( and Lappin) and we would have a real asset on our hands. Did get lsot a couple of times but put in some graft. 7/10

I just wonder what would have happened if Dickinson''s had gone the other side of the post as they got an early goal against S''ton and beat them. Dickinson was the only player of quality in their side although by the looks of when he came on, GAvin Hoyte should have started with their quick right winger from the start.

Lastly, our goals have late have not been clear cut. Scrambles, penalties, OGs, deflections. These kind of goals (apart from OG) were not there last season and while want to see goals like Connolly''s on Saturday going in for us, we have got 35 goals from the front 3 players already. Doesn''t matter how they go in, just that they do!!

[Jim Smith 2,314]

I agree with Bru re Semi. He was not horrendous last night as he can be but he got done for pace on several occasions by their winger and for me, unless he is unfit, that is unforgiveable for a player with the pace he possesses.

I also thought we looke d very ropey at the back for the middle 20 minutes of the first half with dickinson in particular giving Askou the runaround. Askou got beaten to a lot of balls he should have been first to and I thought had a mare for 20 minutes or so before improving after the break. Doc was better but deserved his booking for a joke tackle.

Thought our best 3 players were Drury (in really, really good form at the moment), Lappin (much improved after a few sub-standard games) and Hoolahan. Holt and Russell also worthy of mentions. I thought Korey had his quietest game for some time and its maybe time to give him a rest in one of the games coming up and give Hughes a go.

 

[B-ru 0]

I like th idea of putting in Hughes for Korey, perhaps the cup game? It might get teh youngster to kick on to another level knowing that the manager is thinking of replacing him for Hughes.

[ca 1]

I also thought Semmy was poor last night and our weak link, hope we get a right back on loan before Thursday.

[martin ayers 0]

i wish people would lay off semmy last night he made some good interceptions and does it not occur to people that he may have been told to sit back more and let adam drury do the attacking which he does better than semmy, and what about the block he did against southamton towards the end of the game which look a certain goal yes we know hes not playing as well as we know he can but give him a break and encourage him for once