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ricardo

Ricardo's Report v Millwall

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This was a fixture that had worried me all week. Facing a robust all action side without our recognised central defensive pair seemed a recipe for a possible upset. Millwall started off at 100 mph and in the early minutes were getting the ball into our box far too easily although they failed to bring Forster into any meaningfull action. City were finding it difficult to get going, much in the way they struggled early on against Huddersfield. Twenty minutes had passed before we threatened the Millwall goal but we finally settled and Holt and Martin had efforts ruled out by the offside flag. In one incident a series of Millwall defenders put life and limb on the line with some terrific blocks to prevent us going ahead.

Eventually the goal came as Semmy found space on the right and his low cross was pulled back for Hooly to net with a powerful shot from 12 yards. Millwall heads didn''t drop and they still continued to have more than their fair share of the ball without really looking dangerous. Our makeshift central defenders looked strong with Russell Martin in particular looking very assured.

The second half opened at a much lower pace and City were a bit disjointed due to the loss of Rusty but I thought Matt Gill filled in very well. The ref was getting a lot of vocal from the crowd because he seemed to let a lot go. Millwall are a very physical side and I thought we stood up to them well. The second goal finally put the skids under Millwall and showed the difference in quality between the sides. A nice flowing move with Martin and Hoolahan combining well before Hooly''s pinpoint cross laid it on a plate for Grant Holt to nod in number 20 of the season. Millwall still didn''t crumble but the writing was on the wall and the 3 points were safely in the bag.

MOM contenders for me were Hoolahan, Lappin and Russell Martin. I go for Hooly for his goal and his assist but I wouldn''t argue if anyone thought it was Lappin because he was immense today for the entire 90 minutes.

The gap is now down to 2 points and there is is still half the season to go. Can we do it I hear you ask me? Of course we can, OTBC and a happy Xmas and New Year to all.

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Thanks Ricardo, didn''t go to the game today but it didn''t exactly sound like a spectacular performance for us, more of a job done performance which is good enough as it takes us to 8 back to back home wins which is the stuff of Champions.  Was the atmosphere very good today? 

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[quote user="ricardo"]

MOM contenders for me were Hoolahan, Lappin and Russell Martin. I go for Hooly for his goal and his assist but I wouldn''t argue if anyone thought it was Lappin because he was immense today for the entire 90 minutes.

The gap is now down to 2 points and there is is still half the season to go. Can we do it I hear you ask me? Of course we can, OTBC and a happy Xmas and New Year to all.

[/quote]A view, I think, shared by many today Ricardo. Roeder said Lappin knew his future was elsewhere - one of was clearly wrong! (Injuries are the only possible obstacle to us making the top two - get well soon Spillane)

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[quote user="Binky"][quote user="ricardo"]

MOM contenders for me were Hoolahan, Lappin and Russell Martin. I go for Hooly for his goal and his assist but I wouldn''t argue if anyone thought it was Lappin because he was immense today for the entire 90 minutes.

The gap is now down to 2 points and there is is still half the season to go. Can we do it I hear you ask me? Of course we can, OTBC and a happy Xmas and New Year to all.

[/quote]

A view, I think, shared by many today Ricardo. Roeder said Lappin knew his future was elsewhere - one of was clearly wrong! (Injuries are the only possible obstacle to us making the top two - get well soon Spillane)
[/quote]

Lappin''s workrate was immense today, and he was definitely my MoM. The really pleasing thing today were the performances of the "fringe " players (with the exception of Otsemebor who appeared to think he was having a pleasant doze on the sofa). Gill did an excellent job in Rusty''s place, and Nelson had probably his best game for the club, while Martin did a solid job beside him. Adeyemi did much better than last week, although it was worrying to see Hughes limp off again. I just hope we don''t pick up any more injuries.

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I actually managed to make a game so can discuss your report. Not a lot to argue with to be honest, I though the defence were shakey the whole game and "got away with it" on a few ocassions, the whole side looked off the pace today but when you have a front 3 like we do we''re always going to score goals and that was the case again today. The 2nd goal was brilliantly worked with the triumvirite all involved.

I''ve not been Gill''s biggest fan, saw him play on the left of the diamond at Stockport and may have unfairly criticised him but he did very well today, looked very neat and tidy.

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Interesting the different views on our defence, some say they were shaky and some say they played well?

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[quote user="cityangel"]

Interesting the different views on our defence, some say they were shaky and some say they played well?

[/quote]Shaky at points but 90% of the match all 4 played well.Credit must go to Foster as well, did everything Millwall asked of him.

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The key to defending is not to leave it to the back four, particularly when they''re new boys. In the second half of the Huddersfield game we realised that and did a much better job than in the first half. In this game it sounded like we made the same mistake, possibly because Rusty and Hughes weren''t fit. I''m amazed that we kept a clean sheet with Nelson and Russell at CB, but credit to them.

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I Pretty Much Agree With What You Said There :)

Having Seen Gill Last At The Ipswich Reserve Game Where He Looked Well Off The Pace And Not Good At All, I Must Say He Looked Much Better Today, Much More Alive And On Top! Also Nelson And Martin Put In A Very Good Peformance Especially in The 2nd Half. Martin Took Time To Warm Up To The New Position But After That He Was Much Better And Worked Well With Nelson.

A Bit Worried To See Rusty And Hughes Go Off, But Hopefully Nothing Too Serious.

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Think the slower tempo in the second half was deliberate, Millwall came out of the traps so quickly in first half and worried us, so slowing things down a bit took some sting out of the game. We countered well and got the second. Defence looked shakey to begin with and Otsemabor was awful in the first 45 minutes, but they became more composed as the game went on. Chris Martin worked his socks off all game as did Lappin. Very pleased with the performance and the result, considering injuries and the such like.

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Thanks ricardo, brilliant as ever. For me Lappin or Drury was MOM, those two played together reminiscent of the way we used to play and perhaps how football should be played, great teamwork by them. Semmy is a very frustrating player to watch. At times he is very good, he set up the first goal and defended very well the 1st 10 minutes of the second half when he was singled out by The Wall, but then at other times he absent, slow and often down-right lazy. I''m still not sure on Gill, for me he just didn''t seem very good at anything, and certainly Tom''s performance today would suggest that he should be in higher up the pecking order whilst Smith is out.

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[quote user="Fellas"]I''m still not sure on Gill, for me he just didn''t seem very good at anything[/quote]I thought I was the only one.Definitely wasn''t convinced. There were times they got too much space in his area of the pitch in the second half. Can''t say I remember him making any sort of positive impact. To be fair Russell wasn''t great either today - they were always really quick to close him down and put pressure on our makeshift backline.On that note I thought Nelson was excellent today. His distribution isn''t great but every single tackle or header in our area he won, I think. Held it together at the back like Lappin did in midfield. He was my MOM today, he was everywhere and really got stuck in, which you don''t necessarily expect from a player like Lappin but he had a fantastic game. Never stopped working.

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[quote user="Fellas"]Thanks ricardo, brilliant as ever. For me Lappin or Drury was MOM, those two played together reminiscent of the way we used to play and perhaps how football should be played, great teamwork by them. Semmy is a very frustrating player to watch. At times he is very good, he set up the first goal and defended very well the 1st 10 minutes of the second half when he was singled out by The Wall, but then at other times he absent, slow and often down-right lazy. I''m still not sure on Gill, for me he just didn''t seem very good at anything, and certainly Tom''s performance today would suggest that he should be in higher up the pecking order whilst Smith is out.
[/quote]

Totally agree with this; Juke-Box didn''t let anything past him all day and his attacking play was very good.

I thought that, apart from one stray pass, Gill did really well, much better than I thought he would.

Russell and Nelson defended really well between them, although Stevie Wonder could pass the ball better than Nelson! 

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Yes, apparently the poor man''s Doherty did play well and to all those Nelson bashers thank goodness we have him in the squad. I didn''t go the match, in fact I rarely manage to get to home games living as I do on the South Coast so Ricardo''s reports are invaluable concise and amusing reflections on home games and "Ricardo''s Report" is always the first and often the only thread I read on a Saturday evening.

I must admit that it worries me that we are so slow to get going in matches. Perhaps Lambert tells the players to pretend to be "at the races" for the first half so that the other side mounts attack after attack and blows themselves out at which point we move up a few gears and score our ususal 2 or 3 goals. Masterful strategy, but only if the other side doesn''t score first ! Seriously, I am perplexed. Lady Snooty and I went to both Southampton matches and Yeovil and, without exaggeration, the first half of each match was notable for the seeming lack of desire/motivation amongst our players which, like magic, changed after halftime. This was particularly the case at both Southampton matches but also at Yeovil. The same thing happened today as mentioned in Ricardo''s report and, I read, also against Huddersfield. All very strange and no obvious explanation. I suspect that the team are in fact so confident of winning matches and scoring goals when they wish that they have an arrangement with a Chinese bookmaker in Hong Kong. I imagine that the bookmaker has made so much money laying off the bets that he refers to our team''s two betting ring leaders affectionately as Manager Rambo and Captain Gally Hort.

 

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[quote user="Fellas"] and certainly Tom''s performance today would suggest that he should be in higher up the pecking order whilst Smith is out.
[/quote]

Didn''t see that, personally. Thought he did a little bit better than he did against Huddersfield but I think these last 2 games have shown that he''s not ready to be more than backup at this point in time.

 

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[quote user="king canary"] Chris Martin worked his socks off all game
[/quote]

Once again I didn''t really see that happening. I didn''t ever see him do more than just enough and you could tell he was a little bit scared about challening some of their lads at certain points.

There was a good example that summed it up for me in the second half. One of our lads knocked the ball down the line. Chris Martin was in the general area and Grant Holt was about twice the distance away. Yet it was Grant Holt who put in the hard running to chase it down while Chris Martin more or less stood still.

I don''t want to say he''s a lazy player as such but when you compare his effort to the likes of Holt, Hoolahan, Lappin, Russell etc etc I don''t think he tends to put in anywhere near what his team mates do.

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Cheers Ricardo, Agree, good report as always.  The bloke next to me gave MotM to Russell Martin, which I thought was a reasonable shout but Hoolahan was once more the creative difference - they just can''t handle him in league one.Have a festive Peroni on me [B]

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[quote user="GJP"]

[quote user="king canary"] Chris Martin worked his socks off all game [/quote]

Once again I didn''t really see that happening. I didn''t ever see him do more than just enough and you could tell he was a little bit scared about challening some of their lads at certain points.

There was a good example that summed it up for me in the second half. One of our lads knocked the ball down the line. Chris Martin was in the general area and Grant Holt was about twice the distance away. Yet it was Grant Holt who put in the hard running to chase it down while Chris Martin more or less stood still.

I don''t want to say he''s a lazy player as such but when you compare his effort to the likes of Holt, Hoolahan, Lappin, Russell etc etc I don''t think he tends to put in anywhere near what his team mates do.

[/quote]My word did he sleep with your wife or something? You seem unable to look past the idea he is ''lazy'' despite the fact he spent a large part of the game chasing the ball in the channels. Thought he was better than Holt today who got very little out of the Millwall backline.

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

[quote user="king canary"] Chris Martin worked his socks off all game
[/quote]

Once again I didn''t really see that happening. I didn''t ever see him do more than just enough and you could tell he was a little bit scared about challening some of their lads at certain points.

There was a good example that summed it up for me in the second half. One of our lads knocked the ball down the line. Chris Martin was in the general area and Grant Holt was about twice the distance away. Yet it was Grant Holt who put in the hard running to chase it down while Chris Martin more or less stood still.

I don''t want to say he''s a lazy player as such but when you compare his effort to the likes of Holt, Hoolahan, Lappin, Russell etc etc I don''t think he tends to put in anywhere near what his team mates do.

[/quote]
My word did he sleep with your wife or something? You seem unable to look past the idea he is ''lazy'' despite the fact he spent a large part of the game chasing the ball in the channels. Thought he was better than Holt today who got very little out of the Millwall backline.
[/quote]

No, well at least not as far as I know anyway...

I have nothing against Chris Martin but I''m not going to praise him up for something that I don''t see him doing. I''ll always give credit where I believe it''s due (e.g. as I have done with Matt Gill, who I haven''t said a good word about until yesterday). But until Chris Martin puts in the same effort that some of his colleagues do I''m not going to make myself see him doing something he''s not just for the sake of praising him up.

 

 

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[quote user="Canary_on_the Trent"]I actually managed to make a game so can discuss your report. Not a lot to argue with to be honest, I though the defence were shakey the whole game and "got away with it" on a few ocassions, the whole side looked off the pace today but when you have a front 3 like we do we''re always going to score goals and that was the case again today. The 2nd goal was brilliantly worked with the triumvirite all involved. I''ve not been Gill''s biggest fan, saw him play on the left of the diamond at Stockport and may have unfairly criticised him but he did very well today, looked very neat and tidy.[/quote]

Great report, ricky ricardo!  I have to give best comment to Canary_on_the_Trent mostly because he used the word "triumverate".  How often does "triumverate" come up in sports talk?  Well done, CotT, for classing up the joint nicely!

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I think we may get a harder game at the den.......Millwall have beaten the top teams to vist them this season .............this may be one we loose [:(]

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

[quote user="king canary"] Chris Martin worked his socks off all game
[/quote]

Once again I didn''t really see that happening. I didn''t ever see him do more than just enough and you could tell he was a little bit scared about challening some of their lads at certain points.

There was a good example that summed it up for me in the second half. One of our lads knocked the ball down the line. Chris Martin was in the general area and Grant Holt was about twice the distance away. Yet it was Grant Holt who put in the hard running to chase it down while Chris Martin more or less stood still.

I don''t want to say he''s a lazy player as such but when you compare his effort to the likes of Holt, Hoolahan, Lappin, Russell etc etc I don''t think he tends to put in anywhere near what his team mates do.

[/quote]
My word did he sleep with your wife or something? You seem unable to look past the idea he is ''lazy'' despite the fact he spent a large part of the game chasing the ball in the channels. Thought he was better than Holt today who got very little out of the Millwall backline.
[/quote]

No, well at least not as far as I know anyway...

I have nothing against Chris Martin but I''m not going to praise him up for something that I don''t see him doing. I''ll always give credit where I believe it''s due (e.g. as I have done with Matt Gill, who I haven''t said a good word about until yesterday). But until Chris Martin puts in the same effort that some of his colleagues do I''m not going to make myself see him doing something he''s not just for the sake of praising him up.

[/quote]

Martin has scored 13 goals this season though...in any other season we would be going mad over him. If he gets 20 goals this season then it is job done for me. Sure he doesn''t chase around all the time but he is currently a League 1 striker i.e not perfect! Much like Hoolahan doesn''t have a right foot and Holt has no pace. If any of them had that missing ingredient then they would be premier league players!

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

[quote user="king canary"] Chris Martin worked his socks off all game
[/quote]

Once again I didn''t really see that happening. I didn''t ever see him do more than just enough and you could tell he was a little bit scared about challening some of their lads at certain points.

There was a good example that summed it up for me in the second half. One of our lads knocked the ball down the line. Chris Martin was in the general area and Grant Holt was about twice the distance away. Yet it was Grant Holt who put in the hard running to chase it down while Chris Martin more or less stood still.

I don''t want to say he''s a lazy player as such but when you compare his effort to the likes of Holt, Hoolahan, Lappin, Russell etc etc I don''t think he tends to put in anywhere near what his team mates do.

[/quote]
My word did he sleep with your wife or something? You seem unable to look past the idea he is ''lazy'' despite the fact he spent a large part of the game chasing the ball in the channels. Thought he was better than Holt today who got very little out of the Millwall backline.
[/quote]

No, well at least not as far as I know anyway...

I have nothing against Chris Martin but I''m not going to praise him up for something that I don''t see him doing. I''ll always give credit where I believe it''s due (e.g. as I have done with Matt Gill, who I haven''t said a good word about until yesterday). But until Chris Martin puts in the same effort that some of his colleagues do I''m not going to make myself see him doing something he''s not just for the sake of praising him up.

[/quote]

Martin has scored 13 goals this season though...in any other season we would be going mad over him. If he gets 20 goals this season then it is job done for me. Sure he doesn''t chase around all the time but he is currently a League 1 striker i.e not perfect! Much like Hoolahan doesn''t have a right foot and Holt has no pace. If any of them had that missing ingredient then they would be premier league players!

[/quote]

Yes, if he had scored 13 Championship league goals then there''d probably be a good case for going mad over him. But just like when he first appeared in the team...he does a little bit and it goes a very long way in the minds of some fans.

As I''ve said numerous times... we''ll wait and see what he''s done at the end of the season.

Anyway, my point wasn''t really questioning his goalscoring form. All I''m trying to say is that he''s not one of the hardest working players in the team especially when you look at what some of the other lads put into the games. For me he''s probably the least hard working of the regular starters.

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

[quote user="king canary"] Chris Martin worked his socks off all game [/quote]

Once again I didn''t really see that happening. I didn''t ever see him do more than just enough and you could tell he was a little bit scared about challening some of their lads at certain points.

There was a good example that summed it up for me in the second half. One of our lads knocked the ball down the line. Chris Martin was in the general area and Grant Holt was about twice the distance away. Yet it was Grant Holt who put in the hard running to chase it down while Chris Martin more or less stood still.

I don''t want to say he''s a lazy player as such but when you compare his effort to the likes of Holt, Hoolahan, Lappin, Russell etc etc I don''t think he tends to put in anywhere near what his team mates do.

[/quote]My word did he sleep with your wife or something? You seem unable to look past the idea he is ''lazy'' despite the fact he spent a large part of the game chasing the ball in the channels. Thought he was better than Holt today who got very little out of the Millwall backline.[/quote]

No, well at least not as far as I know anyway...

I have nothing against Chris Martin but I''m not going to praise him up for something that I don''t see him doing. I''ll always give credit where I believe it''s due (e.g. as I have done with Matt Gill, who I haven''t said a good word about until yesterday). But until Chris Martin puts in the same effort that some of his colleagues do I''m not going to make myself see him doing something he''s not just for the sake of praising him up.

[/quote]

Martin has scored 13 goals this season though...in any other season we would be going mad over him. If he gets 20 goals this season then it is job done for me. Sure he doesn''t chase around all the time but he is currently a League 1 striker i.e not perfect! Much like Hoolahan doesn''t have a right foot and Holt has no pace. If any of them had that missing ingredient then they would be premier league players!

[/quote]

Yes, if he had scored 13 Championship league goals then there''d probably be a good case for going mad over him. But just like when he first appeared in the team...he does a little bit and it goes a very long way in the minds of some fans.

As I''ve said numerous times... we''ll wait and see what he''s done at the end of the season.

Anyway, my point wasn''t really questioning his goalscoring form. All I''m trying to say is that he''s not one of the hardest working players in the team especially when you look at what some of the other lads put into the games. For me he''s probably the least hard working of the regular starters.

[/quote]I don''t think strikers need to be the most hard working of players, look at Owen or Linekar (not saying Martin is in their league) these guys barely move around the pitch but are in the right place at the right time. With Holt doing his one-man battering ram approach all over the pitch it is good to have someone like Martin sitting higher up the pitch stretching the opposing teams defense. If he was also running around tracking back etc we would have no one up front to hit teams on the break with.The best comparison I can think of is Chelsea, Drogba is an all action Holt style player and Martin is more like Anelka. Anelka gets stick for being lazy but look how Chelsea have struggled without him.I guess Martin will be judged favorably or not depending on how people think about him. Either the young striker who burst onto the scene from nowhere scoring vital goals, or the arrogant ineffectual player who was ousted to Luton to teach a lesson to.

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