Big Bad John and his 'Big Bad Match Report'

[John 0]

Hi

guys, here is my go at a ''match report''. Although I admittedly cannot speak with

the same kind of authority as the great Ricardo, I''ll do my best to

provide some insight into a game some of you may have been ''unlucky''

enough not to of attended.

 

First

of all I must admit, as a ''Brightonian'' alongside other Brighton fans,

I found myself sitting undercover in the home stands, ''almost'' freezing

to death (praise be to the thermal vest), amongst the most ''hardcore''

fans that Brighton have to offer in the South Stand (the equivalent of our ''Barclay'' if

you will... Or at least they''d like to think so). I''d like to let it be

known that if Carrow Road was ever considered to be a “quiet” and

“unimaginative” place, even at the best of times, you need only visit

the slum, hollow (supposed) ''stadia'' that is the Withdean to see just

how such a poor environment can effect your matchday experience. The

creativity among the indigenous ASBO stricken home fans was far from

impressive to say the least. Armed with what seemed to be an unwritten

hymn sheet that presided over 3 particular chants, either letting it be

known to all, if there was ever to be any dispute, that they are indeed

called the “Seagulls” (or “Sea... Gulls!”), or voicing a suspicion that

we''re “all Ipswich fans in disguise” (loving the wit in that one[Y]), or,

like everyone else that seems to these days, make countless strenuous

efforts to highlight the state of Grant Holt''s weight (until he then

goes onto score and make them all look like a collective bunch of

buffoons with a gloriously milked celebration).

 

Now,

as for the game, it''s probably not one that will live long in the

memory, especially for the unfortunate away sat contingent who were so

distant from the actual pitch I''d be surprised if they could see, let

alone bother to remember any of it. That however is not to say it was

not a game of good football, with both sides generally keeping the play

on the deck. Yet,

despite having little to complain about when it came to the style of play on display,

there was an element in the game certainly lacking, with creativity

evidently lacking not only in the stands, but on the pitch. With

Hoolahan marked and pursued out of making a strong impact in the final

third in the game, unlike in the past, we really struggled to cause any

damage through the middle or on the counter, whilst merely relying on

what Lappin and Russell had to provide in terms of delivery that led to

a fair few hopeless crosses, either from the wing or in set plays. This

being the case, we found ourselves piling on the pressure time and time

again, with the inevitable ''stall and lose the ball'' soon ensuing.

 

Having

said that though, we certainly had our moments, forcing 3 good chances

in the opening stages of the game, with the best being with Holt placed

in a one-on-one situation with the Brighton keeper Kuipers (albeit at a

tight angle) passing to an offside Hoolahan to apply the eventual

finishing touch. After this, almost not making those chances count

knocked the stuffing out of us, and we started to look a little shaky

at the back, and we later went down to an Elliot Bennett free-kick going by the wrong side of our net after passing through a pack of

players (undoubtedly helped by the awful bobbly pitch), making it very difficult for Forster to really have a chance of preventing the ball from going in. After that we

struggled to force our authority back onto the game, despite some

captivating and tremendously calculated play, Brighton were subject to

a little of what lady luck had to offer with every loose ball going in

their favour, and with it it seemed to nullify the best of our build up

play. Chances for Albion were fairly regular, with the best of which

seeing Forster clearing a ball well wide of his goal, with the eventual

play winding up with a Brighton striker in Glenn Murray finding himself with ball at his feet and the

goal at his mercy, only to then be cleared by Michael Nelson (at least that is

what I gathered from my mate, as the rest of the crowd was stood

infront of my vision as I sat in despair after thinking us to of gone

down another goal). This all was until the beginning of the second

half, with us applying some good pressure, but to a greater extent by

about the 60^th

minute, when who was probably the best Brighton player of the day in

striker Chris Holroyd was taken off for a defender, allowing us to

force the play around their box. By the time McNamee and Johnson were

on the pitch, we were a different proposition in the final third, and

it almost seemed inevitable that we''d eventually go on to equalise,

with Holt indeed going on to fire the ball into the top left hand corner

after a mix up in the Brighton box, followed by a cheeky celebration

directly infront of me, that had me holding the biggest grin ever amongst a crowd of angry yobs, while

trying to contain myself from going off into a manic celebration, and

start cheering Grants name. Doherty was then soon to find himself on

the end of a cross, that he headed into the bottom right hand corner

for his 7^th (?) goal of the season, that just had me sitting in disbelief, as opposed to the thousands around me sat in utter despair.

 

After

the goals, Brighton conjured up a little bit of pressure, but little in

terms of decent chances. Without too much difficulty, we stood

resilient, and the best Brighton could manage was a few laughably

off target attempts.

 

Overall,

I don''t think I saw a team rediscovering the kind of form that put them

top of the table today, with us looking both a little blunt going

forward, and again quite shaky toward the back. However, credit must go

again to the fighting spirit in the side that endured the whole 90

minutes, even at the worst of times, that pulled out the eventual win.

Not my best match experience, but it had an undoubtedly delightful

finish to it.

 

Ratings :

 

Fraser

Forster – 7 – Handling was better than David James''s was today for what

I saw of the Hampshire derby, that''s for certain. Kicking was of course

though questionable at best, and despite the conditions and poor view,

it looked as if he could of maybe done a little better to prevent the Brighton goal.

 

Michael

Rose – 7 – I hear he has a tendency to do well against Brighton, and

today he didn''t disappoint. Seemed assured defensively, and was more

than competent in any forward play he found himself a part of.

 

Gary

Doherty – 6 – Got the winning goal, and was by no means that awful. But

something must be going wrong with his clocker, because his timing in the

challenge was astoundingly poor at times, and, objectively speaking, he

was very lucky to escape without getting a booking today. Arms all over

the place too, but then that is to be expected. Has looked much better

this season.

 

Michael

Nelson – 6.5 – Defensively not much better than Doherty, but I feel his

clearance off the line did us more favours than the winning goal. I

honestly couldn''t of seen us coming back into the game if we had gone

2-0 down, and to his credit, he did brilliantly to prevent Glenn Murray

from getting a goal.

 

Russell

Martin – 6.5 – Didn''t keep enough pressure on either Bennett or LuaLua,

and effectively allowed too many crosses to come in to the box. Otherwise he was a

useful entity to have in much of the forward play, and could have had a

goal of the season contender in the second half with a quality volley,

if it had not been for Kuipers positioning.

 

Korey

Smith – 5 – Didn''t provide quite enough in the midfield in terms of

bite, and would have needed a little more pace in many cases if he was

to of had any impact on the game. Nevertheless, remains the ever

willing participant with his effort.

 

Darel

Russell – 7.5 – Unlike Smith, he had the bite, and was very much part

of the engine room running within the side. He was the link, and

although it could go unnoticed, he essentially was the key in making

everything work. Tackling and pressure superb, always made himself

available, and passing was adequate, though admittedly much the same as

it ever is.

 

Simon

Lappin – 6.5 - Either superb and refined in the challenge, or foolish

and untimely. Was an ever present in the midfield, though I genuinely

don''t think i''m ever going to be content with his delivery.

 

Wes

Hoolahan – 7 – Like a wizard on the ball, and his delivery is as accurate,

swift and impressive as the very best in football, of that I truly

believe. Only a shame that he was again marked out of the game with

brutal force, making him a bit of a non-entity in the final third.

 

Chris

Martin – 6.5 – Has a lot of class and is a powerful player. Just a

shame that he doesn''t make the runs that will make all the difference

in his performance. Otherwise a little quiet unfortunately.

 

Grant

Holt – 7.5 – Showed Glenn Murray how to put the ball in the net with

his goal, and despite not often having much going his way, he applied

the pressure that was needed upfront throughout. Brighton fans will

wholeheartedly disagree, but I believe he put in the professional and

passionate performance needed from a captain. Delighted to see him back.

 

Subs :

 

Anthony

McNamee – 7 – Injected a lot of energy into the game, and is clearly a

class act with the ball at his feet. Unlike McDonald or Johnson, I feel

he has the quality to last the full 90 minutes. Gives much hope for an alternative system.

 

Oli

Johnson – 6 – Had his moments, and worked effectively with Chris

Martin. Didn''t quite have the quality or understanding with our side to

really threaten Brighton though.

 

Michael Spillane – Didn''t have enough time.

 

...

 

Paul

Lambert – 10 -  Did, and must of said the right things to get this

result. The teams performance wasn''t always so established, but in his role, I

don''t believe he could of done any more.

 

...

 

Norwich

fans – 7 – Awful weather, awful conditions, in an awful ''stadium'', with

a team losing for much of the game, though even given that I feel they

could of made a little more noise than they did up until the goals. When the City goals came though, they were louder than the home fans ever were, and just wouldn''t shut up, and

credit to them for it, just wished i could of joined you.[Y]

 

Brighton

fans – 1 – Heard on Sussex Radio that there was a good atmosphere in the

ground from the Brighton fans?... I''m so thankful that I don''t go often.

 

…

 

Officials

– 3 – Whatever side you were on today, no one can say the FA would have

been proud with what was on display. Couldn''t seem to get anything

right from my view of the game.

 

...

Sorry it was so long people, not quite the seasoned pro that see''s people like Ricardo sum it all up in a couple of paragraphs, but i hope you liked it, and as ever, am interested to hear your opinions on the game (whether you went or not), and what you feel the near future holds for Norwich City...

[Y]

[morty 0]

Nice one![Y]

[Rudolph Hucker 0]

Thanks for this Big John.

[Norwich or die tryin! 0]

Good report [Y]I like how Rose has a tendancy to do well against Brighton HAHA

[Bury Yellow 2]

A good read. Thanks for your effort.

I was there freezing my nadgers off and was one of the reasons i didn''t start singing and shouting until the equaliser!!

Lambo - Your the Man

[Yellowfuture 71]

Thanks John. Interested in your comments about Smith, pace and bite are normally some of his strenghts, maybe just an off day.

[Twitchy 0]

Cheers for that BBJ, great report, sounds like the poor fans are a million miles away.I would hate to be a striker making his way to the fans, sprint across the track, over a hurdle, a hop skip and a jump and then fight a steward to get to a yella jersey...phew I''m wrecked just thinking about it.

[John 0]

[quote user="thefutureisyellow"]Thanks John. Interested in your comments about Smith, pace and bite are normally some of his strenghts, maybe just an off day.[/quote]That was the impression i got thefutureisyellow. For what it''s worth, i must say conditions were not compromising to say the least, and i could well see that being a factor in a below par performance.By the way, cheers for the comments guys, and sorry for the font. Had a little trouble with my laptop.[Y]

[Clever Farke 64]

Good work! Cheers for doing that.

[boltoncanary 0]

Great report BBJ, but I''m going to have to come across as a Special Constable for the Forum Police and ask you to look at your conjugation of the verb "to have". There is no such verb as "to of". Sorry - rant over.

[Tim Allman 1]

Thanks, an excellent report. Must have taken you ages to type that out!

 

[BlyBlyBabes 0]

[quote user="boltoncanary"]Great report BBJ, but I''m going to have to come across as a Special Constable for the Forum Police and ask you to look at your conjugation of the verb "to have". There is no such verb as "to of". Sorry - rant over.[/quote]

Yes, I enjoyed it John - lots of context and local colour. [Y].

But I''m afraid that I must agree with Bolton about your Smudgeresque blind spot!

OTBC

[Sideshow Tim 110]

Cheers John. great report.

I particularly like the large font to create the effect of a larger report!!!! ;-)

[AndyCanary 0]

Good report, thanks :)

[jed exodous 0]

Great report. Just watched the goals on iplayer, we were very lucky again today. 2 awesome clearances off the line and then 2 great finishes from us. Fantastic towering header from Doc, how many points has he won us this season, awesome and Holty back to what he does best. What a great comeback, except we have to stop giving other teams the 1 goal headstart. Really feel like we are going up, everything is going right for us.

otbc

[big dick sanchez 0]

Too long, did not read.

Only kidding, cheers for the report.

[......and Smith must score. 1,332]

Thanks Big Bad John.Good read and 10/10 for enduring the whole freezing 90 mins stuck in there with the Seagull fans.

[Simon Lappin, King Of Spain 0]

Comprehensive report thanks mate, was at the game in the away end and saw bugger all as we were in the 2nd row from the front and not going to try and comment too much on the game itself as a result. I do disagree with you on some points particularly with regard to our defence, my personal impression was that Rose had a stinker especially in the first half, thought his postioning was poor and he lacked strength in the tackle, Martin had a better game but was given a lot of trouble by Lua Lua, like Rose my impression was that his defensive work was not up to standard, however his play going forward improves with every game I see. I also thought both centre halves had better games than you gave them credit for but were made to look worse than they were by poor defensive performances from both full backs. For me the result hinged on two decisions, firstly Poyet''s to bring off Lua Lua who was their most dangerous attacking threat, gave Martin a real run around for the whole 65mins he was on the pitch and bring on a defensive midfielder, the second being Lambert''s to bring off Korey and Nelson and put on Oli and Macca, tactical naivety from Poyet who tried to hold down a one nil lead against the league leaders and a great gamble from Lambert who saw that we were going nowehere fast and made the substitutions and formaition changes which entirely altered the face of the game, obviously that is one of the factors which seperates a good manager from a great one. Also I loved the way Lambert sprinted down the touchline to pick up the stray ball and give it to Martin (R) to take the free kick which resulted in Ginger Pele''s match winner. I gain more and more respect for that man with every game I see, he is the best thing to happen to the club in an eternity.Other than that I thought Holt was far from his best today, constantly over on the wings rather in the middle of the park which left no one in the centre to get on the end of crosses or through balls as Martin was usually over on the other touchline (although he looked skillful wiht the ball at his feet I thought his movement without the ball was pretty poor today). Holt seems to have the tendency to "do a Rooney" when we''re not playing well and tries too hard to make things happen as a result we sometimes lose his physical presence up front. As soon as McNamee and Johnson came on and he took a more central position we looked much more threatening. One final point is that although Hoolahan was marked out of the majority of the game, it was his magical little run along the byline into the box which set up Holt''s equaliser, he may have been kept quiet at times, but only needs to slip his marker for a second to make something happen, utterly indispensible player!Overall poor performance except the last 15mins but great result, we''ll need to improve hugely to beat Southampton next weekend but the three points is the main thing at the moment OTBC!!!!!!

[WeAreYellows49 0]

Thanks John and it was an enjoyable ready [Y]

[WeAreYellows49 0]

**read** too

[Shyster 0]

[quote user="WeAreYellows49"]**read** too[/quote]

Dear oh dear. [:P]

[WeAreYellows49 0]

[quote user="Shyster"][quote user="WeAreYellows49"]**read** too[/quote]


Dear oh dear. [:P]
[/quote]

 

It''s Sunday, day off from spelling obviously lol [:P] [:)]

[Shyster 0]

[quote user="WeAreYellows49"]

[quote user="Shyster"][quote user="WeAreYellows49"]**read** too[/quote]

Dear oh dear. [:P][/quote]

 

It''s Sunday, day off from spelling obviously lol [:P] [:)]

[/quote]

Don''t mind me, WAY, I was trying to wind you up, but it obviously isn''t working.Nobody seems to be taking the bait today.

[south of the border 0]

[quote user="Simon Lappin, King Of Spain"]Comprehensive report thanks mate, was at the game in the away end and saw bugger all as we were in the 2nd row from the front and not going to try and comment too much on the game itself as a result. I do disagree with you on some points particularly with regard to our defence, my personal impression was that Rose had a stinker especially in the first half, thought his postioning was poor and he lacked strength in the tackle, Martin had a better game but was given a lot of trouble by Lua Lua, like Rose my impression was that his defensive work was not up to standard, however his play going forward improves with every game I see. I also thought both centre halves had better games than you gave them credit for but were made to look worse than they were by poor defensive performances from both full backs. For me the result hinged on two decisions, firstly Poyet''s to bring off Lua Lua who was their most dangerous attacking threat, gave Martin a real run around for the whole 65mins he was on the pitch and bring on a defensive midfielder, the second being Lambert''s to bring off Korey and Nelson and put on Oli and Macca, tactical naivety from Poyet who tried to hold down a one nil lead against the league leaders and a great gamble from Lambert who saw that we were going nowehere fast and made the substitutions and formaition changes which entirely altered the face of the game, obviously that is one of the factors which seperates a good manager from a great one. Also I loved the way Lambert sprinted down the touchline to pick up the stray ball and give it to Martin (R) to take the free kick which resulted in Ginger Pele''s match winner. I gain more and more respect for that man with every game I see, he is the best thing to happen to the club in an eternity.Other than that I thought Holt was far from his best today, constantly over on the wings rather in the middle of the park which left no one in the centre to get on the end of crosses or through balls as Martin was usually over on the other touchline (although he looked skillful wiht the ball at his feet I thought his movement without the ball was pretty poor today). Holt seems to have the tendency to "do a Rooney" when we''re not playing well and tries too hard to make things happen as a result we sometimes lose his physical presence up front. As soon as McNamee and Johnson came on and he took a more central position we looked much more threatening. One final point is that although Hoolahan was marked out of the majority of the game, it was his magical little run along the byline into the box which set up Holt''s equaliser, he may have been kept quiet at times, but only needs to slip his marker for a second to make something happen, utterly indispensible player!Overall poor performance except the last 15mins but great result, we''ll need to improve hugely to beat Southampton next weekend but the three points is the main thing at the moment OTBC!!!!!!

This was my first time at the Withdean & the experience i think was similar to watching a football match on the moon.....in terms of the lack of atmosphere & temperature!!

I was puzzled to see one chap walking towards the stand before the kick off with a pair of binoculars hanging around his neck when I reached my seat I quickly realised why!!

Agree with your appraisal of the game.

Two lads sitting beside me said city''s dressing room must have been near to the refreshments stand because while they were enjoying their half time cupa they overheard the ''intensity'' of Lambert''s half time team talk!! (viz. a big yellow & green hairdryer was used on full power)!! Full marks to Lambert for gambling on the changes he made in the last 15 minutes, five up front thats what I call going for it....as someone said earlier ''balls of steel!!

Good result for us. However, the overall performance will need to improve if we are going to get 3 points from Southampton next week. OTBC

[WeAreYellows49 0]

[quote user="Shyster"][quote user="WeAreYellows49"]

[quote user="Shyster"][quote user="WeAreYellows49"]**read** too[/quote]


Dear oh dear. [:P]
[/quote]

 

It''s Sunday, day off from spelling obviously lol [:P] [:)]

[/quote]


Don''t mind me, WAY, I was trying to wind you up, but it obviously isn''t working.

Nobody seems to be taking the bait today.
[/quote]

Awww sorry about that hahaha