Theo has finally gone....

[Sephiroth Owa 0]

[quote user="Babyface"][quote user="Europe_93"]they missed Cody out of the pecking order!![/quote]

Brilliant! And Askou, Holt, Martin, Miss Marple, Stevie Wonder....[/quote]But Cody managed to keep a clean sheet longer than Theo did... and he was against Premiership opposition!

[GJP 79]

He was just miles and miles away from being good enough. That much was obvious very quickly.

No different to a youth player who doesn''t make the grade. The manager can tell if they''ve got something to offer early on.

Lambert saw Theo, knew he wasn''t up to much and he replaced him with the best goalkeeper you''ll see in this league.

 

[ROBFLECK 132]

[quote user="Indy_Bones"][quote user="ROBFLECK"]I don''t think there is one City supporter who''s sad to see him go... Maybe Gunn?[/quote]You can count me on that list as well.

I''m stunned at the attitudes displayed by many fans towards Theo, especially when a number of those fans were up in arms when players like Lappin, Hoolahan and Doherty were stuck in the reserves.

Lappin has been an important part of our season (although I think he''s too lightweight tbh) yet if left to Roeder he''d never have played for us again, despite a good attitude and working hard in training/reserve games.

Doherty only got called back due a string of injuries, not because he was awesome in reserve matches/training, as far as he was concerned he was just waiting for the move to come along.

Hoolahan was clearly stuck in there to make a point, but even now despite his ability gives us some issues due to the necessary formation options to accomodate him fully.

Theo however was given no fair chance. He only missed the JPT game because no-one bothered to tell him about the match - a fact that the club have never denied. It''s clearly a combination of his opening day performance and Lambert''s own view that has restricted his opportunity, and it''s wrong tbh.

Thierry Henry went something like 17 games without scoring when Arsenal signed him, but if the view of many of our fans was applied, he''d have been binned into the reserves well before this point, his attitude dismissed as not being good enough, and with everyone claiming he was just an awful player and should be sold off instead of stealing money from the club, but we all know he shit Henry was don''t we...

It makes no real difference to us as a club now, but seeing players treated like this really pisses me off.
[/quote]

I don''t think you can compare him to thierry Henry... I can see your point about player''s being written off too quickly, but I''m glad they gave our two young GK''s the nod over him!

[Hairy Canary 701]

[quote user="Indy_Bones"]I just hope he ends up at a club that''s willing to give him a fair opportunity instead of one that dismisses you on the back of a single poor game...
[/quote]

I see. Perhaps you could point out which of the replacement keepers you would have dropped to give him that chance? Forster or Rudd perhaps. That would have given them one hell of a boost wouldn''t it. When would you have dropped Forster - in the middle of a long winning run perhaps? Can you imagine the knock to our confidence levels had we lost a game to a goalkeeping error if he had anothe nightmare.

This is a tough buisness. He had a chance and blew it. Others have had a similar chance and grabbed it with both hands.

[W-H 0]

Hooo-ray!

[dhickl 0]

[quote user="Spud1973"]So knowing that there is a game, also means you know what time the players coach leave Norwich then does it. As I understand it Theo was not in the managers plans & therefore didnt realise he was traveling to the game. Its not that he didnt turn up for the game as far as he knew he wasn''t required! [/quote]Firstly, as someone pointed out, there is usually a team sheet.  Stories that I hear from players (their autobiographies, etc, like Iwan''s ''All I want for Christmas'') these are usually posted up on the wall a day or so before the game.  So he didn''t bother looking at that.

Secondly, if I wasn''t in the team I would be talking to the manager regularly about getting in the team. 

Thirdly, is his relationship with the other players that bad that no-one had mentioned it to him.

Forthly, when I have been to away games I have seen players not in the squad there.  They want to be part of the team & club and support it.

[Robert N. LiM 4,340]

And it''s worth mentioning that it wasn''t Lambert who cast him aside, it was Gunn.

When Gunn dropped Theo after the 7-1, his NCFC career was over. The only way he could have recovered from the 7-1 would have been if Gunn had played him at Yeovil and given him the immediate chance to show it was a one-off.

I''m not saying Gunn was wrong to drop him. I wasn''t at the Colchester game, so I don''t know whether it was a one-off or whether he wasn''t up to it, though I suspect the latter. But, if Gunn was right to drop him, then he was wrong to sign him. I think Theo is an unfortunate side-effect of the worst decision the club has made in my 25 years as a fan, the re-appointment of Bryan Gunn. Thank goodness that it was so swiftly followed by the undoing of that decision. As someone said above, Theo inadvertently did us a massive favour. He should be in the running for POTS.

[First Wizard 0]

Kylie, Jason, Olivia and even Rolf, but we get Cliterous!

Bog off and haunt someone else.

[Beauseant 0]

[quote user="dhickl"]

Forthly, when I have been to away games I have seen players not in the squad there.  They want to be part of the team & club and support it.

[/quote]

 

I believe that we often travel with two "extras" who don''t make the final squad.

[birchfest 397]

I feel sorry for the guy.... but thats another piece of dead wood gone. You dont see any of the ''gunns team''  ramblers in this thread!

[Jacko 0]

Putting a few myths to bed.

1. Gillingham Game

There is no way he would not have been told he was in the squad to play Gillingham in the Johnstones Paint Trophy. I play football at University and the squad is posted through email 2 days before so everyone knows where they stand. This happens even at the most basic level of football. In fact if you have read Iwan Roberts book Nigel Worthington read the squad out in front of all the pros at the club. Lambert will do something similiar. I refuse to believe that a professional football club do not post a team sheet at the very least.  With Declan Rudd away on England duty as well Theo would surely have twigged there was a distinct possibility he would make the squad. Particularly as he had made the bench a couple of times when Rudd and Forster were unvailable.

2. Colchester

The team were garbage that day and would have lost anyway no desputing that. However if Ben Alnick had started that game we would have lost about 3-1. Theoklitos was definitely at fault for the first one. Dreadful backpass from Otsembor but ultimately he lost out to Lisbie even though he had the advantage of using his hands. The second he should have held it was very weak shot. For the freekick his positioning was highly questionable as that strike was no where near the corner. The final one he came charging out of his goal for no reason.

3. Not Being Given Further Chances

The guy clearly didnt impress in training. Doherty, Smith, Hoolahan, Martin have all impressed in training and won over a manager who was sceptical. Yes, its true Lambert admitted when he first saw Martin that he wasn''t sure he could cut it. He flapped at one against West Ham and messed up a backpass against another team in the reserves. True Rudd gave away a penalty in the reserve game against the scum but no one can deny his performances against Gillingham, Bristol Rovers and Leyton Orient in the first time were impressive. His kicking is much better than Forsters and he made good saves to boot. Fraser is top notch keeper but if we did''nt get him back next year I am confident Rudd can step up. Both him and Steer are terrific prospects.

 

All in all. A poor keeper and he illustrated a poor attitude. But to be fair to Gunny he looked good on youtube. That is I am sure how all the good managers sign their players......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0tampI5098

[Dutch 0]

Indy bones, you claimed that I just hope he ends up at a club that''s willing to give him a fair opportunity instead of one that dismisses you on the back of a single poor game...

Thats rubbish mate, and you know it, anyone who has seen reerve games will know, that 7-1 was not just 1 bad game. He is terrible.

[Barclay hero 0]

[quote user="Indy_Bones"]I just hope he ends up at a club that''s willing to give him a fair opportunity instead of one that dismisses you on the back of a single poor game...
[/quote]

You mean instead of one that dismisses you after one poor first team game, several dodgy reserve appearances and a missed bus?

[Norma Stick 0]

Does anybody think that we can withold any payment due to Theoklitosser under the Trade Description Act?  After all, he declares he is a keeper?

Utter tripe.  Good riddance

[pete_norw 0]

[quote user="pennywise "]theos contribution to this season has been unmatched by any other player...without him we might have only lost 3-1 to colchester and gunn would have hung around until october and we would have never got lambert..instead the spectacular capitulation gave mcnally all the ammo he needed to act ruthlessly  and the rest is history... thanks to theo gunns ineptitude was  magnified x 100 ...thankyou theo [:D][/quote]

Funny you should say that, as I heared that Mcnally decided to get rid of Gunn during the Scotland pre season tour, It just that the 7-1 bashing helped the   wheels move faster .

[Dr. Ink 0]

!!BREAKING NEWS!!

"THEO CLITORIUS MATCHDAY CLUB" to open behind the City Stand.

The floor is currently being prepared with rubber matting to prevent breakages from the dropped glasses. 

[newboy 0]

[quote user="Indy_Bones"]I just hope he ends up at a club that''s willing to give him a fair opportunity instead of one that dismisses you on the back of a single poor game...
[/quote]

Lets not forget that he had a couple of shockers for the reserves as well !

[Romantic 0]

[quote user="canaryleo"][quote user="Indy_Bones"]I just hope he ends up at a club that''s willing to give him a fair opportunity instead of one that dismisses you on the back of a single poor game...[/quote]Lambert won''t have written him off solely on the colchester game

(though he got as a good a view on that performance as anyone), theres

training to impress in (how smith got in the team), reserves games (how

hoolahan got back in the team) and chances have come about for most due

to injuries etc (how Doc got back in the team). He had chances

(Alnwick''s injury, forsters suspension) but presumably because of

training and reserves performances along with not turning up to go the

Gilllingham JPT game, he kinda made the decision for Lambert.Everyone

plays fair by Lambert and he plays fair by them. We''ve seen others who

acted maturely, fought for their places and got back in the side, Theo

may never have been in Lamberts plans due to their better options in

his opinion but he simply just messed up too many times.In Lambert i trust, Goodbye Theo![/quote]What he said.

[Syteanric 1]

he was crap.. it doesnt come down to "chances" he was rubbish.. end of...this is a professional game we play not one built around sympathy and "old pals acts", Theo should have been on a plane back to aus by the end of August.. not getting a wage from us for doing nowt!

 

[Metatron 0]

I''d echo what Pennywise said.

As for him not having enough chances everyone but Indy Bones seems to give a fair assessment: he had chances and he obviously did not impress in training or the reserves.

I''d also add that I watched the pre-season game against Wigan and was concerned about him then - there was at least one Wigan goal that he should have saved.

[InLambertWeTrust! 0]

Its plainly obvious to me that Lambert is gearing up and constructing a squad capable of championship football.Unfortunately that meant that J.O, Curo, Theo, Wheres Whaley were not up to the job. There are still question marks over the likes of Nelse and others but Lambo is clearing some of the obviously sh** players out and hopefully he''ll judge correctly which players will do a job next year.In Lambo we trust[Y]

[Dutch 0]

Indy Bones, is talking crap. He had chances in the reserves and looked a clown, he had chances in training and Lambert obviously didnt fancy him. Lambert looked to be kicking out Doc, but he worked hard in training and gradually became a 1st team regular again. Theoklonkitis clearly didnt.

Will never forget his interview after the 1-7 game, on local news, where he was grinning and laughing about it. Tosser.

[Indy_Bones 441]

[quote user="Buckfast"]Indy Bones, is talking crap. He had chances in the reserves and looked a clown, he had chances in training and Lambert obviously didnt fancy him. Lambert looked to be kicking out Doc, but he worked hard in training and gradually became a 1st team regular again. Theoklonkitis clearly didnt.

Will never forget his interview after the 1-7 game, on local news, where he was grinning and laughing about it. Tosser.[/quote]No, I''m voicing my opinion, the fact you don''t agree with it doesn''t make it crap.With regards to the reserves where either Theo or Rudd played we see:

Theo:

Southend Clean Sheet, conceded pen against Watford due to awful

backpass from Francomb, Stevenage Clean Sheet, 1 against Northampton, 1

against West Ham,

Rudd: 5 against Peterborough, 1 against Ipswich, 3 against Wycombe, 1 against Ipswich, Stevenage Clean Sheet

So Theo conceded 3 in 5 games (0.6 goals conceded per game), compared to Rudd with 10 in 5 (2 goals conceded per game)So your ''clown'' conceded 7 less goals than ''wunderkind'' Rudd did in the same amount of appearances. Are you going to now try telling me that the rest of the team put more effort in when Theo played? Or maybe the 7 less goals conceded were just freak occurences?And can we finally put this nonsense to bed about Doherty working hard to impress the manager for a recall, it was plain and simply down to injuries that Doherty got called back, I''m not denying that he''s done a good job since then, but his recall WAS NOT based upon playing well in the reserves. If another side had shown any real interest in him before this point, he''d have been off like a shot and Lambert would have been happily waving him off.On a final note regarding the 7-1 result, it was not all down to a single player''s below par performance. Maybe he should have handled the backpass better, but WTF was Semi thinking in the first place to give such a dire ball back? As for Theo''s response to the press afterwards, it''s probably just his way of dealing with things, I''ve seen people get tearful/angry/sad etc as their response, I''m not saying that it''s the method I''d choose, but that doesn''t mean that he''s a tosser.At the end of the day he''s gone now and we''ll never actually know if he was truly good enough because he wasn''t given the first team chance to prove it. I do think he should have been played against Yeovil and I do think he should at least have been given a spot on the bench until Rudd/Steer prove they are ready like Forster has done, but Lambert has the decision here, and most of his others I''ve agreed with and have helped us massively, so I just have to hope that it is a case of a player suddenly turning crap instead of a personal dislike towards a player.

[Tim Allman 1]

Morning Indy - did you get my email and pm? Might be of interest to you

Cheers

Tim

 

[Jacko 0]

It take issue with a couple of things Indy. You talk about a bad backpass.  You can always put in the stand rather than dribble it like he did. But as we established in the Colchester game dealing with any kind of backpass isnt his strength. I dont care if Otsemobor pass was woeful. Theoklitos still lost out to Lisbie despite Lisbie being being 5ft 10 and Theoklitos being 6ft 1 and having the advantage of using his hands. Just going to quote the pinkun here for fear of being a branded a liar about the Watford game as well.

''The Australian stopper, who has not featured for the first team since conceding seven against Paul Lambert''s Colchester United side in the season opener, tried to take the ball past Liam Henderson but the Watford striker dispossessed him before Theoklitos dived at his feet and leaving the big number nine in a heap.The referee had no option but to point to the spot and Henderson confidently tucked the ball away from 12 yards to settle a keenly contested match in front of more than 1,000 fans at Carrow Road.''

Don''t buy what you are saying about Rudd either. When the pressure has been on in first team games he has delivered. He was fantastic at Gillingham when Forster got sent off and delivered to assured performances against Leyton Orient and Bristol Rovers (including a couple of top saves to boot in the latter). The bottom line is that Theo is rubbish and is not up it. If it was just an abberation, why hasnt any other English club (even a non league one) come in for him.  The A league is a tinpot league. Players like David Carney are stars over there. Enough said really....

[First Wizard 0]

[quote user="Indy_Bones"][quote user="Buckfast"]Indy Bones, is talking crap. He had chances in the reserves and looked a clown, he had chances in training and Lambert obviously didnt fancy him. Lambert looked to be kicking out Doc, but he worked hard in training and gradually became a 1st team regular again. Theoklonkitis clearly didnt. Will never forget his interview after the 1-7 game, on local news, where he was grinning and laughing about it. Tosser.[/quote]No, I''m voicing my opinion, the fact you don''t agree with it doesn''t make it crap.

With regards to the reserves where either Theo or Rudd played we see:

Theo: Southend Clean Sheet, conceded pen against Watford due to awful backpass from Francomb, Stevenage Clean Sheet, 1 against Northampton, 1 against West Ham,

Rudd: 5 against Peterborough, 1 against Ipswich, 3 against Wycombe, 1 against Ipswich, Stevenage Clean Sheet

So Theo conceded 3 in 5 games (0.6 goals conceded per game), compared to Rudd with 10 in 5 (2 goals conceded per game)

So your ''clown'' conceded 7 less goals than ''wunderkind'' Rudd did in the same amount of appearances. Are you going to now try telling me that the rest of the team put more effort in when Theo played? Or maybe the 7 less goals conceded were just freak occurences?

And can we finally put this nonsense to bed about Doherty working hard to impress the manager for a recall, it was plain and simply down to injuries that Doherty got called back, I''m not denying that he''s done a good job since then, but his recall WAS NOT based upon playing well in the reserves. If another side had shown any real interest in him before this point, he''d have been off like a shot and Lambert would have been happily waving him off.

On a final note regarding the 7-1 result, it was not all down to a single player''s below par performance. Maybe he should have handled the backpass better, but WTF was Semi thinking in the first place to give such a dire ball back? As for Theo''s response to the press afterwards, it''s probably just his way of dealing with things, I''ve seen people get tearful/angry/sad etc as their response, I''m not saying that it''s the method I''d choose, but that doesn''t mean that he''s a tosser.

At the end of the day he''s gone now and we''ll never actually know if he was truly good enough because he wasn''t given the first team chance to prove it. I do think he should have been played against Yeovil and I do think he should at least have been given a spot on the bench until Rudd/Steer prove they are ready like Forster has done, but Lambert has the decision here, and most of his others I''ve agreed with and have helped us massively, so I just have to hope that it is a case of a player suddenly turning crap instead of a personal dislike towards a player.
[/quote]

And I bet you think the world is flat don''t you bones? give it up man you''ve been rumbled  .........and about time too!

[Yellow Wal 314]

And players like Mark Schwartzer, Tim Cahill, Lucas Neill, Brett Emerton and Vince Grella who are playing in the Premiership at the moment and players like Mark Viduka, Mark Bosnich, Harry Kewell, Brad Jones and Craig Moore, who are all ex-A League, would never get into a Norwich side would they?

Let''s face it, it is better for both sides that Theo has left, but sportsmen should never be judged on one performance. As a player who was called into the Australian International squad he must have something about him, especially if he was Crook''s recommendation.

Strangely enough I would take Crook''s judgement above all the people ready to jump on the bandwagon and criticise the player.

But as I have said it is right for both parties that he moves on, especially as we have two young keepers of our own who need the chance to show what they can do.

I would wish him well for the future.

[Arthur Whittle 0]

Theo:conceded pen against Watford due to awful backpass from Francomb

Indy Bones, you could not have been at the Watford game then, he recieved a backpass with plenty of time, egged on the Watford forward to chase him down, then tried to take the ball round the watford player, lost possesion, then proceeded to jump on the watford player In rugby style manner. In a proper game he would have been sent off. Anyone at this match knows that is the truth.

He tried taking it round strikers closing him down several times in the reserve games he did play in. Another thing people will know is the trith if they went to said games.

From the reserve games I saw him in, he was dropping crosses, fumbling, poor kicking, not talking to his defence, need I go on???

I agree with Buckfast, you are talking crap.

[Arthur Whittle 0]

Also Rudd and Forster have both looked comanding in goal this season, something Theo struggled to do even in a bloody reserve game.

[Arthur Whittle 0]

Yellow Wall "And players like Mark Schwartzer, Tim Cahill, Lucas Neill, Brett Emerton and Vince Grella who are playing in the Premiership at the moment and players like Mark Viduka, Mark Bosnich, Harry Kewell, Brad Jones and Craig Moore"

Tim Cahill, started his career at Millwall and has never played in the A-League.

Lucas Neill, also started his career at Millwall and has never played in the A-League.

Just thought I would correct you.