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Adam NCFC

Lincoln away..

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Oli looks tidy and could be useful.. I may aswell copy and paste this bit.. Didn''t dare shoot... :|Jackson wasn''t really given a chance, as we just enjoyed launching it over the top to him, or up to him which he couldn''t deal with...All of the midfield was average, looked good on the ball until the final ball... They did pretty much boss it, but when it came to the final ball, they didn''t really know what to do. McNamee put in a few good balls, but nothing special. Dawkins & Francomb looked very tidy, and decent players in my eyes. Nice to see Askou back. He spent most of the game at right back, enjoyed going forward, then didn''t dare cross so just played it inside.Jed made a few saves in the first half, nothing major, most of them just at him.Wes looked good when he came on, chrissy hardly touched it. Surman had a shot just wide near the end, and Crofts had one go close. Looks like Fox is going to be at the base of the diamond. Out of all the new signings, I think Surman was the best of them. He looks very good on the ball, and he''s not afraid to tackle. We didn''t really have many shots... Had a few chances to shoot, but didn''t..Was a good run out for them all, started to run about abit and dominate the game in last 30 mins as you would expect, Lincoln got tired. To be fair to Lincoln, they looked good on the break and had a few good efforts.Can''t moan, didn''t really do alot wrong, we created a few chances, but decided not to shoot.We''ve got alot of players to decide from on the first day.

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[quote user="Adam NCFC"]Oli looks tidy and could be useful.. I may aswell copy and paste this bit.. Didn''t dare shoot... :|

Jackson wasn''t really given a chance, as we just enjoyed launching it over the top to him, or up to him which he couldn''t deal with...

All of the midfield was average, looked good on the ball until the final ball... They did pretty much boss it, but when it came to the final ball, they didn''t really know what to do. McNamee put in a few good balls, but nothing special.

Dawkins & Francomb looked very tidy, and decent players in my eyes.

Nice to see Askou back. He spent most of the game at right back, enjoyed going forward, then didn''t dare cross so just played it inside.

Jed made a few saves in the first half, nothing major, most of them just at him.

Wes looked good when he came on, chrissy hardly touched it. Surman had a shot just wide near the end, and Crofts had one go close. Looks like Fox is going to be at the base of the diamond. Out of all the new signings, I think Surman was the best of them. He looks very good on the ball, and he''s not afraid to tackle.

We didn''t really have many shots... Had a few chances to shoot, but didn''t..

Was a good run out for them all, started to run about abit and dominate the game in last 30 mins as you would expect, Lincoln got tired. To be fair to Lincoln, they looked good on the break and had a few good efforts.

Can''t moan, didn''t really do alot wrong, we created a few chances, but decided not to shoot.

We''ve got alot of players to decide from on the first day.



[/quote]

I''d argue that after we''ve now drawn three blanks against lower league teams in the last week with the fringe players on show the opposite of this is true?.

I don''t believe too many of these players could have done themselves many favours. The one clearly outstanding pre-season performance was on Saturday vs Newcastle, I''d say (barring Holt''s fitness) the eleven players that started on Saturday are nailed on for Watford.

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I really think it was more of a play for fitness game, and weren''t too bothered about winning. It was an away friendly against a team who we could murder if we wanted to. Compare it to Newcastle, which was infront of over 10 thousand fans at home, against a premier league team - why not go for it?

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Have you been to any of the games?In those 3 lower league games, we''ve conceeded 1 goal, so the defence can''t be awful can it. Chances have been created but not taken, so who is making them? The midfield. Our 4 strikers, of which all will be in the SQUAD on the first day, have managed 0 goals in these 3 games. But you can blame the rest of the team if you want. [:)]

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[quote user="Brendo "]I really think it was more of a play for fitness game, and weren''t too bothered about winning. It was an away friendly against a team who we could murder if we wanted to. Compare it to Newcastle, which was infront of over 10 thousand fans at home, against a premier league team - why not go for it?[/quote]Yeah i''m not denying that lol, I''m just saying my opinion on a few players. It was abit boring, but no injuries and a clean sheet, saw some players not usually seen. This isn''t a moan in anyway at all, it''s just opinions.

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[quote user="Adam NCFC"][quote user="Brendo "]I really think it was more of a play for fitness game, and weren''t too bothered about winning. It was an away friendly against a team who we could murder if we wanted to. Compare it to Newcastle, which was infront of over 10 thousand fans at home, against a premier league team - why not go for it?[/quote]Yeah i''m not denying that lol, I''m just saying my opinion on a few players. It was abit boring, but no injuries and a clean sheet, saw some players not usually seen. This isn''t a moan in anyway at all, it''s just opinions.[/quote]I was aiming it at the guy below you mate lol.

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Missed the first 20 minutes due to the A52 being shut, and for all the effort of queuing in the car and spending a fiver...was it worth it? No!Couldn''t really spot anything of the new signings, Fox, Surman & Crofts all had 20 minutes towards the end, with imo Crofts being the most impressive. Very impressive on the ball, had a good effort saved, and not afraid to get stuck in! Surman has obvious quality but gave the ball away a few times, one curling effort just wide. Fox was barely in it, a lot of bouncing balls so got knocked about a bit going for the headers, a small lad he is! He seems to play it simple though, and has the ability for a long range pass.Jackson had a decent touch and always wanted to get involved, but with next to no service, I wasn''t surprised when he was getting a bit restless!Ward looked nothing special imo, Francombe looked better but we will have to wait and see on that front.The youngsters looked good, Francombe was very solid, and had a good tackle on him. Good competetion for RUM this season me thinks. Dawkin looked like he could do a job also, its a shame he doesn''t have that extra yard of pace. But he never gives up on anything and a few times he blocked a Lincoln pass which created us an opportunity to break. Oli missed a great chance early in the second half, didn''t do anything else. Chrissy had one effort, but didn''t get involved. McNamee looked our only bit of creativity, always trying to take the player on, and had a great delivery. Gill & Hughes were ok but much too side ways for my liking. RUM looked solid but one time he was totally done for pace by their left winger, who looked a good prospect! Steer in goal made one great save at the end of the first half, but kicking a bit prospect. 3rd choice still.In general, the match seemed a bit to easy, and very boring! We must have had about 75% of the possesion but it was always, sideways, backwards, sideways, backwards, so infuriating! It was only when Crofts came on when we had some more direct attacking play!I guess it was a good run out for the lads, but I would rather not have gone all that way to get there! However, I will be at Everton on Sat!OTBC! [:D]

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Unfortunately I was at Dagenham ,where we didn''t create a single chance until the final 20 mins when the quartet of Fox,Crofts,Surman and Hoolahan came on. Given that these four have now played as a group at the the same time for the last four games ,I don''t think it will come as a surprise if these are the first choice midfield. Up front if Holt doesn''t make the Watford match - we don''t really have a choice other than Martin & Jackson. The back four/goalkeeper also pretty much picks itself with the continued injury problems with Whitbread, I can''t see past Ruddy,Martin,Drury,Ward,Nelson.     

  I don''t really see that anyone else has done enough to force their way into that eleven during this pre-season?

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GJL, please remember these friendlies are mainly fitness based assessments, to gel the team and render them all "match fit". The proper games are Newcastle and Everton. We''ve won 1 of those so far, so I think we should be happy, we looked pretty decent too.

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[quote user="AJ"]GJL, please remember these friendlies are mainly fitness based assessments, to gel the team and render them all "match fit". The proper games are Newcastle and Everton. We''ve won 1 of those so far, so I think we should be happy, we looked pretty decent too.[/quote]

Well that was sort of my point!, The one game which we have won was with a particular 11 on the field, the three matches against lower league opposition was with the ''fringe'' players on the pitch for the majority of the time.

   My reply was to the OP which suggested that we have a large choice of players to choose from come the Watford game, my argument is that IMO it seems fairly cut and dried what the side will be?

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I was there (good turn out from Norwich fans BTW) and I pretty much agree with the original post.

One thing I do have to mention is OTJ.  He played at centre back last night: he was caught the wrong side of the attacker and mis-judged the flight of the ball several times.  Only a couple of last ditch tackles/headers seemed to be any good.

I can understand that, after all, the guy is a centre midfielder.  Unfortunately though, when he had the ball at his feet his passing was dreadful.  He, like a few of the players in the first half, was guilty of looking for the killer ball over the top, so no major reason to single him out for that.  But what he was doing was firing passes out wide with such ferocity that more often than not the wide player, hugging the touchline didn''t have a hope in hell of controlling it.

Passing is something that I would have expected a midfielder to do well, so that was really disappointing.

Other than that, the fringe players that played the majority of the game seemed to me to show Lambert more reasons as to why they are fringe players than why the should be in the 1st team, but that could be down to the formation and the high work rate of Lincoln.

Lincoln impressed me; they looked very well organised and quick on the break, although their finishing was poor - I think they may be in for a more comfortable season than last years brush with the relegation dogfight.

Francomb and Dawkins were the standout performers and it was good to see those pesky rumours put to bed by seeing Askou playing. 

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[quote user="writeronthestorm"]

One thing I do have to mention is OTJ.  He played at centre back last night: he was caught the wrong side of the attacker and mis-judged the flight of the ball several times.  Only a couple of last ditch tackles/headers seemed to be any good.

I can understand that, after all, the guy is a centre midfielder.  Unfortunately though, when he had the ball at his feet his passing was dreadful.  He, like a few of the players in the first half, was guilty of looking for the killer ball over the top, so no major reason to single him out for that.  But what he was doing was firing passes out wide with such ferocity that more often than not the wide player, hugging the touchline didn''t have a hope in hell of controlling it.

Passing is something that I would have expected a midfielder to do well, so that was really disappointing.

Other than that, the fringe players that played the majority of the game seemed to me to show Lambert more reasons as to why they are fringe players than why the should be in the 1st team, but that could be down to the formation and the high work rate of Lincoln.

Francomb and Dawkins were the standout performers and it was good to see those pesky rumours put to bed by seeing Askou playing. 

[/quote]

Sorry – not going to let you get away with that. Compared

with Elliot Ward – who may be struggling with fitness – I thought O Tudor-J

looked world class! OT-J may not be a first team regular this season but I

would have no worries about him being on the bench for us. As you suggest, he''s not a natural centre back perhaps but unlike Ward, I

thought OTJ passed the ball well and usually kept it on the ground. He

certainly seemed hungry for the ball – Ward on the other hand either passed it straight

back to the sender or hoofed it up to the Lincoln back four.  The big man Ward looked by far the weakest member of the

side last night although Jackson has got to see a lot more of the ball before

he convinces me he will play a really big role. (Oli Johnson looked far sharper).

I also thought Gill did well with the second streamers – yes he gave the ball

away cheaply a couple of times but then he saw far more of the ball than any

other player IMO – always running and working hard and prepared to tackle, and

always tried to pass the ball forward. The stylish Dawkin and Francomb looked

capable too.

The look of the side changed completely when the

new signings came on late in the second half – Fox, Surman and Crofts looked

excellent – on this evidence we will not miss Russell  (or even my favourite player of recent years –

Sammy Clingan). But Hoolahan was the star man for me – his fitness this season

will surely be just as crucial as Holt’s. Similarly Chris Martin looked good

though none of our forwards looked as if they had played together much before –

Johnson did a nice turn in the box to get a shot in but generally we looked

incapable of creating a chance never mind scoring.

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I stand by what I said about OTJ and, although his passing was accurate to a degree and on the deck, I still think his passes were hit far too hard and direct at a player to expect him to control it well or move onto the ball going forward.

On reflection though I do understand what you are saying about Ward, but the point I was really trying to make was that, as a midfielder, I would have expected OTJ''s passing to have been better (perhaps I expect too much!).  With Ward I do not expect the same level of passing ability, in the same way I would not expect OTJ to be as good a centre back as Ward.

I do agree with you about Gill.  He seemed to be constantly on the ball in the first half and he was very vocal as he tried to orchestrate things for us.

I felt a bit sorry for Jackson; he started off on many a run, but was not taken as an option by the person with the ball.  I wonder if that is because we are simply not used to having that sort of striker playing for us? 

It is interesting to read differing points of view on players performances on the same game when they are supported by reasonable comments.

 

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I haven''t managed to get to any of these games so can''t comment on the performances, but am heartened that most seem to be getting some time and learning to play with each other. There are many new faces and I am sure it will take a while to create a settled unit used to each other. At least this is happening pre-season and not in games with points at stake. Nobody will want to get injured now either! 

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It''s amazing how we were all at a different game[:)]

I thought Jed Steer did well - one "Forster-esqe" calamity kick when under a fair amount of pressure. He''s not actually that old though, is he?

The back 3(?) did okay - OTJ looked out of his comfort zone a lot of the time from where I was sat, and I was concerned about his effectiveness. One pass to McNamee stood out for me - OTJ absolutely leathered it and nearly knocked McNamee over. This wasn''t the only time his touch let him down.

Askou played both sides of the defence at various points and did a good shift on both. Happy to come forward, but I did notice the lack of desire to put the final ball in.

I was impressed by Gill''s work rate. He was pretty much always in the thick of any action, and made the rest of the first half midfield look a bit lazy at times.

Very few crosses in the first half, McNamee for me was a bit lightweight and tried too much trickery - and was found out on a number of occasions.

There were many, many sideways passes when a prospective ball diagonally to McNamee (for example) would have paid dividends. One thing I think I noticed was that Hughes always looked for the pass backwards, and only when there wasn''t one on did he look forwards. That''s not going to win games - fine pass backwards if it makes the move work better, but don''t do it without even considering the move forwards. Feel free to flame me for this!

I was very impressed with Dawkins and Francombe. We have some stars for the (near) future there.

The front two were pretty ineffective at times (well, a lot of the time, actually). They didn''t get the service that either of them thrives on, and didn''t seem willing to "do a Holt" and get the ball from further back than the opposition penalty area a lot. Both missed a target man, and I think both will do well alongside a Holt type player.
Is Jackson really that short, or is he bigger on telly?

Breath of fresh air when the first team midfield came on, but didn''t amount to a great deal. Hoolahan''s first touches led to arguably one of our first real goal chances, and as said above the rest of the second midfield had a go - there were plenty of calls of "shoot" everytime they were within 40 yds of the goal in the dying minutes.

I wondered if there was a tactic being played to try to keep hold of the ball and retain posession as much as was possible - this was fine, but nothing moved forwards (until the last 20 minutes when the "dream team" came on) and of course the inevitable wayward pass generally led to a save from Jed Steer.

On posession, I think we won. On shots and overall likelihood to score, I''d say it was pretty close. Chris Sutton has a well drilled team there who were very effective at closing things down, and who pretty much always seemed to get to the ball before our player.

Ben

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