Thoughts from the friendly

[city-till-i-die 7]

[quote user="Mister Chops"]I bet Chris Martin did f**k all in the entire match except score two goals, the lazy arse.

[/quote]lmfao[Y]

[singing canary 0]

sounds like a very positive match from the canaries .

if these guys walked the championship last season, we should be really positive for the season ahead

friendly or not ,they did not come down here to lose .

[Nuff Said 5,092]

[quote user="John"][quote user="Boogle"]

Nice to hear whats going on, but pre season is just about fitness, tactics, and gelling a team. Wouldnt judge players on how they perform too much.

Look at Newcastle, I remember they lost 6-1 to Leyton orient last summer, and went on to win the championship.

[/quote]True, but if you''re looking for a positive it''d at least be a result that will go some way to shutting the moaners up.[/quote]And didn''t we have a really good pre-season just before losing 7-1 to Colchester?

[TheGoogler 324]

Ft 2-1 ncfc

[Joanna Grey 0]

[quote user="TheGoogler"]Ft 2-1 ncfc[/quote]

Thanks for the updates Goolies.

[singing canary 0]

then went on to win the league ....

[go donowa go 0]

Hopefully now some posters on here will stop panicking and get a grip. Anyone who slags super chris is a f***in idiot and anyone who thinks we will struggle is a d**k.Championship champions 10-11otbc

[singing canary 0]

agreed , we have a very strong squad .

as i said friendly or not Newcastle would not have wanted to lose this game .

good result and i think martin Holty, and the rest of our forwards will get plenty of goals this season .

i may place a little wager with the bookies i think .

[Legend Iwan 30]

Cheers Googler.

By any chance did the schools break up in Norwich yesterday?

[John 0]

[quote user="Nuff Said"][quote user="John"][quote user="Boogle"]

Nice to hear whats going on, but pre season is just about fitness, tactics, and gelling a team. Wouldnt judge players on how they perform too much.

Look at Newcastle, I remember they lost 6-1 to Leyton orient last summer, and went on to win the championship.

[/quote]True, but if you''re looking for a positive it''d at least be a result that will go some way to shutting the moaners up.[/quote]And didn''t we have a really good pre-season just before losing 7-1 to Colchester?[/quote]Absolutely, and that is a fact, among many other pre-season results in evidence (not least the one Boogle highlighted), that the cynical contingent of fans find favour in neglecting.

[John 0]

And thanks for the updates Googler! [Y][B]

[go donowa go 0]

pre season does not mean a lot but as lambert said after the dagenham game, we will get better and we did. The squad looks strong to me and I can''t wait till the watford game.Lets get behind the lads as I think this will be another memorable seson in the history of our fine club.otbc

[go donowa go 0]

Above I do know how to spell season

[John 0]

[quote user="go donowa go"]Above I do know how to spell season[/quote]Prove it!

[LinkNR9 0]

[quote user="go donowa go"]Hopefully now some posters on here will stop panicking and get a grip. Anyone who slags super chris is a f***in idiot and anyone who thinks we will struggle is a d**k.
Championship champions 10-11
otbc
[/quote]

A couple of points

(a) the poster was being ironic, not moronic (unlike some poster...)

(b) Even if he / she was being serious, everyone''s got a right to post what they want on here without people like you swearing at them.  

[Herman 9,717]

Cheers Googler,nice one.Maybe this is the way around the ''live feed'' trouble.If there are a few doing it though.

[morty 0]

Just back from the game, and very, very impressed overall.Wes was brilliant and Fox, Crofts and Surman were all very good, Crofts especially so in my opinion.Chrissy Martin worked hard and looked sharp, Jackson is going to do well based on what I saw, Macnamee looked sharp.Only player who I think didn''t really look effective was Oli.

[tubby65 0]

My thoughts on the game are that we look a good side a lot stronger than last season with the new signings showing well.

 

Just for fun my scores for the players

 

Ruddy. good solid keeper  8

R Martin. looks fitter than last year had good game 7

Drury. steady as normal 7

Ward. strong defender who loves to attack the ball and can play out form the back 7

Nelson. no nonesense defender who also looks better than last year 7

Hoolie. Quality on the ball but still gives it away 8

Fox. good passer who knits things together good signing 8

Crofts. Very good signing works hard and wins great headers on defending set pieces 8

Surman. Another good signing who looks to get on the ball and pass. superb 60 mins 8

Jackson. will cause defenders trouble with his pace. gives us a diferent dimension 7

C Martin. Worked hard and score 2 goals enough said 7

Francomb. did well when he came on 7

Mcnamee. Did okay still not sure though 7

Johnson. Touch is not good enough yet but is a good impact player 7

Gill. again did okay but i fear is on his way. won some good tackles 7

Lappin. Solid but will he figure as much as last season 7  

 

just my thoughts hope ive done everyone lost track in the end. It was a good game with City definately looking the better side and was impressed with our passing and work rate, looking forward to the next home test which is Everton (me thinks a little tougher than Newcastle). great travelling support though.

 

[Delia Out! 0]

[quote user="Mister Chops"][quote user="TheGoogler"]The club continues there practice of having a team of mascots - 7 today at �200 a pop. [/quote]

Are you sure it''s not just the seven dwarves?

[/quote]

[8-)]

[GJP 79]

Think pretty much everyone did at least alright and in some cases much better than alright.

Wes was the star of the show but Chris Martin also played very well.

Liked the look of all the new signings, Surman faded a bit in the second half but Fox and Crofts kept going really well. Thought the ''keeper looked a little lost a couple of times but took the bell well from a cross and made a good save with his feet. Ward looked like he should be good, sloppy pass at one point and tapped at one tackle in a bit of a girlie way (no offence, ladies).

Russell Martin did very well, still not quite sure there''s so many people who think he''s a weak link.

Simeon Jackson was very impressive. Obvious pace but he kept running for things and stuck at it, unlike the previous owner of the No.10 shirt.

But, it''s only a friendly, it counts for nothing and Everton will probably prove a tougher test next weekend.

[Icecream Snow 761]

What was the midfield formation? Diamond or four across the middle?

[Mister Chops 7]

[quote user="I am a Banana"]

[quote user="Mister Chops"][quote user="TheGoogler"]The club continues there practice of having a team of mascots - 7 today at �200 a pop. [/quote]Are you sure it''s not just the seven dwarves?[/quote]

one of the 7 is one of the players that i manage [:)]

[/quote]

F**king hell, you''re never Snow White!

[morty 0]

[quote user="Icecream Snow"]What was the midfield formation? Diamond or four across the middle?[/quote]Diamond.

[Erik the Viking 0]

The best friendly game I have probably witnessed and was very dubious to attend due to watching so many poor pre-season affairs over the years.

Impressive performance from the boys, a brief summary on the new players liked Fox (poor mans Paul Scholes!) who makes the side tick with his short pasing game/ Surman looks quality/Crofts good energy/Ward comfortable and how refreshing to see a centre back that actually wants to pass the ball/Ruddy competent & a presence /Jackon lively and works and I believe will score goals.

The old boys, again all played well. Special mention for Wes who as we all know can be class oh and that lazy arse who bagged 2 was ok also ;0)

I know today means nothing in many aspects but pleasing to see the ball played on the deck and definately something to build on...

[TheGoogler 324]

So, now back before a computer - apologies first of all for the iphone-caused spelling errors and shortened sentences.

All in all, a good work out but we must remember two things.

1) We did not play all singing, all dancing, all firing Newcastle Utd from last season. We played two weakened versions of it. Against each side, I felt we were the better team. However, had Newcastle had played their first eleven coupled with being at the same stage of their pre-season training (we''re a week ahead of them), I think we would have seen a much stronger, fitter, better Newcastle Utd. So, yes - a good result, but not really Premiership opposition.

2) Friendlies are meaningless. We all know what happened last season. In fact, the last time I remember us having a very bad pre-season was the season we won the Championship. So we take this all with a pinch of salt.

With that in mind, I''ll give my match ratings.

Ruddy - 6 - Good grief this lad is huge. He makes Forster look quite tiny actually. And he had a good game, making one or two saves and looking comfortable. He made two or three decent saves and one very good save. And his kicking is good.

R Martin - 7 - One of Martin''s better games, strong in the tackle and his usual decent self going forward. Encouraging stuff.

Drury - 5 - A bit off the pace and his tackling was unusually late on a few occasions.

Ward - 6 - Decent, composed and a calming presence up back. Handled Leon Best very well to the point I barely noticed him.

Nelson - 6 - Marked Andy Carroll and Shola Ameobi - and did a good job. As I said, he looks fitter than I''ve ever seen him. He''s lost a bit of that bulk, and at one point in the game was able to match pace with Lovenkradts. I think Nelson may prove himself a worthy Championship defender this year and prove a few doubters wrong.

Crofts - 6 - Looks a bit like a stronger Andy Hughes and works his guts out like him too. But he''s also got a bit of talent to boot, and good awareness. His crossing impressed and passing short and simple. His runs caused real alarm in the NUFC defence too.

Fox - 6 - Started slowly but built into the game very nicely. His passing is clearly his strong point and he pinged balls around very well, reminding me a bit of Sammy Clingan in that regard. However, he doesn''t have Clingan''s defensive attributes - he''s a bit lightweight. But again, an encouraging start.

Surman - 7 - Extremely impressive for me. Silky smooth passing, got forward at every opportunity and forced an incredible save from Krul after a brilliant Hoolahan dinked pass. Remember how we say Hoolahan is too clever for the rest of the team? I think we could have an answer to that here.

Wes - 8 - MOTM for me. Danced through the Newcastle defence for the first goal, passing faultless, his movement clever and soon had two Newcastle players paying particular attention for his reward.

Martin - 7 - Two goals from Super Chris who also worked hard and created chances as well as taking them.

Jackson - 6 - An Anelka-esque player is a very good description. Plays on the wings and in the channels and when on the ball looks to run at the defence and cause them problems. If he loses the ball he snaps at the heels of the defence either winning it back or causing them problems. I think Lambert will have a hard time deciding whether to play Martin, Jackson or Holt.

Subs

Francomb - 6 - Playing out of position against a very experienced Newcastle front line - and did well. He should be pleased and could be the Korey Smith of this season.

McNamee - 6 - Looks better in the Wes role everytime I see him. Menaced the Newcastle defence, beating their full back (Enrique, I think) on more than one occasion - and put a delicious cross in for the second.

Gill - 6 - Should be given a chance, IMO. He''s got the energy and athleticism to make it in this league, and his ability is not a million miles off. I think we would be daft to get rid - as a back up/squad player, you won''t get much better.

Johnson - 6 - There''s something about Oli I really like. I think it''s that when he gets the ball, I don''t know what he''ll do. I think he needs to get himself into better shooting positions and work on his first touch. But as a young lad, he''s got time to learn that.

Lappin - 6 - Steady Simon Lappin. Did nothing wrong, worked his socks off and was solid, if not spectacular. I think he''ll need to accept a lesser role this season - but he''s a good, solid servant for this club and one I''d rather have in the squad than not.

All in all, good, encouraging stuff. I really felt we''ve now got a strong midfield that has a bit of class to it rather than a midfield which works hard. I think it could be a big difference for next season.

Anyway, more in this thread from the Everton game next Saturday.

[GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary 1,736]

Although we have 5 out injured at the moment aswell as the continued mystery surrounding Askou, I think we''ve probably seen 10 of the starting 11 today, with the exception of Holt, Martin showed today that he isn''t about to give up his place without a fight and will surely begin the season as a starter.

  The clues are that even in Korey Smith''s absense the midfield foursome would appear to be Lambert''s preferred choice and they look v.good in possession, although Crofts would appear will have to do a lot of work to win back the ball when we''re not.

I reckon were almost able to hazard a guess at the first team now, barring injuries?

Ruddy,Martin,Drury,Ward,Nelson,Fox,Crofts,Surman,Hoolahan,Holt,Martin ...subs  Rudd,Whitbread,K.Smith,Hughes,Lappin,McNamee,Jackson??

One word on Newcastle though, we had more than our share of possession today agsinst a team whose midfield is supposedly their strongest department with the likes of Nolan,Barton,Guthrie. Unless thy have 6/7 new players lined up over the next 2-3 weeks, in all positions, I would be highly concerned going into a premiership season if I were them?, a forward line of Ameobi,Carroll,Lovenkrands and Best is hardly going to strike fear into many premiership defenses ?!?

[John 0]

Again, i have to say thanks Googler, that''s a brilliant report. [Y]All very encouraging stuff. Perhaps those extra defined elements in Crofts play will make him that much of a better player than Hughes as a midfielder.The chemistry, although still incomplete, seems to be coming along quite nicely. The forward play seems especially impressive. Despite it only being a friendly, all of Jackson, Martin, Hoolahan, Surman, Fox and now, perhaps more so than ever, McNamee (he was the dynamo that a successful Swindon sides play revolved around prior to us signing him) seem to give off the impression that they possess an abundance of intelligence, the envy of many a side of ours in the past. And i''m anticipating further improvements to this department when we integrate a match fit Holt into the play, more than likely the cleverest target man i''ve seen out of the Premier League in my opinion (if we''re comparing with Chelsea, like Jackson may be our answer to Anelka, perhaps we might have a ''Drogba'' dynamic to the side also?).It is a friendly, and while we may not profit from such relaxed and garnished play in the season, i see no harm in assessing the potential for what might originate out of it

[chicken 0]

[quote user="morty"]Just back from the game, and very, very impressed overall.

Wes was brilliant and Fox, Crofts and Surman were all very good, Crofts especially so in my opinion.

Chrissy Martin worked hard and looked sharp, Jackson is going to do well based on what I saw, Macnamee looked sharp.

Only player who I think didn''t really look effective was Oli.
[/quote]

Agreed.

I thought the team as a whole looked pretty solid. It was only a lapse in concentration after half time that cost us and that due mainly to people adjusting who they were marking after a raft of Newcastle substitutions.

I have to take back anything I said about Nelson that was even remotely negative, looked cool and assured at the back, nothing silly and nothing sloppy - a really good old fashioned stopper, got us out of some pretty dire situations at times as well.

Ward looked good, a big broad shouldered unit, read the play well and was difficult to beat in the air. Was happy to keep passing it along the ground and also at times played some nice little dinks over players into midfielders feet.

The three new central midfielders were brilliant, they all worked their socks off. Crofts looked more than just a ''bustler'' at times, he is hungry for the ball all of the time and when he gets it looks to get it moving again quickly. Some passages involving some brilliant one touch football with him at the heart driving it on. Fox was assured, sliding in, getting a toe in, reading and breaking up play without having to be too physical. He reminded me a bit of how Crook used to play, he often looks to switch it when he can as well as pass it about short to create the space. Of the three Surman looked the best in terms of quality on the ball, very, very calm and assured. At one point winning a tackle and then nutmegging his marker, he also does all the gritty stuff of tracking back and covering Drury when he bursts forwards. One thing of note - him and Lappin are going to have to have a perm-a-tan stand off at some point!

Jackson looks like he will fight for everything, he has a great leap on him and just keeps on going and going and going battling for everything and making defenders have to think fast.

Martin was what we have come to expect but more. At times today the things he did were nothing short of sheer class, he turned bad balls into him into little flicks, some really neat one touch passing with the players around him and perhaps most of all his glanced header! He lead the line well today without being a massive target man. Just ebbs quality whenever given a chance to shine.

Hoolahan - what can I say. Didn''t recognise him with his close cropped hair and he appears to have been down the gym to bulk up a bit. He doesn''t appear to be so easy to knock off the ball anmore and at times was able to match it with those pushing and pulling him. Newcastle struggled with him all afternoon and at one point one of their player resorted to trying to pull his shorts off!

Unfortunately for Newcastle fans I wouldn''t say that they were layed back, just that they had very little in the middle other than Nolan to be that impressed with. Perhaps Guthrie but we certainly didn''t see it today. Too many ''physical'' type players. Barton and Smith only seemed interested in trying to break up play and little else and most of their attacks broke down when the ball was hopefully played over the top of our back four. The one time they played some neat football they scored a goal. But other than that and hitting the woodwork they really didn''t do much of note - oh other than some of the horrendous hacks that they were dishing out for a pre-season friendly!

[chicken 0]

Oh forgot to add that todays game can be summed up with ''calm, controlled and assured''.

Ok the pace seemed to drop of at times but you would think that would suit a team with players supposedly of a higher quality giving them more time on the ball etc. Newcastle squandered posession on countless occaisions with several bouts of ''hoofball'' whilst we kept it calm and tried to play at all times - at some points even Newcastle could only stand and watch and admire.

[chicken 0]

[quote user="GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary"] aswell as the continued mystery surrounding Askou [/quote]

Continued? Didn''t Lambert say he was spending time with his wife and baby? I don''t think Lambert would lie about if it was something else.