Blackburn Match report

[Thecanaryfan 0]

Just back from the match - Am staying in Bury before anyone makes any smart remarks!

Pretty lame match tonight. Neither Blackburn or Norwich offering very much in the final third. Though the final score maybe flattered the home team. Norwich''s demise imo was sadly down to the lacklustre performances from a couple of players rather than a combined team effort. Let me specify........

Rudd - Looked solid. Cant be blamed for any of the Blackburn goals. Good distribution and kicking. Reassuring to know he is in the wings if needed. 7

Askou - Seemed to be defending the rear on his own at certain times though he did give away many an avoidable corner. Sadly didnt see his goal. He scored three seconds after I had left :( 7

Ward - Lost. Was left rooted way too many times by Diouf (who was absolutley superb tonight btw) 4

Martin R - He needs to revise the "basic defending in football" manual again. Dismantled with basic one twos all night. Though showed unusual promise going forward. 5

Francomb - He was shocking sadly. Repeatedly gave the ball away and his deliveries from the flanks ended up in the stand pretty much every time. 3

Lappin - Looked okay. His passing wasnt great but never really linked up with Martin. Produced some splendid deliveries that went wasted due to a lack of commitment upfront. 6

Hoolahan - Out muscled all night. The sight of the wee man competing for the ball with Samba was almost comical. Still he produced some moments of magic late on but it was too little too late. He just cant compete against physical opposition. 5

Gill - Cant say I really noticed him. 4

Fox - A couple of decent crosses but like Gill I cant really remember much else to note.  5

Holt - Didnt really use his muscle tonight. Seemed lathargic. Would have been better rested imo. Also should have scored. 6

Jackson - Strugled to exploit a fairly slow Blackburn defence. Disposessed too many time when it was easier to pass the defender. Still worked Bunn hard with a great effort towards the end of half time. Unlucky not to have scored. 6

Subs

Hughes - Came on for Martin I think - Strange tactics imo. He looked quite good and provided a bit of much needed zip to our attack. 7

Johnson - Offered the team nothing from what I saw. Was dissapointing to see Holt go off, bearing in mind Samba had just left the pitch. 5

McNamee - Did more in 20 mins tha Hoolahn did in 70. His pace caused Blackburn problems. 7

Summary - Apart from a bit of a resurgence between 30th and 55th minute it was a fairly flat performance and the result was probably a fair one. The behaviour of certain sections of the support also dissapointed me. A few of the elder fans departed early to a chorus of "you arent proper fans". Silly chant considering they had travelled over 200 miles on a cold rainy Tuesday night. Oh well, they kind of make up for it by doing the kankan. Bring on Saturday.

[Supermarket Prodigy 0]

Interesting observations. With big lads like Samba in their side, it was always likely Jacko and Wes wouldn''t be able to make as much of an impact. Even so, Saturday is when it counts!

SP

[Bryangunnshairline 0]

cheers for your report so soon after the game. worried about our main man big grant holt.

[Standard 0]

Just got back myself, I thought the right team won, Blackburn were pretty poor but nailed us down our wings.

Francomb and Martin were played on the wrong sides but both did ok for me, Ward let the defense down. JBA has again shown himself to be a solid centre half and needs to take the opportunity in the keague with Nelson injured.

The midfiled was more of a problem feeing Wes up simply didn''t work against Blackburn who bossed the wings until Macnamme came on.

Holt should have scored as should Hughes.

Also enjoyed making more noise than the bunch of 12 year olds in the corner

PLUS POINTS

Rudd is a fine keeper, and the potential to join the ranks of our finest.

Askou scored a good goal and looked solid enough

Jackson played better abd is hopefully finding some match fitness

We have some decent options on the bench

NEGATIVES

The midfield needs to up their work rate to accomodate Wes paying the free role and Wes needs to be charging about to help out as well (i know it was only a cup game but the same happened in all 3 league games)

We lack the physical side that Blackburn had especially when Holt went off, we pinged some good balls in but nobody could get onto them

We seemed a bit cautious of having a shot, a few times the ball broke and Gill or King of Spain picked it up and could/should have had a go

ALl in all not a disaster but not vintage either

[Bill 1,788]

"considering they had travelled over 200 miles on a cold rainy Tuesday night2Not strictly true. A fair number of our supporters are fans living local, Invariably most of the away games I go to those around me HAVE NOT travelled from Norfolk.Big big myth about how many travel. Given that so many move away from Norfolk it should be no surprise that fans will use the chance when the team is playing local

[MrFruit 28]

Just got back 276 miles door to door - many I know travelled from Norfolk tonight well done to all

[toftwood 0]

Hi City 1st - what''s your real name, "Miseryguts" perhaps.

[kdncfc 0]

I still think we lack a big strong physical player in the middle of the park and that shows up even more when we come up against a side like Blackburn, there are plenty of sides with bruisers in the Championship and we don''t really have any big buggers to give as good as we get in that area. I expected us to get beat tonight but it would be nice if we could at least run these sort of teams a bit closer and give them much more to think about for a change. Respect to the fans who made the trip,  I''d never even consider travelling such a long way in midweek  for what was a relatively unimportant game.

[Canary_on_the Trent 0]

[quote user="City1st"]"considering they had travelled over 200 miles on a cold rainy Tuesday night2Not strictly true. A fair number of our supporters are fans living local, Invariably most of the away games I go to those around me HAVE NOT travelled from Norfolk.Big big myth about how many travel. Given that so many move away from Norfolk it should be no surprise that fans will use the chance when the team is playing local

[/quote]Very true, the amount of fans I see get on trains at Nottingham, Sheffield & Birmingham is very surprising, didn''t realise so many City fans were exiled.

[Thecanaryfan 0]

[quote user="City1st"]"considering they had travelled over 200 miles on a cold rainy Tuesday night2Not strictly true. A fair number of our supporters are fans living local, Invariably most of the away games I go to those around me HAVE NOT travelled from Norfolk.Big big myth about how many travel. Given that so many move away from Norfolk it should be no surprise that fans will use the chance when the team is playing local

[/quote]

Cheers. Next time I will individually ask each supporter and get a more comprehensive fan x travel distance analysis for you.