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ricardo

Ricardo's Report v Swansea

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Regular readers of this report will know that when it comes to the fortunes of NCFC, Ricardo sets great store in oracles and omens. He is particularly swayed by the predictions of his fabulous predictive cat Snowy. Normally, the little old boy is a keen student of Sky Sports News but lately he has kept his opinions to himself and sat quietly on the fence (or rather, the arm of the sofa). Then suddenly on Thursday evening I found him in the kitchen lying on the Pinkun, on his back with all four feet in the air and a sly grin on his face. Snowy has finally spoken. The only problem is what did he say?With this in mind and the fact that Ricardo had broken his favourite Peroni glass the night before, he set out for a long and anxious stroll to Fortress CR.It was same again as City kicked off with the sun at their backs and immediately put pressure on the visitors. Surman was prominent with a lovely flighted free kick that was only cleared with difficulty and Holt set up Smith with a chance in the area only for the keeper to make a good block. Martin was twice sent away on the left by shrewd passes from Surman only for the resultant cross to eveade yellow shirts in the area. Up to the 25 minute mark it was nearly all City but Swans looked neat and strong and gradually gained the upper hand. Chances continued to be few and far between but the visitors were now looking the most likely as the City midfield was now on the back foot. Ward made a terrific block to prevent a shot on target while Drury was having a torrid time hanging on to his man. All in all I was thankful when half time arrived with no score.The second period opened in much the same vein with the Swansea midfield pulling the strings and their wide men looking dangerous. Ruddy made a couple of fine stops as Swansea looked for the opener but City hung on grimly to what looked like being a point at best. Surman made way for MacNamee but little changed as City could not exert any consistant pressure. Eventually Swansea broke through into the box when Russell Martin was done for speed and the forward went down as Ruddy dived at his feet. It looked a pen and for all the world looked like the points had gone west. However Ruddy pulled off a magnificent save low to his right and the crowd lifted the team for one last effort. A disappointed Wes made way for Jackson as City went for it in the final few minutes. Holt did well to hold up play in the box and the ball went to Mcnamee on the right who smashed a hard low cross which a Swansea defender could only turn into his own net. Against the run of play maybe, but the crowd were now in full cry as City hung on for the points . As four minutes added time ticked down Martin robbed a Swansea player on the right and sent Holt away. He looked for all the world about to run it into the corner but spotted Jackson in the clear and a pinpoint cross was volleyed home with alacrity. Game over.Its obviously Ruddy for MOM he didn''t put a foot wrong today. I thought the centre of defence looked strong with both Nelson and Ward having decent games. The fullbacks however both struggled against fast wingmen. The midfield were not in synch today with Wes especially being well off song. Martin and Holt ran well but had only limited support. It was a game we looked like losing but somehow we came out with all three points and I am still not sure how we managed it.What of Snowys predictions I hear you cry? Well its obvious isn''t it? Laying on his back with four feet in the air, he was showing me Ruddy''s wonder save and signalling City''s opener four minutes from time. What a prediction! what a result! what a cat.

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A brilliant report as ever, Ricardo. I love your last line. Genius!

I thought Russell Martin was decent today and although Sinclair was very fast and got away once or twice, he dealt well overall with him. Ward was my MOTM, closely followed by Ruddy and though McNamee had a good impact off the bench, his pace stretched them in the end.

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"What of Snowys predictions I hear you cry? Well its obvious isn''t it?

Laying on his back with four feet in the air, he was showing me Ruddy''s

wonder save and signalling City''s opener four minutes from time. What a

prediction! what a result! what a cat."

Tenuous, and yet excellent.

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[quote user="Mister Chops"]"What of Snowys predictions I hear you cry? Well its obvious isn''t it?

Laying on his back with four feet in the air, he was showing me Ruddy''s

wonder save and signalling City''s opener four minutes from time. What a

prediction! what a result! what a cat."

Tenuous, and yet excellent.[/quote]He''s sitting there with a very self satisfied look on his face Chops.

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Nicely put Ricardo. I think you should make mention of the shape Swansea had, with both wide players AND the full backs making the pitch as big as possible when they had possession. It was Ajax-esque and one for the purists. I sort of agree that our full backs got stretched at times, but when a team shapes up like that sometimes you just have to let them play in neutral areas of the pitch, and it was only when we tried to get closer to the wingers that Drury in particular did get passed a few times.

What Lambert and Culverhouse will think is that for all of the possession in those wide areas, when the ball was played into active areas (the penalty box) it was largely dealt with.

The stats show 60/40 in Swanseas favour, and they had more shots on target. Last week we had more shots than Watford. Funny old game isn''t it!

GPB.

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Great report as always Ricardo.

Just a couple of things though that we would differ on though.

Mcnamee was on the left when he crossed for the defender to put the ball in the net and Ruddy did make a mistake. He gave away a penalty.

Great performance otherwise though and an important performance from him and Jackson. Both needed the fans on their side and they deserve that after today which may help them move on and do great things for our club.

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Quality as ever Ricardo.What are the chances of a Snowy updagte before Forest and we can all try and interept the signs?

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Thanks Ricardo, much appreciated as ever. Now make sure Snowy get a pouch of his/hers favourite food, and nip down the local Italian to steal a new favourite Peroni glass!

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Thanks Ricardo. I would simply build on your report by saying that I believe the disappointing performance by Hoolahan made all the difference in the balance of play. He was poor in almost all areas of his game. We depend upon him for the linking up of play as well as creating opportunities. He was not only ineffective in those respects but his passing was woeful, giving the ball away on numerous occasions which often kept Norwich on the back foot. As a result, Swansea were made to look more effective than they otherwise would have been. 

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[quote user="YankeeCanary"]Thanks Ricardo. I would simply build on your report by saying that I believe the disappointing performance by Hoolahan made all the difference in the balance of play. He was poor in almost all areas of his game. We depend upon him for the linking up of play as well as creating opportunities. He was not only ineffective in those respects but his passing was woeful, giving the ball away on numerous occasions which often kept Norwich on the back foot. As a result, Swansea were made to look more effective than they otherwise would have been. [/quote]

Yup, I agree with this[Y]

I''m not saying your report wasn''t good though Ricardo!  Nice one!

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I would check that the moggy isn''t still lying on it''s back with it''s legs stuck in the air, might be something a bit  more than in prediction mode.We had a hampster a few years ago and on match days it would always predict Hughes to be man of the match. Least while that''s what I thought it was predicting when it hopped onto the wheel and ran round furiously for ages without getting anywhere.Sadly the poor fella died the Christmas before, it fell head first into a mixing bowl full of Xmas pud mix.Dragged under by a strong current, it seems.

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[quote user="ricardo"]Its obviously Ruddy for MOM he didn''t put a foot wrong today. I thought the centre of defence looked strong with both Nelson and Ward having decent games. The fullbacks however both struggled against fast wingmen. The midfield were not in synch today with Wes especially being well off song. Martin and Holt ran well but had only limited support. It was a game we looked like losing but somehow we came out with all three points and I am still not sure how we managed it.What of Snowys predictions I hear you cry? Well its obvious isn''t it? Laying on his back with four feet in the air, he was showing me Ruddy''s wonder save and signalling City''s opener four minutes from time. What a prediction! what a result! what a cat.[/quote]But Ruddy''s awful.[:O] Or are you now realising that instead of slating him you should have given him a chance?Bring back Forster [:''(]

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Swansea had a lot of the ball and always had the edge in midfield. It is already clear we are not going to have the space enjoyed last year and a way has to be found to provide more room for Hoolahan. However I thought Swansea posed little danger in the box and rarely looked like scoring. Their speedy winger on the right gave Drury some difficult times but did not produce the final ball. The problem today was that we were unable to score early to make Swansea take more risks coming forward. On balance we deserved to win purely because of our more positive attitude.

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[quote user="Yellow Rages"]Great report as always Ricardo.

Just a couple of things though that we would differ on though.

Mcnamee was on the left when he crossed for the defender to put the ball in the net and Ruddy did make a mistake. He gave away a penalty.

Great performance otherwise though and an important performance from him and Jackson. Both needed the fans on their side and they deserve that after today which may help them move on and do great things for our club.[/quote]Sorry Yellow, you are quite correct, it was from the left. My reason for giving Ruddy MOM was apart from a few other good saves the penalty save turned the match. Without it we would not have won.Others have also mentioned how well Elliot Ward played and I fully endorse this but for me it was Ruddy''s penalty save that made him MOM.Also very pleased to see Jackson open his account at CR. Three points from a game where we looked like getting nothing has certainly made my weekend.

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[quote user="Nuff Said"]Quality as ever Ricardo.What are the chances of a Snowy updagte before Forest and we can all try and interept the signs?[/quote]I''ll see what I can do Nuff.At the moment he''s sitting here watching the Middlesboro Sheff U game but seems distinctly unimpressed and has just dozed off.It must be tiring work this predicting lark.

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I might have a go with our two cats before Forest too, see if they have the mystical ability or it''s just Snowy. Mind you Lola is black and white, so probably more interested in Derby [:(]. Luckily we don''t have a blue and white one.

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