Thoughts on the game

[Jim Smith 2,314]

Sure all be said somewhere below but for what its worth:

1. Great game. We made heavy work of a game we should have won easily to be honest but it made for a great spectacle.

2. Thought first half we played quite poorly to be honest. The one thing we did not want to do was let them get confidence with an early goal but that went out the window in the first minute. After that we never really got going although the signs were there that if we could string 20 good minutes together at any stage the game was there for the taking. I thought at times in the first half Crofts was taking them on by himself. Lappin, Kory and Wes struggled to get into the game and it was only him who was driving us on. I thought he was immense and should have been man of the match (again). We do need to sort out this habit we seem to have made for making slow starts at home. We rarely seem to come out of the block firing in the way we used to to and I would prefer to see us more up for it from the start.

3. Second half much better for the first 25 minutes. Wes and Korey came alive and when wes plays like that he is unplayable at times. Thought for 25 minutes he was simply superb. His assist for Drury''s goal was great and his goal simply fantastic. I have to say that whilst I understand Lambert wanted to tighten things up I would not have taken Hooly off at that point as I think he would have got us another goal but then who am I to question the great Lambo!

4. Leicester were poor. Although 4-3 may sound like a battling performance they did not look like a team giving their all to me (Steve Howard aside) and I think Sousa''s days are numbered. They will rise up the table once they get a new manager as they have some good players going forward (Gallagher and Fryatt both looked more dangerous when they came on) but I have rarely seen a side in the champ so horrendously bad at the back. Hobbs was their only decent defender, the rest were garbage. If we hadn''t given them 2 soft goals it could have been another embarrassing scoreline for them.

5. Not sure bring Jackson in for Martin made much difference of if it was the right thing to do. Hoprefully was designed to give Martin a kick up the backside and will work but I think we missed his hold up play in the first half.

6. Despite the 3 goals mainly due to poor concentration from the whole team, the defence all played well pretty I thought for most of the game given they faced a lot of set peices and Leicester had some big lumps in there. Really like the look of Barnett (first time i''ve seen him play for us).

7. Ruddy still worries me. He has had some decent games and at times makes some great saves but so far as I can see he has already cost us 3 or 4 goals this season and we can''t afford to keep gifting the opposition goals. He was also staying on his line and not coming for crosses last night. I would seriously consider playing Rudd.

 

[Mr.Carrow 376]

[Y] Thanks.  Was at Hull but had to work last night- gutted but elated if you know what i mean!

[NCFC4LIFE 0]

2. Crofts was outstanding all game, in fact so far all season by far and away our most consistent player. Breaking up play, distribution and even scoring goals from the base of the diamond.3. Steven Smith came on for Hools just to create a more defensive calming, think it was the right decision as we need to stop the back and forth flow of the game, at that point we they were down to 10 men and we needed to keep ball which i thought we did very well. In fact a credit to Steven Smith coming on under that pressure thought he did really well a lot of players could of buckled .4. Leicester were poor once we went 2-1 up i said to my mate they have given up, the players are not playing for Sousa, though Waghorn was their threat but agree once Sousa is out of the picture they will be fine.5. Chris Martin every day!!!6. Barnett for me was Man of the Match, yes Hools scored a brace and was class but Barnett performed the whole game was a ROCK!!! 7. Agree Ruddy is a worry, he is inconsistent, yes he has had some good games but he keeps making these mistakes, i would stick with him but if it keeps happening Rudd would step to the plate with confidence

[Yorkshire Canary 118]

One for the neutrals! It could have been 10 - 10 both sides looked like scoring all the time!

[Bill 1,788]

" the players are not playing for Sousa"

again the luck of the draw so to speak

a defeat on saturday for Leicester could see Sousa on his way, with two weeks to get in a new manager and firing on all cylinders again - were that to be true then would we have won were the game to be a month further on ?

likewise with Preston

[GJP 79]

[quote user="Jim Smith"]

Hoprefully was designed to give Martin a kick up the backside and will work but I think we missed his hold up play in the first half.

[/quote]

We missed it in the Hull game as well.

[E Block Loyal 0]

Good game, but I thought we made really hard work of it, letting them back in from 3-1 and 4-2 wasn’t really good enough.

 

I thought Wes (second half especially), Leon and Crofts were excellent last night. I lost count of the number of times Croft broke play up in the middle – you’d have your life on him in a 50/50 situation and he is as game as it gets which I love.

 

Wes makes us tick and I’m surprised whenever teams give him the sort of room he was allowed last night. The second goal was a worldly as well.

Barnett was a beast at the back, almost seemed as if he was playing them on his own at times at the back.

 

As for other positives, nice to get four goals after some concerns about how much we are likely to score this year, Lappin played well again and Drury’s goal was well earned and well received (The Barclay went mental).

 

Liked the flare, although I see it wasn’t universally welcomed by all.

 

On the other hand, Ruddy is a real worry. It’s not just his glaring errors but his all round game for me. Defenders seem quite nervous round him and, hate to be harsh, but I think Forster saves their third all day long.

 

It appears that Ward blows hot and cold as well, bit all over the place last night and his attempts at passing was woeful at times.

 

I also agree with the one of the posters above that Leicester looked totally disinterested once we got the second. We really should be good enough to start racking decent wins up against teams like that.

 

Still, you’d have taken third after nine games and the filth losing a late winner is always welcome.

 

OTBC.

[Jim Smith 2,314]

I thought he should have saved their third as well. Perhaps we got spoilt because I have never seen a keeper as good at one on ones as Forster was (and before anyone says it yes I know forster has gone and we have moved on) but its really noticeable how much worse Ruddy is in those situations - I just don''t fancy him to save them as I don''t think he gets down quick enough. I''m not writing him off but i think Rudd has looked more assured when he''s played for us this season.

[E Block Loyal 0]

I think we were possibly spolit with Forster, what a waste him playing in the SPL as well (four big games a season and they''re out of Europe).

His one-on-one ability was unbelievable at times, he just made himself huge and got down so qucikly, neither of which Ruddy has shown himself able. I was shocked on the first game when Watford scored their second as it was they type of shot that Forster batted away, but I''m used to it now.

I''m not dwelling on it, just making valid comparisons.

[Jarroldstander 0]

Steven Smith was bloody awful. Everyime he got the ball he got rid of it straight away, he had no confidence and looked like a rabbit caught in headlights.

[bloodwagon 0]

Just seen the goals and yes Ruddy was at fault with first and third, but to be honest, the sending off was a bit harsh (glad he went tho), I couldnt see much in it, mind you the camera angle was i bit off, and the ref was closer, but as i say seems a bit harsh (maybe the ref had put a wager on us winning ).

[e10_yellow 0]

[quote user="bloodwagon"]Just seen the goals and yes Ruddy was at fault with first and third, but to be honest, the sending off was a bit harsh (glad he went tho), I couldnt see much in it, mind you the camera angle was i bit off, and the ref was closer, but as i say seems a bit harsh (maybe the ref had put a wager on us winning ).[/quote]I was in the Barclay and the TV coverage/camera angle doesn''t do it justice - he clearly kicked him at least twice in the back.

[Boyo 0]

Good game but we were far from our best.  It seemed like a lot of players had a bad day all in the same game.  Ruddy had a mare, as did Ward and isn''t it ironic that when Drury scores just his fourth goal for us he has probably one of his worst performances I have seen him play for us!  I also thought Korey Smith had the worst first half I have seen him play but he did improve in the second.

I disagree with Leicster looking poor to be honest.  I don''t know how the hell they are bottom of the league.  With a team like Leicster are at the moment, playing okay and not getting results, it is usually due to a lack of confidence but they never gave up and came back after every Norwich goal.

Defence needs to improve dramitacally in the next game but it was still a great result and the league table is looking pretty tasty aswell now!

[shefcanary 2,377]

If we are going to play Jackson we have to adapt our game more.  He should potentially be playing off scraps following hoof football but that is not the Norwich way, so for him it will contniue to be a struggle - Chrissy Martin is probably for the long term as long as he remains motivated.

[kdncfc 0]

Very enjoyable game which we deserved to win but made it far harder for ourselves than it should have been, some of our attacking play was very good in the second half and we should really have scored more than the four goals we did. I thought Barnett was immense as were Wes and Crofts but the rest of our defence were very shaky at times. I thought Leicester looked the most dangerous team to come here so far and with a manager who knows what he''s doing they are more than good enough to climb the table.