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Ricardo's Report v Burnley

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I love this time of year when the clocks go back and the lights come on in the second half. It always seems to create a better atmosphere in my opinion. It was the perfect day for football, a mild November afternoon with a bit of rain about and a nice soft pitch.Just the right kindof conditions you might think, for City to finally produce a decent home performance.We kicked off towards the River End and the early play was even and end to end as both sides won a series of corners which came to nothing. City were combining well down the right, with Smith and Martin featuring in several moves where all that was lacking was a quality final delivery. Burnley looked neat and tidy and their passing to feet was crisp and effective. They looked as good as any side I have seen here this season. City might have taken a lead on 20 minutes when Lappin got a clean header on a cross from the right but failed to direct it well enough to foil Grant in the Burnley goal. I can''t help but think that Holt would have buried that one had he been the recipient of that cross. Burnley were seeing plenty of the ball and they showed how it should be done when their accurate passing worked Mears into space on the right and his pass was neatly turned home by Paterson. City now tried to go too long and paid the penalty by continually giving the ball away and it was from one of these exchanges that Burnley went two clear as another neat pass through the middle left Paterson with only Ruddy to beat. The keeper got a strong hand to it but could not prevent it crossing the line. The 25k crowd voiced there alarm at City''s inept performance with a storm of boo''s as the halftime whistle went.At this stage Ricardo was seriously thinking that we could be in for a right old drubbing if things didn''t change and was pleased to see that Lambert had brought on Macnamee for Lappin as the second period began. Two fine runs down the right got the crowd on their toes but again the crosses were disappointing. Lambert quickly changed it again on 53 minutes when Steven Smith made way for Fox and City immediately looked stronger in midfield. By now it was all one way traffic but still little to show for it. Ten minutes later Martin came on for Jackson and play at last concentrated in the Burnley area. At last City''s up tempo approach paid dividends when a nice move on the ground ended with Crofts finding Martin six yards out and he turned and buried a left footer under the keeper.At last Fortress CR was in full cry, Macnamee was unlucky when he hit the foot of a post but you at last got the feeling that we could get something out of the match. Burnley were wasting time at every opportunity but in the second minute of time added, the two Martins and Croft combined well to leave the later with an opening that he duly converted for the equaliser. There was still time for Martin to go close with a cross shot and for Crofts to recieve a second yellow and depart the scene of his triumph but all things considered it was about the right result.Crofts was my MOM and I think he was a shade unlucky to see a red one. Anthony Mac stretched them well in the second half and I also thought Russell Martin had one of his better games. The true architect of the point we won today however was Paul Lambert because his subs were spot on and each one of them made us look a better side.

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Excellent read as usual Ricardo. I personally didn''t go but my friends that did think your assessment is absolutely spot again, again like usual. Nice to see Lambert making the changes seemingly thick and fast as we gradually increased the pressure.

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I agree with the post....I''m not Russell Martin''s biggest fan but thought he had an ok game today same with regards to Korey Smith who put in some great crosses and provided the energy needed in the 2nd.

Simeon Jackson and Lappin were useless, poor first touch and lack of quality respectively. Holt did his usual, provides a handful for the defenders, goes down at every opportunity, runs everywhere but at the end of the day does not have enough ability for this level (but still remains our best option at present).

Once again, Lambert got everything spot on with regards to the changes and the timing of them too, mcnammee changed the game, got the crowd involved, and croft who I though had a poor first half too had a great last 20 before being sent off rightly in my view, not dirty play but two definate yellows.

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[quote user="ricardo"]I love this time of year when the clocks go back and the lights come on in the second half. It always seems to create a better atmosphere in my opinion. It was the perfect day for football, a mild November afternoon with a bit of rain about and a nice soft pitch.Just the right kindof conditions you might think, for City to finally produce a decent home performance.

We kicked off towards the River End and the early play was even and end to end as both sides won a series of corners which came to nothing. City were combining well down the right, with Smith and Martin featuring in several moves where all that was lacking was a quality final delivery. Burnley looked neat and tidy and their passing to feet was crisp and effective. They looked as good as any side I have seen here this season. City might have taken a lead on 20 minutes when Lappin got a clean header on a cross from the right but failed to direct it well enough to foil Grant in the Burnley goal. I can''t help but think that Holt would have buried that one had he been the recipient of that cross. Burnley were seeing plenty of the ball and they showed how it should be done when their accurate passing worked Mears into space on the right and his pass was neatly turned home by Paterson. City now tried to go too long and paid the penalty by continually giving the ball away and it was from one of these exchanges that Burnley went two clear as another neat pass through the middle left Paterson with only Ruddy to beat. The keeper got a strong hand to it but could not prevent it crossing the line. The 25k crowd voiced there alarm at City''s inept performance with a storm of boo''s as the halftime whistle went.

At this stage Ricardo was seriously thinking that we could be in for a right old drubbing if things didn''t change and was pleased to see that Lambert had brought on Macnamee for Lappin as the second period began. Two fine runs down the right got the crowd on their toes but again the crosses were disappointing. Lambert quickly changed it again on 53 minutes when Steven Smith made way for Fox and City immediately looked stronger in midfield. By now it was all one way traffic but still little to show for it. Ten minutes later Martin came on for Jackson and play at last concentrated in the Burnley area. At last City''s up tempo approach paid dividends when a nice move on the ground ended with Crofts finding Martin six yards out and he turned and buried a left footer under the keeper.

At last Fortress CR was in full cry, Macnamee was unlucky when he hit the foot of a post but you at last got the feeling that we could get something out of the match. Burnley were wasting time at every opportunity but in the second minute of time added, the two Martins and Croft combined well to leave the later with an opening that he duly converted for the equaliser. There was still time for Martin to go close with a cross shot and for Crofts to recieve a second yellow and depart the scene of his triumph but all things considered it was about the right result.

Crofts was my MOM and I think he was a shade unlucky to see a red one. Anthony Mac stretched them well in the second half and I also thought Russell Martin had one of his better games. The true architect of the point we won today however was Paul Lambert because his subs were spot on and each one of them made us look a better side.
[/quote]

 

A tale of two managers. Excellent, brave substitutions from PL, ultra cautious second half by Laws which included changing the shape and effectively taking Eagles out of the game where in the first half he was outstanding.

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Sorry Ricardo but I don''t agree with this report at all; it''s almost wrong in evert aspect.

City provided a quality final ball - what was missing was a striker on the end of it.

I''ve seen much better teams at FCR this season; Swansea and Watford spring to mind instantly.

Holt wouldn''t have buried Lappin''s chance today; he probably would have thrown himself to the ground to try and win a free-kick.

City went two down by pure bad defence and giving players too much time on the ball.

Fox didn''t make City stronger in midfield. In fact, he barely did anything.

Sorry Ricardo. I usually love your match reports but this one is far too ''nice''

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[quote user="Chunky Norwich"]Sorry Ricardo but I don''t agree with this report at all; it''s almost wrong in evert aspect.

City provided a quality final ball - what was missing was a striker on the end of it.

I''ve seen much better teams at FCR this season; Swansea and Watford spring to mind instantly.

Holt wouldn''t have buried Lappin''s chance today; he probably would have thrown himself to the ground to try and win a free-kick.

City went two down by pure bad defence and giving players too much time on the ball.

Fox didn''t make City stronger in midfield. In fact, he barely did anything.

Sorry Ricardo. I usually love your match reports but this one is far too ''nice''[/quote]If crosses hit the first defender or go too long, which 90% of ours did then I reguard that as poor quality final ball. Things improved considerably when MacNamee came on, although he was also guilty of hitting the first defender on more than one occasion. As for Korey Smith, I lost count of the times his crosses went out of play for a throw in on the other side of the pitch. No striker on earth would get on the end of those, unless he was sitting in the front row of the stands. Our opening goal was the first time in 70 minutes of play that we worked the ball on the ground well enough to give a striker a decent effort on goal. The equaliser also came from a well worked move on the ground. There really should be some sort of clue there.As to the rest of it my opinion is only one among 25k. I don''t doubt that others may see things differently. Thats why its called Ricardo''s Report and not "The Only True and Uncontradictable Report".

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We were certainly wasteful when in good positions on far to many occasions, think we made Burnley look far better than they actually were by putting in such a lacklustre first half display. I said to the guy next to me after 15 minutes that Burnley weren''t really that good and we could beat them if we upped the tempo and then all of a sudden we went into one of our sloppy modes and before you knew it we were 2-0 behind. Even though we were poor in the first half we still had 3 or 4 situations where we should have done better and I personally thought 2-0 flattered them.Second half was a totally different story and even though it felt like a winner when we got that equaliser we really should have scored four or five in the second half and ended up comfortable winners, with the amount of attacking we had we would have done if we hadn''t been so wasteful so many times when in good positions.The thing that baffles me is how we can put in such a can''t be arsed looking display in the first half, we should have been in their faces from the off but the first half was more like a practice match than a Championship game with important points at stake.We need Surman back asap to give us a bit more quality on that left hand side, Lappin simply doesn''t deliver often enough for me and should score a few goals given the amount of chances he has. Atmosphere was ok in the second half but resembled a morgue for much of the first, it''s embarrassing to stand there and hear 400 away fans outsing 24k at times. Hopefully the next two games should be better with bigger away followings and some of our fans will awake from their slumber and actually make some real noise.

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Your reports are always first class Ricardo and always the first thing I look for if I haven''t been able to make the game.

Opinions can differ and I have to admit I was still quite riled about the performance and not in the best of moods regarding Norwich City last night.

I still stand by my view of the game but the way it was worded might have been better

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[quote user="Chunky Norwich"]Your reports are always first class Ricardo and always the first thing I look for if I haven''t been able to make the game.

Opinions can differ and I have to admit I was still quite riled about the performance and not in the best of moods regarding Norwich City last night.

I still stand by my view of the game but the way it was worded might have been better[/quote]No problem Chunky, Nobody is worse than me when City underperform. Snowy the cat still gets ready to dive under the table when I slam the door too hard. Mrs Ricardo reckons she''d be a millionaire if she had a tenner for every occasion I''ve threatened to pack up going.From what I''ve seen so far this season I would have to say that auto promotion is beyond us there''s still a better than even chance of making the playoffs.

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