Now which centre back pairing?

[a1canary 0]

I know we''ve done this to death but having been at the Cardiff game and seen Whitbread and Leon together first hand i''m still a bit undecided. They look classy certainly and it''s an absolute joy to see how often the pair of them brought the ball out of defence and found a good forward pass. We''ve not been used to that as Norwich fans in the last few years!

Nelson is a totally different defender - no nonsense etc and to be completely honest i would have played him against that monster Parkin. That guy is an absolute brick sh*thouse and Zak was caught out for their goal in a way you wouldn''t have expected Nelson to be. Then again, with the diamond and our full backs pushed so far forward the centre backs are worryingly far apart on occasions which would expose any pace deficiencies. In the end i think that is why PL favours Zak over Nelse. If Bellamy was playing down the middle for Cardiff i think he could have caused far more problems than he did out on the wing.

I guess what you can say is that we suddenly have a fantastically strong group of centre backs now that Whitbread has suddenly not only come back but seemingly worked his way straight in to the starting 11. I''ll be fascinated to see what Lambert does when Ward is fit.

[Lambo 0]

Very tough IMO but I probably would just give the nod to Whitbred and Barnett. Although The Admiral and Whitbred were immense against QPR. Ward''s been a little 50/50 at times but again him and Barnett struck up a great partnership after a few games.

As you say, great position to be in really.

[Fr. Chewy Louie 140]

Feel a bit sorry for Askou - he''d be better than 5th choice at most clubs I reckon.

Whitbread/Barnett for me too, but I like all four of them.

[Nexus_Canary 1,206]

When Barnett first arrived I thought, wow this guy is utter class.He really stood apart from Ward, although I rate Ward.Then against Cardiff I thought Whitbread made Barnett look a bit dull and I found myself getting a tad anoyed with Barnett''s distribution.All I can come up with from that is that realistically, Whitbread is with out a doubt #1 best defender at the club and Barnett is an easy 2nd.However I think Barnett, Whitbread, Ward and Nelson could EASILY be first or second choice at most Championship clubs, so I am really happy with our back 2 (who ever it may be ) at the moment.My favourite pairing is probably Barnett and Whitbread, however I found myself on saturday when we got a free kick or corner wishing that Nelly was on the pitch.

It really is a tough decision at the moment !I think the easy no brainer = 1st choice : Whitbreadpast that.... can we get a strange mutant combination of Nelly and Barnett ?If Barnett got some offensive heading training then it would be a no brainer on Barnett for 2nd to be fair :)

[Nexus_Canary 1,206]

[quote user="a1canary"]I know we''ve done this to death but having been at the Cardiff game and seen Whitbread and Leon together first hand i''m still a bit undecided. They look classy certainly and it''s an absolute joy to see how often the pair of them brought the ball out of defence and found a good forward pass. We''ve not been used to that as Norwich fans in the last few years!

Nelson is a totally different defender - no nonsense etc and to be completely honest i would have played him against that monster Parkin. That guy is an absolute brick sh*thouse and Zak was caught out for their goal in a way you wouldn''t have expected Nelson to be. Then again, with the diamond and our full backs pushed so far forward the centre backs are worryingly far apart on occasions which would expose any pace deficiencies. In the end i think that is why PL favours Zak over Nelse. If Bellamy was playing down the middle for Cardiff i think he could have caused far more problems than he did out on the wing.

I guess what you can say is that we suddenly have a fantastically strong group of centre backs now that Whitbread has suddenly not only come back but seemingly worked his way straight in to the starting 11. I''ll be fascinated to see what Lambert does when Ward is fit.[/quote]I was thinking the same actually, however after the goal I thought that Barnett and Zak did a bloody good job of containing him.I see why they call Parkin  "The Beast" now. He made Whitbread who is 6''2 look like a midget !

[GJP 79]

Best centreback at the club is Leon Barnett - saw that against Cardiff, he was absolutely immense.

 

I like all the others (apart from Askou) but my gut feeling will be that the manager goes with Wardy alongside Barnett when he''s fully fit again.

[CDMullins 498]

Barnett often found himself covering for R Martin, On Bellers. He had Bellers totally covered.

Real good job my Barnett and probably my MOM

[Road to Nowhere 0]

[quote user="Nexus_Canary"]When Barnett first arrived I thought, wow this guy is utter class.
He really stood apart from Ward, although I rate Ward.
Then against Cardiff I thought Whitbread made Barnett look a bit dull and I found myself getting a tad anoyed with Barnett''s distribution.

All I can come up with from that is that realistically, Whitbread is with out a doubt #1 best defender at the club and Barnett is an easy 2nd.
However I think Barnett, Whitbread, Ward and Nelson could EASILY be first or second choice at most Championship clubs, so I am really happy with our back 2 (who ever it may be ) at the moment.

My favourite pairing is probably Barnett and Whitbread, however I found myself on saturday when we got a free kick or corner wishing that Nelly was on the pitch.


It really is a tough decision at the moment !

I think the easy no brainer = 1st choice : Whitbread
past that.... can we get a strange mutant combination of Nelly and Barnett ?
If Barnett got some offensive heading training then it would be a no brainer on Barnett for 2nd to be fair :)
[/quote]

 

It''s way too early to say that Whitbread is ''without doubt the best defender at the club''. He looks good but I think he has to demonstrate he is over his injury problems and get some continuity in his performances before he can be put in this bracket.

Agreed, though, it is a great problem to have because we have 4 good central defenders who all bring something slightly different when they play.

Also - can we stop panning Askou? I don''t think he is as bad as people seem to think it''s just that we have better now.

[Fiery Zac 1,066]

Was surprised to see Parkin beat Whitbread to the ball for the goal (even though he is undoubtedly a beast!) because i lost count the amount of times in the 2 games Whitbread played in where he was simply there for every high ball heading it clear, and by some distance! Really impressed the way Whitbread has come back from injury, lets remember hes played against QPR and Cardiff in the league and looked solid and more than comfortable with the ball at his feet against them. For me that really makes me think he could easily become our best CB and am really excited about how much better he could become. Crookys comments about him last season look to have some truth in them after all - just wish it hadnt taken so long to see it.Other than the fact he hasnt scored, and hasnt really looked like scoring (unlike Nelly and Barnett sometimes) hes a must to start for me alongside Barnett. Ward has had an impressive season and would be unlucky not to win his place back but because of the injuries at the start of the season getting Barnett in on loan we''ve actually now got 2 CBs who are as good if not probably better than him. We''ve gone from a worryingly thin amount of CBs to having 4 i wouldnt mind seeing play in any game. But for his no nonsense style and improving attacking abilities Barnett ahead of Ward and for the assured way he goes about the game oozing confidence in me that he wont make any silly mistakes, Whitbread for now at least, is also ahead of Ward and Nelson.

[GJP 79]

[quote user="Persnickety"] and for the assured way he goes about the game oozing confidence in me that he wont make any silly mistakes, Whitbread for now at least, is also ahead of Ward and Nelson.
[/quote]

Can''t say I saw Whitbread "oozing confidence" against Cardiff, he looked a bit nervous  - particularly in the first half.

 

It is handy that he''s left footed - which helps to improve the natural balance of defence - but so far I haven''t seen him look any better than Nelson or Ward (defensively or on the ball).

 

[Move Klose 303]

Whitbread is very good on the ball, looks comftable with the ball, happy to run with it and playing the ball out of defence as does Ward. Im not slating Nelson as he think he''s done a very good job when called upon but he''s more of an old fashioned centre half, just hoofing it long. But ward, whitbread and barnett are Lamberts signings, and that pushes Nelson down to 4th choice, and Nelson and Askou are out of contract this summer. I reckon Ward and Barnett are our 1st choice pairing with Whibread next in line. But hey this is a good problem to have.

[Fiery Zac 1,066]

[quote user="GJP"]

[quote user="Persnickety"] and for the assured way he goes about the game oozing confidence in me that he wont make any silly mistakes, Whitbread for now at least, is also ahead of Ward and Nelson.[/quote]

Can''t say I saw Whitbread "oozing confidence" against Cardiff, he looked a bit nervous  - particularly in the first half.

 

It is handy that he''s left footed - which helps to improve the natural balance of defence - but so far I haven''t seen him look any better than Nelson or Ward (defensively or on the ball).

 

[/quote]Maybe oozing was a bit over the top but i just feel a lot more relaxed about playing the ball out of defence when Whitbread has the ball than sometimes when Ward has. Only 2 games i know but i havent worried hes going to slice the ball or panic and make a mistake, and the only time i could possibly think hes looked nervous was coming up against Parkin early on - but after the goal Whitbread had him sussed and wasnt outdone again.Im just happy a signing i was really excited about over a year ago is finally starting to come good!

[Mister Chops 7]

Seems a bit harsh to suggest the defence could have done much about Parkin''s goal, he won''t score many like that in his career.

[Mr Jenkins 0]

Mr Barnet and Mr Whitbread "have the shirts" as one says, they should keep them.

[Nexus_Canary 1,206]

[quote user="Road to Nowhere"]

 

It''s way too early to say that Whitbread is ''without doubt the best defender at the club''. He looks good but I think he has to demonstrate he is over his injury problems and get some continuity in his performances before he can be put in this bracket.

Agreed, though, it is a great problem to have because we have 4 good central defenders who all bring something slightly different when they play.

Also - can we stop panning Askou? I don''t think he is as bad as people seem to think it''s just that we have better now.

[/quote]Yeh good point regarding Whitbread and injury.I thought Askou looked REALLY nervous last run out, shame for him. I agree hes also not at all bad, just a shame hes prolly last choice out of the 5.He is odds on fav to leave if we sell a CB.

[Nexus_Canary 1,206]

[quote user="Mister Chops"]Seems a bit harsh to suggest the defence could have done much about Parkin''s goal, he won''t score many like that in his career.[/quote]Yeh that was a jumpers for goal posts practice match goal. To actually score one in a competive game. All credit to him, hell of a stike.

[alysha 0]

Barnett and Whitbread for me and I''m probably going to get slated but if one of these got injured I would rather Nelson come in ahead of Ward. I think Ward is a good player, but at times seems to switch off and ducks out of challenges in the air which at times have cost us.

[Boyo 0]

For the next game at least it should be Barnett and Whitbread.  Barnett has been fantastic since he has been here and in Whitbread''s two games recently he was also fantastic so for now they keep their place.

 

And I don''t really get this stuff about Ward being a really good centre back because in my opinion he is okay but he is liable to the odd mistake and dosn''t really fill me with confidence and seems to lack conviction in defence.  I havn''t seen Whitbread play enough yet to say he is better than Ward but I think he will turn out to be.

[Canary_on_the Trent 0]

Not got a problem with any pairing to be honest.

Nelson is obviously the least talented and probably 4th in the list but he''ll never let us down defensively and does a solid, no nonsense job for us.

Whitbread obviously has the fact he is left footed and comfortable on the ball in his favour.

Barnett is the most athletic and quickest

Ward I like a lot but he does a tendancy to switch off and make casual errors.

Its to be noted that Ward, Whitbread and Barnett are all either 25 or 26, relatively young in centre back terms so are obviously still maturing as players but we should have them as they enter their prime and peak value.

[O.T.B.C 1]

I have always said that if Zak is fit, then he will become 1st choise. The bloke is class and along with Barnett, is my centre back pairing.

All I can remember in the Cardif game is Zak constantly heading the ball away and I might be wrong, there wasn''t too many times that the The Beast beat him to a ball, same with Bellars and Chopra.

Hope he stays fit for a while, but there is always that feeling that he will get an injury sooner rather than later. Lambert must have waitied until he was 100% fit, before there was any attempt to bring him back.

[kdncfc 28]

Barnett and Whitbread for me, they are both very mobile and strong in the air. Barnett has been excellent since he''s been here and I''ve also been impressed with Whitbread in the last two games especially considering he''s been out injured for so long, Ward and Nelson are also very decent players to have as back up imo. They are certainly a big improvement on Doherty, can''t quite believe how much our team seems to have improved in the last few months. For the first time in ages I feel excited at our prospects, we are serious contenders for promotion to the prem which is nothing short of remarkable when you consider where we were 18 months ago.