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Ricardo's report v Cardiff

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I was sitting in the pub this lunchtime perusing the league table and it seemed apparant to me that three points today would put the Canaries nicely in the driving seat for the run in to auto promotion. However much water will flow under Trowse bridge before that die is cast and many more tough games in prospect before the fat lady sings.PL fielded his strongest eleven this afternoon (in my opinion). Whitbread and Barnett at centreback and a midfield diamond of Fox, Wes, Lansbury and Crofts. It was a slow start by City and Bellars was quick to show with a couple of darting runs down the left but after only six minutes City fell behind. Parkin headed on a long ball and Chopra''s neat return was met sweetly by the lumbering forward and Ruddy was well beaten from 20 yards. It was a disappointing opening but to their credit City soon got on top. R. Martin shot over from an angle after Holts chest down and on 15 minutes a nice move almost brought the equaliser. Several players were involved until finally Martin laid back to Fox who hit a stunning 25 yarder against the Cardiff bar. It was all action from City as they got well into their stride and Cardiff were almost constantly on the back foot. Ricardo yelled for a penalty on 20 minutes as Holt seemed to be clipped well inside the box but the ref waved it away and Wes really should have done better than send a low shot straight at the keeper as he came in on the loose ball. Mr Stroud, the ref  now began to wind the crowd up with a series of decisions that seemed wantonly perverse. Obvious fouls went unpunished and inocuous stuff drew a whistle. It all got very frustrating and the linesman joined in the fun when he flagged offside as Holt rammed in a loose ball after Heaton had only parried Martins well struck effert. With Wes and Lansbury pulling the strings it was all City for the remainder of the half but Cardiff defended well but must have been glad to hear the halftime whistle. City had played well but once again one fragile moment had left them chasing the game.The same eleven started the second period and it was quick tempo stuff as Wes twice put Drury in good crossing positions only for poor quality to spoil the openings. Cardiff attacks were rare as they settled into two banks of four hoping for Bellars or Chopra to latch onto an opening. To my mind Bellars is only a faint shadow of his former self and generally he was well marshalled by Martin or Barnett. The game kept up a furious pace and must have been entertaining for the neutrals but Ricardo was chewing his gloves as time and again City tried to pass their way through the middle only for Cardiff to get a foot or head in the way at the last seconnd. Crofts had two half chances, Martins pass left him with an opening but he delayed too long and minutes later he did the same from Drury''s pass. On 70 minutes the Wheelie bin came on for Lansbury and confounding my expectations managed to get a couple of efforts in but without embarrassing the keeper. Smith replaced Crofts and finally The King of Spain came on for Chris Martin.It all looked done and dusted as City just could not break through and Chopra might have sealed only for Ruddy to pull off a fine block. With time running out Wes picked up the ball in midfield. He had been like a fully wound clockwork mouse throughout and this time his strong run forward brought Lappin into play on the left. The cross seemed to bisect onrushing City forwards and the whole River End stand rose in front of Ricardo as Russell Martin squeezed in the leveller from an impossible angle.So honours even but it should have been much more. City dominated for 84 minutes and a point was at least some consolation. Wes was clearly MOM for his all action display and Barnett was close behind for a superb defensive performance. The fitness of this team is truly remarkable and I think Cardiff were just finally worn down at the end. There is still a long way to go but we really must get out of this habit of giving teams a goal start.

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Good report Ricardo, and a good game, and I always felt we were going to get something from it. Outstanding performances from Wes and Russ and honourable mentions to Barnett and Whitbread (who looks a classy player), and to David Fox who was pinging the ball about beautifully. If Lansbury stays, Surman won''t find it easy to get back in the side.

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I alway enjoy your reports Ricardo. I don''t know you or what your background is but you have a gift with prose.

Just to try and knock you off your pedestal, I thought the Wheelie Bin came on and looked quite useful. Is the lambo magic working after just one weeks training?!! mmmm

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Excellent & well expressed as ever Ricardo. I''m going to nit-pick

& say you''re being a bit horrid to the wheelie bin; he looks a very

tidy player to me - especially for the money - even though he obviously

won''t set the league on fire. Intelligent use of the ball, & wasn''t

far away with one effort. Also think Barnett''s a bit gauche at times. He''s got fantastic heading ability, but doesn''t always direct them well - perhaps he could be taught to realise how much time his ability allows him, & put more thought into where the ball''s going?

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[quote user="Bury Yellow"]I alway enjoy your reports Ricardo. I don''t know you or what your background is but you have a gift with prose.

Just to try and knock you off your pedestal, I thought the Wheelie Bin came on and looked quite useful. Is the lambo magic working after just one weeks training?!! mmmm[/quote]I tried not to be too harsh today BY. If you look you will see that I did say he confounded my expectations. His trap, turn and shot was executed very well for a big man but his real place is in the league below this one. I am sure our coaching will improve his play but I''m still of the opinion that you can''t make a silk purse out of a sow''s ear.

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[quote user="ron obvious"]Excellent & well expressed as ever Ricardo. I''m going to nit-pick

& say you''re being a bit horrid to the wheelie bin; he looks a very

tidy player to me - especially for the money - even though he obviously

won''t set the league on fire. Intelligent use of the ball, & wasn''t

far away with one effort. Also think Barnett''s a bit gauche at times. He''s got fantastic heading ability, but doesn''t always direct them well - perhaps he could be taught to realise how much time his ability allows him, & put more thought into where the ball''s going?

[/quote]Regarding Barnett, I thought he was magnificent today. The choice of centrebacks was a bit hard on "the Admiral" who has been brilliant in recent games but it does look as though PL see''s Whitbread and Barnett as his No 1 pairing.It will take more than a few flashes to convert me into a "Wheelie braham" fan but I concede he gave it his all in that 20 minute cameo.

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Thanks Ricardo, great feedback again... The Fox strike deserved a goal...
As you say Whitbread and Barnett look a good partnership at the back!

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[quote user="ROBFLECK"]Thanks Ricardo, great feedback again... The Fox strike deserved a goal...As you say Whitbread and Barnett look a good partnership at the back![/quote]

I think a lot of people weren''t too sure about Fox, to begin with, ROB. It''s pretty obvious to see why PL rates him. He has great ability to switch play with long accurate passing and his long range shooting abilty is also very good. As I said, this looks like Lambo''s strongest line up but I now wonder where Surman will figure when he returns to fitness.

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Yes. I think you''re spot on Rude.

For those who can''t get to the game, believe you me Ricardo''s reports are fair and reflect the match superbly.

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My first game of the season and a bit of a curates egg for me.

With the possible exception of Surman this is our strongest line up.

However city were so slow out of the box it looked as either we had been doped or cardiff were playing on speed. They deservedly took the lead having shown desire movement tackling and commitment that the team in yellow was lacking. We were being seriously outclassed.

We did start to keep the ball better but I think this was as much due to Cardiff wanting to sit back on their lead rather than us upping our game. For me cardiff visibly took the foot off the gas and sat with their back 8 in a tight formation 25 yards or so outside of their box, looking to hit us on the counter attack. As such I am not how to assess our centre backs - they were not pressurised but did not look entirely secure facing the breaks.

Cardiff held a tight line and comfortably repeatedly caught Holt offside who was suffering from the drowsiness more than any player in yellow. We played with the ball with only Wes appearing to have any idea on how to create a chance.

First half we had three efforts and 1 chance - Fox and C Martin hitting the bar and drawing a rare save from Heaton (with Holt I thought clearly offside again for the tap - will see tv tonight) and wes finishing poorly from the one clear chance we created following the possible penalty as holt fell (Holts recent history catching up with him here - he did seem to fall too easily) - Wes'' finish was poor allowing heaton an easy save.

Second half followed the first - long spells of city possession without bringing saves from heaton with Ruddy saving bravely at feet in a couple of 121s. A couple of predictable subs were made - Croft was poor and seemed to be lost in the right of diamond position, took too many touches slowing play down badly for us and seemed out of sorts, and Lansbury who was frustrated by his own off day - for me he played like he was just coming back from injury, what he tried not coming off but not lacking in effort. Cardiffs decision to sit deep meant the space for the focal point of the diamond was severly restricted and every poor touch he had (and tehre were plenty) meant he was quickly closed down by an efficient cardiff side to either force a mis placed pass or dispossess. I was not a surprise to see him taken off. I like his self frustration - it showed me he wants to perform for us.

To be honest with poor service to and poor movement from the front two I could not see us scoring. Wilbraham coming on changed that a little and at least had some impact (greater than Holt today) and got a couple of half chances away but off target.

Fortunately another dymanic burst from deserved man of the match Hoolahan (at the focal point of all our creative work) freed Lappin who put in another good cross with the excellent Martin arriving at the far post to slam it into the roof of the next to salvage an unlikely point from the game.

Not sure how good we are - I think Cardiff confidently felt they could hold onto a goal lead and it looked increasingly likely they were right. Rarely did a goal feel as good as martins :-)

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Poor old Holty. Continually on the move, subtle touches, cramped working area due to the four four defensive Cardiff. Should have had a penalty.

Is it that he is built like brick house? You just have to watch him. The hard work seems to be missed by a few.

Oh well, we all have our opinions. As long as Lambo rates him!

It''s his strike partner I''m more worried about.

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[quote user="Bury Yellow"]Poor old Holty. . The hard work seems to be missed by a few.

[/quote]

As i expanded on in the ratings thread if I compare todays Holt to the town game (and prob most over the last 8 weeks) or to last season, his usual (v high) standard of work ethic was not there - his touch was not up to his usual standard, he was offside too much and it was all summed up when Martin flipped a ball into his path in the first half only for holt to be looking backwards as the ball was in front of him.

Every player has a bad day at the office - for me Holt had a stinker today and am calling it as such - nothing more nothing less. I do not want him to be dropped on the back of a one off.

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I wasted 2 minutes of my life reading your negative bile Zip.

I travelled 400 miles to go to the game today

Dont hurry back to carrow rd

We were very slow out of the blocks and thereafter Cardiff were very well organised

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Zipper, I''m sure Ricardo won''t mind, however, this thread is titled "Ricardo''s report v Cardiff", not "Fan''s report vs Cardiff." The generous thing ( you normally are such a poster ) is to acknowledge Ricardo''s effort and offer a few lines to either support or point out differences from his view. Your effort here goes quite a bit beyond that. Having said that I must say that, overall, I find Ricardo''s input to be far closer to what I saw than what is reflected in your summary. I do agree, however, that we did not look like we were going to score. I felt we put ourselves in position to do so on a number of occasions but just lacked any clinical finishing ability.

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[quote user="YankeeCanary"]

Zipper, I''m sure Ricardo won''t mind, however, this thread is titled "Ricardo''s report v Cardiff", not "Fan''s report vs Cardiff." The generous thing ( you normally are such a poster ) is to acknowledge Ricardo''s effort and offer a few lines to either support or point out differences from his view. Your effort here goes quite a bit beyond that. Having said that I must say that, overall, I find Ricardo''s input to be far closer to what I saw than what is reflected in your summary. I do agree, however, that we did not look like we were going to score. I felt we put ourselves in position to do so on a number of occasions but just lacked any clinical finishing ability.

[/quote]Thanks for that Yankee. I don''t take notes so sometimes I may miss something or get it out of sequence but everyone see''s a game from there own perspective so all reports will differ a bit.Ive just watched the Football League Show on I Player and its funny how you sometimes see things that you missed. In the build up to our goal Wheelie-braham got a scuffed shot in before the ball went through to Martin. I entirely missed that in my report, probably because everyone leapt to their feet in front of me.Also seen replays of the pen. It looked a pen at the time, even from my seat 80 yards away and the replay confirmed that Holt was indeed clipped.

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[quote user="ricardo"]I was sitting in the pub this lunchtime perusing the league table and it seemed apparant to me that three points today would put the Canaries nicely in the driving seat for the run in to auto promotion. However much water will flow under Trowse bridge before that die is cast and many more tough games in prospect before the fat lady sings.

PL fielded his strongest eleven this afternoon (in my opinion). Whitbread and Barnett at centreback and a midfield diamond of Fox, Wes, Lansbury and Crofts. It was a slow start by City and Bellars was quick to show with a couple of darting runs down the left but after only six minutes City fell behind. Parkin headed on a long ball and Chopra''s neat return was met sweetly by the lumbering forward and Ruddy was well beaten from 20 yards. It was a disappointing opening but to their credit City soon got on top. R. Martin shot over from an angle after Holts chest down and on 15 minutes a nice move almost brought the equaliser. Several players were involved until finally Martin laid back to Fox who hit a stunning 25 yarder against the Cardiff bar. It was all action from City as they got well into their stride and Cardiff were almost constantly on the back foot. Ricardo yelled for a penalty on 20 minutes as Holt seemed to be clipped well inside the box but the ref waved it away and Wes really should have done better than send a low shot straight at the keeper as he came in on the loose ball. Mr Stroud, the ref  now began to wind the crowd up with a series of decisions that seemed wantonly perverse. Obvious fouls went unpunished and inocuous stuff drew a whistle. It all got very frustrating and the linesman joined in the fun when he flagged offside as Holt rammed in a loose ball after Heaton had only parried Martins well struck effert.

With Wes and Lansbury pulling the strings it was all City for the remainder of the half but Cardiff defended well but must have been glad to hear the halftime whistle. City had played well but once again one fragile moment had left them chasing the game.

The same eleven started the second period and it was quick tempo stuff as Wes twice put Drury in good crossing positions only for poor quality to spoil the openings. Cardiff attacks were rare as they settled into two banks of four hoping for Bellars or Chopra to latch onto an opening. To my mind Bellars is only a faint shadow of his former self and generally he was well marshalled by Martin or Barnett. The game kept up a furious pace and must have been entertaining for the neutrals but Ricardo was chewing his gloves as time and again City tried to pass their way through the middle only for Cardiff to get a foot or head in the way at the last seconnd. Crofts had two half chances, Martins pass left him with an opening but he delayed too long and minutes later he did the same from Drury''s pass. On 70 minutes the Wheelie bin came on for Lansbury and confounding my expectations managed to get a couple of efforts in but without embarrassing the keeper. Smith replaced Crofts and finally The King of Spain came on for Chris Martin.

It all looked done and dusted as City just could not break through and Chopra might have sealed only for Ruddy to pull off a fine block. With time running out Wes picked up the ball in midfield. He had been like a fully wound clockwork mouse throughout and this time his strong run forward brought Lappin into play on the left. The cross seemed to bisect onrushing City forwards and the whole River End stand rose in front of Ricardo as Russell Martin squeezed in the leveller from an impossible angle.

So honours even but it should have been much more. City dominated for 84 minutes and a point was at least some consolation. Wes was clearly MOM for his all action display and Barnett was close behind for a superb defensive performance. The fitness of this team is truly remarkable and I think Cardiff were just finally worn down at the end. There is still a long way to go but we really must get out of this habit of giving teams a goal start.
[/quote]

Good report Ricardo. I posted a few times last night how well Barnett played but largely was over looked so I''m interested to see that he gets a good mention from you in dispatches next to Wes, who was immense (if Wes can be immense!)

Being a bit of a fan of post match stats I thought as I left that City could have chalked up one of the highest possession stats of the season, as Cardiff semed happy to drop off and let us keep the ball . BBC however suggest it was 50/50 which I find amazing. Funny how the mind plays tricks when you are actually watching the game.

 

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Ricardo said, "Also seen replays of the pen. It looked a pen at the time, even from my seat 80 yards away and the replay confirmed that Holt was indeed clipped."

 

Ricardo, when I first saw it I thought it was a penalty. Then when they showed the replay you coud clearly see Holt being clipped but the commentator said there was no way it was a penalty as Holt was already on the way down before he was clipped. At the point of his comment the video portion was already over so I didn''t have a chance to look at it again. Anyone else have a perspective on that point?

P.S. I agree with Graham..... I thought Norwich had the greater share of possession.



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I would have put the posession at something like 55/45% in our favour, are these figures entirely accurate cos it certainly seemed like we had far more of the ball than them?

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The possession stats have often struck me as being dodgy. I think it was the Hull game earlier in the season when we had about 20 crosses into their box and about 10 corners and they hit us with 2 sucker punches, the stats showed them having greater possession!

I`m going to stick up for Zipper- Yankee`s back to his pedantic best having an unnecessary whinge. I`m sure if everyone started a new thread with their match opinions rather than keeping it tidily on a handful of threads you`d be moaning about that YC. I also think Zipper`s view is largely accurate- Cardiff let us play the ball around prettily until we got into the final third then snuffed us out. Holt was well marked, Martin lethargic and Lansbury rusty and off-colour. On the plus side Wes, R.Martin and Barnett were immense and Whitbread is looking a classy player. And of course we kept pushing to the end as we`ve come to expect under Lambert. Personally i`m ecstatic at sneaking a point as i think Cardiff very nearly did a very professional job on us.

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If you can''t beat your rivals don''t lose to them, that was a big point for us yesterday. If we''d got the equaliser a few minutes earlier I''d have fancied us to get a winner. We really do look a good side at the moment, very pleasing on the eye and it''s nice to go on the opposition fans forums and see them referring to us as a very good team. I am very hopeful with Lambert as manager we are on the verge of something special. If only we could find some investment we could really kick on in double quick time and it would lessen the risk of losing Lambert.

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It''s alright posting up reports that pander to the elite but what about the ''lesser mortals'' - the happy clappy types. Surely Ricardo, you could have made mention of the players who were ''running the channels'' or putting in good shifts. What about how many assists(whatever they are) did we have ?

Jokes aside, good report.

A few points of my own -

It was not a penalty, judged by the third angle shown by the telly. Holt was already falling and his right shin was clipped. but the important bit is - he would have still fallen had there been no contact. He is still able to get free kicks with his ''wily ways'', as with Bellamys foul on him near the main stand/snakepit.

Wheeliebin (wheelie canary, surely) looked ok and I believe will improve. He is has been coming on in leaps and bounds recently - if Lambert can get him to just jog on we''ll see even more of an improvement ! Clearly his instructions were to shoot. Something we seemed to be frightened to do for much of the game. Too much ''overplay'' at times when occasionally there does need to be a shot a goal.

The stuff about the stats on possession/ Yes they appear wrong but this stuff is meaningless gibberish at the best of times. It is an attempt to reduce the game to some worthless shite whereby the game is measured by supposed ''facts'' . On that basis Andy Hughes would have been one of City''s all time greats.

As to the man of the match I would put up Russell Martin. A player who has noticably improved since being here. And therein lies the strength of the current set up. i genuinely think that we are targeting players who have the right attitude and make up as much as they do any abvious ability. I had alomst given up on Fox - believing he was maybe a ''dud''. Likewise Whitbread''s chances of ever playing for City, nevermind putting in the performances that he has since coming back.

That has allowed an almost steady ''production line'' of players being brought in to replace and cover for any injuries, loss of form, or as often, the need to for the tean to play in a different way - depending on the opposition. An enormous amount of work is being done at the training ground - and the results are showing. This is what leads me to believe that we will not see the back of Lambert too early. He has put in too much work to want to simply walk away and try his luck elsewhere.

Apolgies for ''highjacking the thread'' but it is often better to put up stuff in response to a sensible thread than to join the guff refurgitating what the Sun has to say about Nat Charlton''s recent retirement or Sky Sports lastest news that City are about to sign Eddie Howe as replacent left back for Adam Dury who is leaving to be Paul Lambert''s assistant at Hull City.

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Thanks for your comments City 1st. Lesser mortals can always read the Pinkun reports if they want chapter and verse of everything that happens minute by minute.I hope what people get from my reports is a real fans views. I don''t pretend to be unbiased but after being a regular since the mid fifties I don''t think anyone expects me to bleed anything other than yellow and green. The old saying is that opinions are like arseholes, everyone has one, but perhaps some peoples carry more weight than others. I was reading the report on the game in the Sunday Times this morning. In the player ratings they gave Hoolahan 6 and Parkin 8!!! God Almighty!, now theres someone who knows bugger all about football or spent the whole afternoon in the bar.

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"theres someone who knows bugger all about football or spent the whole afternoon in the bar"

I would be curious to know if he was actually at the game. I know the Sun rarely has anyone at the game, it used to use freelancers/pooled reports etc, but my understanding is much of the tripe they post up on a Monday is guff they''ve cobbled together from other sources.

Perhaps one of the scribes from the Pinkun could let us know how many folk are actually in the press box.

Sure was some feat of journalism, typesetting and printing to get a full report on the game printed up and then have the Pinkun delivered down to Surrey Street Bus station by 5.25.

Earliest memory is of seeing all the blokes stood around the newsagents in the early evening waiting for the Pinkun to come off the train, then off Eastern Counties buses. Wonderful network of how those papers found their way out to far flung corner of the county every saturday evening. Do think we have lost something about the game and being a City supporter with that that era gone.

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[quote user="City1st"] Earliest memory is of seeing all the blokes stood around the newsagents in the early evening waiting for the Pinkun to come off the train, then off Eastern Counties buses. Wonderful network of how those papers found their way out to far flung corner of the county every saturday evening. Do think we have lost something about the game and being a City supporter with that that era gone.[/quote]You''re dead right there. Communications were a lot different in those days. There was no match commentary on the radio and certainly nothing like Canary phone in. There was the football results programme at 5pm and that was it. My dad used to send me to the newsagents at 6pm to wait for the Pinkun to come in. That was the first you knew of what had happened and who had scored.

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I well remember going to Bury St Eds market Sat evening just after we got back from the Carra. Loads of blokes waiting for the van to deliver. Did they wear cloth caps in those days or am I just romanticising! Green uns and Pink uns sold here of course.

Interesting how many pink uns were sold. At least 40%.

Bury has quite a large contingent of yellas. Sorry to extend the thread ''off message'' and but agree with your comments re quality thread City 1st

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