Time to give De laet another go?

[Gingerpele 0]

Didn''t Ayala damage his knee ligaments or something?

According to the Norwich vs WBA match preview back in september, Ward was going to be fit after the international break the next weekend...

It would be really nice to get an update from Lambert, he doesn''t seem to give injuries an accurate time frame...

[Brendo 0]

Ward was hardly that great in the Championship, a liability at times. I don''t think he''s good enough, let me be proved wrong!As for Ayala, he''s so bloody young/weak/lightweight! Of what I''ve seen (admitedly, isn''t a lot) he''s been poor. We can debate De Laet''s mistakes all day long but it won''t change my opinion. Wigan''s pen, wasn''t a Pen. The mistake at Chelsea for me was the right thing to do. Let me explain - it was the 97th minute for gods sake, he had a choice between kicking it out of play, and essentially ending our chances of an equaliser, or trying to keep it in, meaning we could get it up field and get an equaliser. Obviously the pass was awful, but it was the right decision to pass like that I think. Yeah, the WBA header back was poor, and what was the other one? Anyway you can''t possibly say because of him we have lost 7 points, that''s ridiculous. Firsly inaccurate, secondly games would have been played in a completely different way and no one knows what would have happened. All I''m saying is Barnett has conceded two penalties himself, and Saturday vs Villa was a comparable mistake to De Laet vs WBA. Give the lad a chance! [:)]

[BarclayCanary (Former HDDH) 0]

I think Ayala will do well when he is back, same for Whitbread.

Personally I would play Barnett again and if he cocks up again against the Arse then I would leave him out for a game or two.

I feel that he would have learned from his mistake on Saturday.

[ROBFLECK 132]

[quote user="Gingerpele"]Didn''t Ayala damage his knee ligaments or something? According to the Norwich vs WBA match preview back in september, Ward was going to be fit after the international break the next weekend... It would be really nice to get an update from Lambert, he doesn''t seem to give injuries an accurate time frame...[/quote]Couldn''t agree more...We''re waiting to see them get a game in the PL aren''t we?

[Tetteys Jig 830]

Yeah, why not, looks like R. Martin could do with a rest with the injury he''s got that has seen him pulled out of the squad.

Arsenal next game too, so what have we got to lose. If de laet is playing well, he''s the sort of player who can earn us a point vs arsenal. I think his best at CB will be better than any of our other CBs at their best, it''s just that we don''t know if we will get him at his best, so inconsistent so far.

[Jim Smith 2,314]

For me there is a case for giving De Laet another go. Yes he needed to be dropped for the mistakes he was making but other than that he generally looked our best defender and he is very quick which is another plus against Arsenal.

We also need to go back to the 4-2-3-1 formation as it gives us an extra man in midfield and a bit more solidity. The CB''s were far too exposed on saturday as Villa were set up to play on the break and we kept getting caught with Wes upfield leaving their pacy strikers free to run at our defence.

[CJ 0]

Well if we defend like we did against Villa at Arsenal it will be just a question of how many they get. I would change things around as clearly back four need new blood six goals in two games is not acceptable, especially when we know we can score goals in most matches.Sorry to also say I am once again worried by Ruddy. I know Bennetts back pass was woeful but Ruddy was favourite to get it and if he had gone in hard fast and with his body and hands would almost certainly have got some part of the ball as well as Bent. He was well in the penalty area so no handball issues and that was turning point in game.Seem to remember he did an equally feeble challenge last year ( against Leeds?) but that was outside area which resulted in goal. After Blackburn performance I suspect this is mainly why our defence is falling apart since confidence draining away in his ability to deal with crosses and shots

[GJP 79]

[quote user="Barnett is King"]Ward was hardly that great in the Championship, a liability at times. I don''t think he''s good enough, let me be proved wrong!

[/quote]

Ward was brilliant last season. The unsung hero of us winning promotion.

 

You don''t get promoted out of that league if you''ve got a "liability" at the heart of your defence all season long.

 

 

[splutcho 173]

CJ, if Ruddy would have went in with his body and hands he would have been handling a backpass, don''t try and shift the blame onto him, he did nothing wrong on Saturday.

[CJ 0]

An indirect free kick from there rather than goal hmmm think I would go for former and actually it is OK to handle a back pass but not to pick it up

[splutcho 173]

You don''t have time to process that decision in that matter of seconds, he no doubt thought he was favourite to get there, but Agbonlahor was too quick.

Also I''m pretty sure that''s rubbish about the handling of backpasses.

[splutcho 173]

Yep, just checked, it''s rubbish, you cannot handle a backpass at all.

[CJ 0]

And you look at any other team with a good defence ALWAYS has excellent keeper as the foundation and to back it up and build that confidence for back four and demoralise the attacker force.This is why Man Utd are struggling a bit at moment new keeper who is taking a while to find his feet.So much of this game is a mental thing as any manager will tell you building that confidence takes time and  a good manager. As many stated here at Villa match our defence looked nervous throughout. We are lucky at present still  scoring freely which will keep confidance high but we are getting ever closer to being thrashed by someone ( last two matches three one down ) and Lambert will know he needs to stem these defensive errors urgently.And do not get me wrong no one in the defence should be proud of last two matches, the concern as I see it is little strength in depth , there should be more competition for places, to be honest I am surprised given depth of injury list why we have not applied for emergency loan defender for a month or so

[The Fish Seller 0]

[quote user="CJ"]An indirect free kick from there rather than goal hmmm think I would go for former and actually it is OK to handle a back pass but not to pick it up[/quote]An indirect free kick with the attached possibility of conceding a penalty, incurring another ban and reducing us to 10. had Ruddy gone down I''m in no doubt Agbonlahor would have gone down straight over the top of him.it was a woeful backpass from Barnett how can you possibly try and blame Ruddy?

[CJ 0]

OK I really do dispair of some of the posters on here, IF you really looked and KNEW the rules of the game as I do as a referee then you WOULD have seen the worse the referee could award is an INDIRECT free kick from the place the offence took place NOT a penalty.You are correct that handling a back pass would have resulted in this happening however anyone who has been a keeper ( even Ruddy) would know you go in with whole body sliding on floor with hands to ensure ball could not be flicked round. Suspect forward would have got the hell out of way then rather than the tame kick Ruddy did. I would rather he picked the ball up than let attacker through with simple tap inI have spoken to several non City fans and they all said poor goalkeeping almost as poor as backpass

[lake district canary 0]

Asuch as I agree with alot of the posts on this, I do feel that confidence is an important factor.

If you can build confidence in the defence it will be possible to keep the same people in those positions. They are all good players. A clean sheet would do wonders for them.

The danger is that their confidence will get worse before it gets better so I think we have to support them and get behind them if they are picked for the next match. PL will be doing that and will hope the fans give the same support - whoever is picked.

If we get on Barnett''s back for instance - will that help him or the team or will it make things more difficult?

[Gingerpele 0]

So CJ, you have failed to notice how good strikers are at wining penalties when goalkeepers slide in to get a lose ball?

If Ruddy slid in, there is probably a 50/50 chance at least Agbonlahor will win a penalty....

And also, an indirect free-kick from that angle and range would have been a really good chance....

Ruddy is not to blame, it was a terrible pass and to be honest deserved to be punished with a goal. If Ruddy had slid in, he would have probably got sent off and then got the blame for making the wrong decision.

[CJ 0]

And as for this only seconds to make decision , this is meant to be Ruddy''s job and I have seen countless poor backpasses in lower leagues and all the good keepers do exactly what I have described even though know will get a knock and yes sometimes doesnt work but most times does unless attacker has time to flick it over you and given this time they arrived at ball together really can not see how could have done it.50/50 balls are usually won by the player who wants it most!What worries me more is that I suspect Ruddy was more concerned about giving another penalty away, hence weak challenge

[CJ 0]

And no doubt these Ruddy backers thought he was brilliant against Blackburn too!And as stated because I am biased as we all are here I use non City fans who watched MoD and most said "shocking defending and who is that poor keeper "

[Jim Smith 2,314]

I must say that whilst the fault was primarily Barnetts I did think Ruddy should have done better at the time. Had he slid in I think he could have got to the ball but he seemed to pull out and swing his foot to the left of the ball, a bit like he did with the Priskin one at Swansea last season. In that case the game was lost so i don''t blame him but i do think that at Villa had he gone in committed he could have got the ball.

[Gingerpele 0]

Well CJ unless any of you non city fan mates are former Premiership GKs, what does that opinion mean?

Know one was defending Ruddy''s below par performance last week, but they week before he was superb. He''s been looked at for England, he''s a premiership goal keeper.

Does it not strike you as a bit weird that no one other than you and your non city mates think he''s rubbish? He had loads of doubters and probably still does, yet none of them seem to be here blaming him for Barnett''s mistake...

If you want to go blaming someone for something thats not their fault then so be it, but would just like you to know your wrong, and it doesn''t matter how many rules you know or how man of your non city fan friends say Ruddy is poor (and they watched him on MOTD and said who is that poor keeper? If they don''t know who he is, then they don''t deserve an opinion to be honest), it doesn''t make it so. In fact, the way you have gone about trying to ''prove'' your point is a little pathetic. This is a discussion board for opinions, if you think Ruddy made the wrong decision then fair enough, but trying to say you know the rules really well, and keep on referring to non NCFC fans thinking Ruddy is poor, doesn''t mean anything....

Maybe you could get some of these people who have been saying Ruddy is poor to come and justify their opinion and have a discussion on here?

[GJP 79]

[quote user="Jim Smith"]I must say that whilst the fault was primarily Barnetts I did think Ruddy should have done better at the time. Had he slid in I think he could have got to the ball but he seemed to pull out and swing his foot to the left of the ball, a bit like he did with the Priskin one at Swansea last season. In that case the game was lost so i don''t blame him but i do think that at Villa had he gone in committed he could have got the ball.[/quote]

I agree.

 

Infact, I think the criticism of the ball from Leon has been a bit unfair. It wasn''t a great pass but I''ve seen worse. Had Ruddy committed himself to it, which he didn''t, he would likely have prevented the goal occuring and cleared the danger. Unfortunately Agbonlahor wanted it more.

 

For me, that pass is no worse than Ruddy failing to cover his near post for Yakubu''s goal.

[Harry 0]

I wouldn''t be surprised if Ruddy had his sending off at Chelsea on his mind when he went for that awful back pass.

[lake district canary 0]

For goodness sake lay off Ruddy - it was a 60-40 ball at best. Ablongohor''s momentom gave him the advantage. Ruddy didn''t have time to do anything else.

It was a poor backpass. Full stop.

[GJP 79]

[quote user="lake district canary"]For goodness sake lay off Ruddy - it was a 60-40 ball at best. Ablongohor''s momentom gave him the advantage. Ruddy didn''t have time to do anything else. It was a poor backpass. Full stop.[/quote]

Nah.

 

Ruddy could (should) have done better.

 

Wasn''t the hopeless backpass it''s being made out to be. It could have been cleared into the stands or passed with more strength but Ruddy did not go at it like he meant it.

 

[lake district canary 0]

Aaaaggghhhhhhh!!!!

[The Fish Seller 0]

Can anybody guess which current NCFC manager said the following ?" There is no

grey area there. The pass back initially was the mistake. "

[Gingerpele 0]

Was it Nigel Worthington?

[lake district canary 0]

Bryan Gunn? (first goal in the 1-7)?

[Gingerpele 0]

Poor old Theoklitos... He got the blame for everything that game. To be honest I thought 90% of the blame for all 7 goals should be put on the absolutely shocking defending that day, not much else Theo could have done.... Maybe we should re-sign him as back up?