"...but we didn't take our chances."

[Salopian 1]

I am quoting Surman, from his post-match interview. He said it more than once and he is surely right - we had well over 20 chances/attempts at goal (- Manchester had over 30!). We managed one goal, they six.

 

Yes, we have to improve our defensive capacity (- goal difference of -11, which could well be worse at the end), but we also need to convert more of our chances.It is clear that though they work hard, neither Morison nor Jackson are ever likely to make a great impact in the Premiership, Vaughan sadly seems to injury prone, and Wilbraham and Martin are others who do not score enough.

 

Was Surman really calling for improvement among the strikers (-when was the last time any striker except Holty actually scored?), or for extra firepower? Whichever it was, I think that most of us would agree. It''s good to have midfielders scoring - Pilks, Surs and Hows, but we need strikers better able to finish! 

 

[K Lo 193]

Wilbraham against Fulham, although that was a deflection.

[......and Smith must score. 955]

[quote user="Salopian"]

I am quoting Surman, from his post-match interview. He said it more than once and he is surely right - we had well over 20 chances/attempts at goal (- Manchester had over 30!). We managed one goal, they six........

[/quote]I wonder if that had something to do with the fact that they are a multi-million pound team sprinkled with top quality internationals  and we''re not ?

[Gingerpele 0]

You should be scoring more than one goal with 20 chances.... Doesn''t matter if your a League Two side up against the best team in the world, if you have 20 chances, you should score more than one.

[Sing Up The South Stand 0]

I think with the goal difference, if you take away the two Man City games it would be -2 so overall isn''t horrendous for a mid-table team.

[tom cavendish 0]

We create lots of chances but are too reliant upon Holt.Lambert must surely be looking to sign a really good finisher.How about Michael Owen on a pay per play deal?He would surely like being close to Newmarket and Yarmouth racecourses. Apparently, Norwich players have already discussed the possibility of him signing.

[......and Smith must score. 955]

[quote user="tom cavendish"]..........How about Michael Owen on a pay per play deal?.........[/quote]We''ve seen what happens at other clubs when they sign players looking for an easy last couple of years before retirement.Even if we could afford his wages he doesn''t fit into the Lambert '' lean & hungry '' mould.

[Harry 0]

How about Michael Owen on a pay per play deal?

One word can answer that, NO.

[tom cavendish 0]

I bet that if Lambert was asked if he would like to sign Michael Owen then he would say yes.

[......and Smith must score. 955]

[quote user="tom cavendish"]I bet that if Lambert was asked if he would like to sign Michael Owen then he would say yes.[/quote]What people say and what they mean are two different things............

[Show Me What You Gooot! 0]

[quote user="tom cavendish"]I bet that if Lambert was asked if he would like to sign Michael Owen then he would say yes.
[/quote]

 

I bet he wouldn''t. We''ve already got one injury prone striker. Do we really need another one?

[tom cavendish 0]

If he was signed on a pay per play deal then there wouldn''t be a problem.

[K Lo 193]

[quote user="tom cavendish"]We create lots of chances but are too reliant upon Holt.Lambert must surely be looking to sign a really good finisher.How about Michael Owen on a pay per play deal?He would surely like being close to Newmarket and Yarmouth racecourses. Apparently, Norwich players have already discussed the possibility of him signing.[/quote]Norwich''s forwards aren''t the problem. Norwich is the 7th highest scoring team in the Prem. However, it is the 17th worst defensively (i.e. the 4th highest conceders).Norwich would have had to have scored another 5 to get anything out of that match; very unlikely.Shore up the defence and the results will come more into Norwich''s favour.

[Mister Chops 3]

[quote user="tom cavendish"]I bet that if Lambert was asked if he would like to sign Michael Owen then he would say yes.[/quote]As in "yes, we''ve just hired a new physio and sports injury specialist, and I''m really keen to see what they can do.  James Vaughan''s one thing but a knee of Michael Owen''s would be just the job to get them to world class physio levels in no time."

[tom cavendish 0]

Owen is taking his coaching badges and wants to play in the Prem for another 2 or 3 years. A pay as you play deal and helping out with coaching the strikers might be good for Norwich.

[Boyo 0]

There is nothing wrong with our goal scoring, we score plenty of goals but I still think we need another quality striker.  Jackson, Morrison, Wilbraham and Vaughan aren''t up to scratch (I know we can''t really judge Vaughan properly but it looks like we will never get the chance to judge him).  If we could get someone like Rhodes or Rodriguez then I''m sure they would add just that extra bit of fire power to make us a real force going forward.

 

As someone else has said though the problem is with the defence.  At the moment we have to score two or more goals every single game to get a win because we can''t keep clean sheets.  Keep a clean sheets and thats a point guranteed and you only need one goal.

[Syteanric 1]

[quote user="tom cavendish"]Owen is taking his coaching badges and wants to play in the Prem for another 2 or 3 years. A pay as you play deal and helping out with coaching the strikers might be good for Norwich.[/quote]you clearly know him personally to be so accurate with all this information.

[tom cavendish 0]

[quote user="jas the barclay king"][quote user="tom cavendish"]Owen is taking his coaching badges and wants to play in the Prem for another 2 or 3 years. A pay as you play deal and helping out with coaching the strikers might be good for Norwich.[/quote]you clearly know him personally to be so accurate with all this information.[/quote]http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2125786/Michael-Owen-Interview-Manchester-United-striker-talks-football-career-horse-racing.html

[lake district canary 0]

[quote user="Boyo"]

There is nothing wrong with our goal scoring, we score plenty of goals but I still think we need another quality striker.  Jackson, Morrison, Wilbraham and Vaughan aren''t up to scratch (I know we can''t really judge Vaughan properly but it looks like we will never get the chance to judge him).  If we could get someone like Rhodes or Rodriguez then I''m sure they would add just that extra bit of fire power to make us a real force going forward.  As someone else has said though the problem is with the defence.  At the moment we have to score two or more goals every single game to get a win because we can''t keep clean sheets.  Keep a clean sheets and thats a point guranteed and you only need one goal.

[/quote]

Would rather we won games 2-1 , 3-2 , 4-3  interspersed with score draws than 1-0 or 0-0 every week.. 

If we are scoring plenty of goals we will pick up points.    Clean sheets are nice, but ultimately scoring goals is what has kept us up this season - as you say in your post - nothing wrong with our goal scoring.   Long may it continue.

[It's Character Forming 1,040]

I think Saturday showed the difference top class strikers give you - with an ordinary strike force, Man City would never have gone in 2-0 up at the half.

 

Up until early January we were looking well set, with Holt and Morison both notching up goals steadily.  That was when we did most of the work to be safe. 

 

Obviously Morison has dropped out of the picture and Jackson has not found his finishing touch in the Prem yet, while Wilbraham has never looked a convincing finisher since he''s been at the club - don''t get me wrong, he contributes very well to the team, but if he has a good chance you''d never bank on him to put it away (unless he gets a helpful deflection).  Vaughan has never had a chance to show what he can do - hopefully he can next season but who knows.  Martin had his chance at the start of the season and it would be a surprise if he makes it at Prem level now.

 

So we''re left with Holt as a goal-scoring striker. 

 

Whereas if you look at Newcastle, for example, their league position IMO is largely down to having several class strikers that can give them a victory from a game when they''re not playing that well (such as against us).  Or Fulham - a pretty ordinary team, not as good as us in many areas, but some deadly strikers.

 

I think this is a key area to be addressed in the summer.  If Morison could be brought back to his early-season form, that would be as good as a new signing.

[GenerationA47 651]

Definitely, although we all know what us lower-earning clubs are up against in the ''goal a game'' mid-price striker market. (Whether wages or the fee is the limiting factor...and I happen to think it''s both, despite the debate raging elsewhere on here. And arguably rightly so, from the club sustainability viewpoint. Bring on club wage caps...)

Having said that, I certainly have faith that Lambert can do a Pardew or two. He''s done it before across the rest of the pitch.

While Holty is a legend and came closest of all at the weekend bar the actual goal, and Wilby was fantastic and deserved to stay on IMO, accepted we didn''t have the same level of world superstar genius up front (stop press!). However, a so far perhaps undercommented aspect of Man C''s game on Saturday was the high quality of their defence for most of the match.

[Monty13 1,622]

While I would never suggest that our defence are world beaters or that there isn''t room for improvement I think saying we concede a lot of goals we must change the defence is a rather simplistic view, it doesn''t take into account the fact that we play expansive attacking football and this often leaves us exposed at the back. My Man City mate said playing us on saturday (before the third went in!) was like a cup tie as it was end to end with both teams looking to score. The fact that we are the 7th highest scorer is very related to the fact we have conceded just shy of the worst in the league. I like the way we play always looking to score, always looking for the winner, but I accept that means we are going to concede goals. Yes we must always be looking to improve the squad with better defenders, but I wouldn''t be surprised if even if we do the goals against column doesn''t go down much because of the way we play. That''s without mentioning that our midfield also bears a good amount of responsibility for that high number.