cliffoa 0 Posted March 7, 2005 An earlier poster criticised Eddy, and said hurry back Helveg and Svensson. It never ceases to amaze me how different people seem to view different games and players. I actually think Eddy has been one of our defenders of the season. For me Fleming is the one who has seemed well out of his depth, and at times completely incapable of bringing any organisation or stability to the defence. He gets turned every game, left flat footed, charges up players backsides like an amateur. The end of season DVD is going to make interesting viewing, watching the likes of Dikov, Sibierski and Cole spinning Flem time after time. On rare occasions he does get the ball, his distribution is frankly embarrassing. He hides, gets rid of it as quick as he can. When someone passes to him he looks terrified of what he might have to do with the ball, and usually rollocks them for passing to him. Hoof it anywhere, is probably an expression that donkeys would find insulting. All of these faults were shown up graphically against Chelsea. What a lot of people have been saying all season has actually transpired - Shackell, when given his chance - proved he is everything that Fleming is not. He actually looked the senior partner - strong, fast, great organisation, comfortable on the ball - pre-requisites for any central defender in the premier these days. Anyone having a dig at him for being too left footed should ask, do they ever have a dig at all the right footers for not being able to kick with their left? I don’t think so. How I wish we’d played him from the start this season, and dropped flem. I’ve heard that Fleming is a great motivator in the dressing room. If only he could carry that onto the pitch. All I see is someone moaning and bitching and finger pointing at others to cover up for his own inadequacies. Most matches he seems to have several arguments with his teammates, and really unsettles the defence. Just what you need in the premier.Malky was slow as hell, but he was a great organiser. I actually think we sold the wrong one of our old central pairing. And it''s the organisational vacuum he left, as much as anything, that''s unsettled the defence. Especially the right side, where I feel Eddy has often had to come inside and cover for Flemg, who far too often drops off players, or is found ball watching or marking space. It''s not over til the fat lady sings, but we''re probably down. But whether we''re premier or championship next year, we need to start building our defence for the future and we need to start NOW. That means dropping Flem. I guess with him being club captain (and I admit the guy has been a loyal servant over the years, and got us up last year) that Worthy has stuck by him out of loyalty (a la Beckham/Erricsson), thinking he would bring experience to the team. But experience is no substitute for f Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Northern Canary 0 Posted March 7, 2005 thats the biggest post ive ever seen. Has some very good points too it though. Summed up a lot of whats been going round lately. Good thread. How long did it take to do? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ZLF 271 Posted March 7, 2005 That has me think, bearing in mind my own ability to use ten words when 1 will do; web team what is the longest item ever posted - can you do word counts etc? OTBC Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Web Team - Vince 0 Posted March 7, 2005 We can''t, our tech guys probably could but I''d rather not bother them; although should they ever get time to do a stats add-on, that could go on the list. Certainly one of the longest message I remember on the Pink; we have had longer on EDP24. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gentleman Jim 0 Posted March 7, 2005 [quote]An earlier poster criticised Eddy, and said hurry back Helveg and Svensson. It never ceases to amaze me how different people seem to view different games and players. I actually think Eddy has been ...[/quote]Wow 1,971 words ! that would have taken me a week to type !Anyway, agree with a lot of what you say, good post cliffoa. P.S. I bet you have a secretary that you dictate letters to, yes ?P.P.S. no I didn''t count ''em, just copied it into "Word". Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rich 0 Posted March 7, 2005 wow i''m breathless reading it, some great points, but I think we need another partner for shackell, I don'' t think the doc or fleming have shown themselves as good enough. rich Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cliffoa 0 Posted March 7, 2005 You could say it took a season to do. Guess a lot of us have had these thoughts going round in our heads ever since we kicked off against Palace. Took me an hour or two over the weekend to get it down on paper. Re-read it today before posting, to make sure I wasn''t being unfair to anyone. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kennyfoggo 0 Posted March 7, 2005 top post mate how ever long it took......a couple of pointssafri....he hasn''t had a decent run to settlle in and show us what he is capable of.jonsson...had a lot to adapt to, new levels of pace, skill and style, I feel he is under orders to to cautious..and probably way out of his natural position.a new defender would be the way forward, nigel has publicly said that docherty is not versatile enough and left him out of the squad on duty, when the guy picked up febuary''s player of the month.we all know about the primus saga, nigel''s dogged determination to get his man, saw others sail past to other clubs and we ended up with perhaps 2nd or 3rd choice..in docsI feel much of our game plans, have centred around damage limitation, with the very odd lets throw caution to the the wind.. this hasn''t worked...as the goals for and against show Played 29, scored 29 against 58.. you could say we have lost every game 2-1..I would say we have an almighty battle to get to safety. probably just that little too much, but it is a certainty that playing the way we have we will fail... so how about throwing caution to the wind and going for it....what have we to lose..but a lot to win.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Campbell 0 Posted March 8, 2005 Edworthy is the worst first choice right back in the Premiership. He''s simply not good enough; on and off the ball. The only game I was impressed with Edworthy was Newcastle away, but since then he''s been either average or absolutely shocking. Wolves didn''t release him because they didn''t need another Premiership quality right back; he was released because he''s a competent 1st Division right back at best.Can''t wait for Helveg to come back in, and for Doherty to replace Fleming. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ron obvious 1,501 Posted March 8, 2005 Hope you don''t mind me adding comments from, perhaps, a more disinterested viewpoint.Norwich have been one of my favourite teams for, I don''t know, 20 years or so; you''ve always seemed to turn up interesting players & punch above your weight (in the nicest possible way!).However, whenever I saw you on telly last year I thought " if they go into the premiership with that defence they''ll be marmalised". Apart from anything else, the whole back 4 looked painfully slow. When Malky went I thought Worthy appreciated the problem & expected some major defensive changes...I just CANNOT believe he cannot be seeing the same things that everybody on this board sees, week in, week out, but STILL does nothing. I know his options are limited, but he is guilty of neglect of duty if he''s just throwing up his hands in despair & doing nothing but hope. In a way, the belated inclusion of Shackell shows that things culd have been improved & is an indictment of his lack of Judgement.It''s a real shame, because he seems a smashing bloke - perhaps the pity is he lacks that iron streak you need to get rid of people like Fleming - another nice bloke! Football can be a cruel game in that respect; one day even the God known as Hux will have to go.. sniffIn conclusion I just pray that Norwich can re-organise the defence. It''s NOT over yet. But even more I hope that you can do this without losing that essential character of decency that makes me so fond of NFC. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cliffoa 0 Posted March 8, 2005 It seems most people agree that Worthy should have done something about the defence ages ago. The goal stats and our league position speak for themselves. It just seems a shame that he isn''t able to grasp the nettle with Fleming, whatever the limitations of his squad. I''d rather see another youngster in there than carry on as we are for the remainder of the season. Shackell, if he stays in, will bolster up the left centre of defence, but premier strikers will still drive a coach and horses through Flem. Why wait til we''re down? Now would be the ideal time to blood someone new in the premier, build for the future. If Worthy thinks sticking by Flem''s ''experience'' for the rest of the season is going to keep us in the premier, he needs to take a long hard look at the stats, and maybe re-run a few videos of this season''s horror defending shows. What''s the loan situation? Did that window close in January too? Or could we nick a player from another division til the end of the season? Just a thought. All these transfer window rules baffle me. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
