Fantastic Mr Fox

[Weve (no longer) Got Angus 0]

Is it not about time he starts getting some minutes on the pitch? I think we are lacking that one player that can just slow the game down slightly and make sure the pass reaches the desired target.

Surely I can''t be the only one thinking its time for him to come in and shine!

[Billabong 0]

Totally agree!

[ron obvious 1,518]

Sorry but he''s shown nothing to me to suggest he''s the solution.

Did he help dismantle Peterborough in the way Liverpool dismantled us? No. He''s a good, steady player, but would not be allowed the time & space to play against decent opposition.

[Mr Brownstone 0]

We need a player who can pass the ball in the middle of the park. We need a player who will help retain possession when we''re under pressure. We need a player who wants the ball when one of the back 4 has it to avoid a long ball. We need a player to switch play. We need a player to help us control a game. We need a player to play a killer pass. David Fox is that player.

Would love to see him start against Spurs alongside Johnson or Tettey. Playing 2 central midfielders who aren''t great on the ball isn''t working for us at the moment and he deserves his chance. We didn''t vote him our 3rd best player last year for nothing.

[Billabong 0]

I felt the Newcastle game was crying out for Fox.

I lost count how many stray and lost balls our midfield were spraying aimlessly around the park.

Next time Fox plays, watch how many times he gives the ball away and don''t be surprised if it''s a big fat zero

[Mr Brownstone 0]

Not to mention his set piece delivery.

[ZLF 284]

even during our 10 match run our passing was poor and that is what fox brings - the ability to keep the ball.

yesterday we self inflicted so much pressure on ourselves because we could not keep hold of the ball - from passing to each other and being strong enough to hold on to it once we had it

[Canaries Utd 0]

Doesn''t run with the ball, doesn''t track back, doesn''t tackle and doesn''t score.. oh but he can put a cross in!

[Pyro Pete 1,941]

Right now any player not in a losing team will seem like the answer. It''s never that simple.I like Fox as a player, despite his limitations. But Hughton has clearly written him off entirely, which I think is unfair. Fox may not be the long term answer to our central midfield. But his passing and distribution of the ball is infinitely better than Johnson and Tettey.Creativity and expansive central midfield play just isn''t Hughton''s thing. If Hughton can''t get Howson to play well, I can''t see him getting the best out of Fox.

[Mr.Carrow 380]

Im a bit puzzled by your post ron obvious- Fox was fantastic against Peterborough. I was there+Posh couldn`t get near him and funnily enough my old man watched it online and said exactly the same thing next time i saw him before i had a chance to.

[Yellow Wal 314]

What other Premiership side would David Fox get in?

How many Premiership teams have enquired about him as we are not playing him?

I haven''t heard of any.

[ZLF 284]

Hughton himself yesterday apparently said there was no point going 442 as we could not pass the ball.

The two worst passers on the pitch were BJ and holt who both had a less that 60% completion rate. The teams average was 70%, compared to liverpools 90% That meant we ended the game having had the ball less than 30 mins of the 90. No one can win a game of football under that sort of self inflicted pressure.

What fox would bring is an improvement in passing so we keep possession - meaning the opponent cant score and we can.

If he has a deep brief he does not need to be overly mobile - sit between the first 10 yards of the opponents half and our 18 yard box - based on the last two games him making no tackles is not putting us in any worse position than playing BJ is it?

Fox may not be the answer - but we cant afford to continue to give the ball away 1 pass in 4 and let the opposition have more than 60% of possession - any defence will crumble under that.

[QHcanary 0]

"but would not be allowed the time & space to play against decent opposition."

Short term memory. He did just fine last season.

" No one can win a game of football under that sort of self inflicted pressure. "

This is a pointless stat, and in general I agree with you, but Celtic beat Barca whilst enjoying a hefty 18% possession.

Myself and the guys I sit with have been bemoaning his lack of opportunity all season. His passing ability was vital last season. His ability to make 40+yard passes with accuracy made his passing stats all the more impressive, and it was clear that lambert saw him as the hub of our team, around which all the play revolved.

I thinks he''s a player we''d have to "accommodate" by instructing his midfield partner to be more disciplined in his movement and just sit in front of the back 4. Think Claude makalele, rather than frank lampard. He''s struggled when asked to make the tackles as well as the passes. As I recall, he was seemingly tasked with this role against Watford at the start of the championship season, and didn''t make a tackle until the 70th minute.

As good as BJ has been at times this season, his inability to play even th simplest of passes is starting to become a problem, and I''d really like to see fox given a chance.

[ZLF 284]

but Celtic beat Barca whilst enjoying a hefty 18% possession.

yes there are always the exceptions that prove the rule, some stunning exceptions of british clubs in european competitions seeming to win games they were outclassed in, manure, chelsea and liverpool in recent CL victories spring to mind #bulldogspirit

sadly our team yesterday lacked the #

[QHcanary 0]

"yes there are always the exceptions that prove the rule, some stunning exceptions of british clubs in european competitions seeming to win games they were outclassed in, manure, chelsea and liverpool in recent CL victories spring to mind #bulldogspirit"

Did you even read the whole sentence? The bit where I said it was a pointless stat and that I agreed?

[Buncey 1]

[quote user="Mr.Carrow"]Im a bit puzzled by your post ron obvious- Fox was fantastic against Peterborough. I was there+Posh couldn`t get near him and funnily enough my old man watched it online and said exactly the same thing next time i saw him before i had a chance to.[/quote]Exactly Mr Carrow. Posh chased shadows all game. There was a period in the first half where we kept the ball for nearly 7 minutes. I have said it so many times it is frankly silly, but without Hoolahan or Fox in the team we have nobody to keep the ball. We almost always end up getting mauled as we get exhausted giving the possession away and chasing the game.Fox is a smart player and great on the ball. I think he gets a bad rep off the ball. I see a player who continually works to get goalside of the opposition and deny them territory. He isn''t the best tackler. But very few players get round him as get cuts them off before they start. He was the perfect foil to BJ/Howson''s run and gun game. Without him (and Hoolahan) we really miss the pressure we can build on teams by holding the ball and slowing the game down. This was something which Tettey was doing well until recently. He is also very good at organising the midfield in setting up our shape and by dictating the direction of our possession. For all of BJ''s virtues, he is not an orchestrator like Hoolahan or Fox.I should also mention that he is a fantastic crosser. The stats are well versed. He would be great to have in tandem with Snodgrass as we could have a solid left-right combination at set pieces.My big worry is that he goes to a rival at Wigan or perhaps Swansea who will utilise that possession style he gives.

[Buncey 1]

[quote user="QHcanary"]"yes there are always the exceptions that prove the rule, some stunning exceptions of british clubs in european competitions seeming to win games they were outclassed in, manure, chelsea and liverpool in recent CL victories spring to mind #bulldogspirit"

Did you even read the whole sentence? The bit where I said it was a pointless stat and that I agreed?[/quote]Not to mention QH and Zipper that the league is a whole different game to a Cup. You simply can''t do that style week in week out. It will physically drain your players. This is something we saw over Christmas with us and Villa. We have both looked lethargic. That high energy style can only work whilst you have the legs to do it.

[ron obvious 1,518]

Mr.Carrow wrote the following post at 20/01/2013 11:07 AM:

"Im a bit puzzled by your post ron obvious- Fox was fantastic against Peterborough. I was there+Posh couldn`t get near him and funnily enough my old man watched it online and said exactly the same thing next time i saw him before i had a chance to."

I agree Posh couldn''t get near him, but what does that really mean? I can only remember that one beautiful pass for Jackson''s goal; given the difference in class he should have produced many more defence splitting passes.

I realise he hasn''t been given many chances this season, but he''s hardly made the most of them.

OK he can do neat short passes, but he can''t tackle & is easily knocked off the ball; when the midfield is being overrun (as yesterday) he is not the man to get stuck in & take the game by the scruff of the neck.

[smooth 114]

To be honest he hasn''t given enough.

I don''t think in a four man midfield he is up to it. His defensive positioning is appalling, And yes sideways is fine, but he is not of a different level.

In a five man midfield maybe but we would need two wide players who can attack and get on the score sheet.

I do not think he is player who would walk into a top championship teams first 11.

Fox has to improve his whole game, passing he may be our better midfielder. But the rest of his game he falls well short in my eyes and clearly so far in hughtons.

[Citizen Journalist Foghorn 0]

Canaries Utd wrote the following post at 20/01/2013 10:48 AM:

--- Doesn''t run with the ball, doesn''t track back, doesn''t tackle and doesn''t score.. oh but he can put a cross in!

We have a defensive midfielder playing in BJ who has made a total of zero tackles in the last two games with a pass rate of 57% yesterday. It is not even as if BJ is attempting killer passes.

As for what Fox cannot do, what about what he can do. Pass a football short or long and likely find his intended target. He is also a smart player and sees the right pass quickly.

He is a poor man''s Michael Carrick.

[Citizen Journalist Foghorn 0]

---- OK he can do neat short passes, but he can''t tackle & is easily knocked off the ball; when the midfield is being overrun (as yesterday) he is not the man to get stuck in & take the game by the scruff of the neck.

Yes because I remember Fox being brushed off the ball all the time during his two seasons here???????

As for getting overrun, the reason we were getting overrun was not due to a lack of defensive midfielders, it was because when we got the ball we consistently gave it away!

[Yellow Wal 314]

Citizen Journalist Foghorn wrote the following post at 20/01/2013 6:44 PM:

Canaries Utd wrote the following post at 20/01/2013 10:48 AM:

--- Doesn''t run with the ball, doesn''t track back, doesn''t tackle and doesn''t score.. oh but he can put a cross in!

We have a defensive midfielder playing in BJ who has made a total of zero tackles in the last two games with a pass rate of 57% yesterday. It is not even as if BJ is attempting killer passes.

As for what Fox cannot do, what about what he can do. Pass a football short or long and likely find his intended target. He is also a smart player and sees the right pass quickly.

He is a poor man''s Michael Carrick.

Ah, the benefit of stats.

"BJ made a total of zero tackles in the last two games."

Well, I can''t remember everything from the match yesterday but I can remember Tettey tackling Gerrard strongly followed by young Bradley tackling Gerrard strongly when the ball flew loose from the first tackle. Obviously that didn''t count.

[NorwichNorth 0]

I think fox should be given a go in the team. We''ve got the FA Cup coming up where he can get 90 minutes under his belt!

My only worry is his lack of game time, hes only played about 8 ''mins of prem football since March so he''s surely going to be abit rusty!! You cant expect someone with that amount of game time to come into a team and play aswell as he did last season against players like Parker and Dembele!

This is my problem with Chris Hughtons reluctence to change his team around! It was great during the 10 game unbeaten run to keep the same 11 but this then means the other players in the squad are not getting time on the pitch! Even players like Howson and Bennett have hardly played much an people expect them come in the team and perform miracles!!