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ricardo

Ricardo's report v Luton

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The magic of the FA Cup, oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. That was probably the most embarrassing 90 minutes I''ve ever had to sit through in nearly 60 years at CR. I recall losing to non-league opposition in the 1950''s but we were 3rd Division in those days when we lost 2-4 to Bedford Town, not members of England''s so called elite league. When will managers learn that you throw a hostage to fortune when you field a second string against lower league teams. If you don''t take command early they grow in confidence and that''s what happened today.It was scrappy stuff early doors with City dominating possession but reduced to passing sideways across the back four before launching 50 yard balls in the general direction of Jacko, with all too predictable results. After 20 minutes of this rubbish I began to wonder when the Luton keeper would ever get his gloves dirty. Andy Surman looked desperately ring rusty and Fox and Howson were so wide apart that it seemed they had been instructed to stay out of the centre circle on pain of death. It took all of 28 minutes before City got a shot on target. Jacko latched onto Bennetts pass but the Luton keeper blocked well and Surman was unable to turn in the rebound. The Kane had an opportunity when Surman found him in space but dallied before shooting and a corner resulted. City looked to have bundled the ball in when Barnett hit a post but the Ref waved away appeals that the ball had crossed the line. Boo''s greeted the halftime whistle and we all thought it can only get better.Holt came on for the second half and City eventually started to move the ball quicker and put some pressure on the Luton rearguard. Holt looked certain to score on 55 minutes but the keeper beat his header away Then Martin shimmied past the full back and sent a hard low cross in the a defender somehow managed to divert over his own bar. It was better but not consistent enough and Luton, defending in numbers rarely looked like being breached. Wes and Pilks came on for Bennett and Surman and for a while the little wizard sparkled but was too often crowded out at the vital moment. Luton didn''t look like scoring although Bennett and Barnett never looked comfortable in the middle. Just when we were all thinking of an unlikely replay Luton broke clear on the left and Rendell was there to stab home a cross from close range.Unbelievable Geoff! but with the Luton fans screaming for time City were reduced to pumping it up to Holt. Unfortunately the City Talisman was ploughing a lone furrow and never looked like rescuing the game. In the final seconds a Luton defender clearly guided an awkwardly bouncing ball with his hand but in the context of the game it was right that he got away with it. City were God awful for the entire match and rightly got what they deserved.......nothing.Here we are in the middle of a very bad run and the last thing needed was a confidence sapping defeat but I''m sad to say that the manager was the architect of his own downfall. The forums will be in meltdown tonight and Radio Norfolk''s phone in was probably a riot. Ricardo was too scared to listen.

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Spot on ricardo, a good report as always...
Any thoughts though on where we go from here, is there any light at the end of our tunnel?

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[quote user="Notts Canary"]Spot on ricardo, a good report as always...
Any thoughts though on where we go from here, is there any light at the end of our tunnel?
[/quote]

Looks very dark in NR2  at the moment but its going to be very different line up Wednesday night. The only positives I can see are that it''s obvious Jacko isn''t good enough for this league and probably the same goes for Fox and Barnett. Andy Surman was very short of match fitness and I still have grave doubts about Ryan Bennett.Having nothing else than the league to concentrate upon may also be a blessing in disguise.

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Another complete and utter... entirely agreeable report. Was good to see you even mentioned Hughton was the catalyst for the loss, too many people are hiding away from that cold hard fact.

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[quote user="LADSOFLUTON"]going down[/quote]Unlikely sonny but good luck to you in the next round you defended well and deserved to go through.

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The body language of some of the players said it all for me. For example Fox turning his back on a Norwich player about to take a throw in and Howson strolling around in our half for most of the match and playing so deep he was never going to pose a goal threat or make a killer pass. If they cannot be bothered to make an effort they had better leave.

Hughton is also culpable, why do we need to play 2 holding midfelders against non leaguers for heaven''s sake! The lack of movement, ideas, guile and technique was very worrying.

Mr McNally needs to pay what it takes to get in a couple of goal scorers as Holt cannot do it all on his own. If it means there is some debt left at the end of the season then this is surely not a problem to a club that owns it''s ground, training ground, has >20k season ticket holders & sells out most home games.

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[quote user="ricardo"][quote user="Notts Canary"]Spot on ricardo, a good report as always...
Any thoughts though on where we go from here, is there any light at the end of our tunnel?
[/quote]

Looks very dark in NR2  at the moment but its going to be very different line up Wednesday night. The only positives I can see are that it''s obvious Jacko isn''t good enough for this league and probably the same goes for Fox and Barnett. Andy Surman was very short of match fitness and I still have grave doubts about Ryan Bennett.Having nothing else than the league to concentrate upon may also be a blessing in disguise.

[/quote]
Have to agree with that, those are the only slim positives I can find, maybe the return of Whittaker will help, haven''t lost a game with him in the team.
This for me is Hughton''s make or break time, we really have hit rock bottom now and this is the moment where he has to prove his credentials and really spot the rot. We have 26 points on the board and there is no reason why we can''t find at least another 4 wins, if he can''t keep us up from here then there will be no one to blame but him.

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To be honest, after watching that game I feel nothing. It''s not really a shock to me, more a reflection on how little the club values the cup. Of the team that started, only Garrido (maybe Russell Martin) would get into our first team.The key for me before the game was whether Howson and Fox had the physical presence to boss the midfield. They didn''t. Against a lower league team putting men behind the ball, it''s critical to dominate central midfield and move the ball at a fast tempo.Why oh why did Declan Rudd shoo all his defence up the pitch for that kick, only to leave him woefully exposed when that kick came straight back towards him...........But even before that Ryan Bennett was doing his best impersonation of David Luiz

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You made be relieved to hear that my mood has lightened somewhat due to increased alcohol consumption and the realisation that 1p5wich lost to a last minute goal.Rikky is grasping at every available straw.[;)]

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[quote user="ricardo"]You made be relieved to hear that my mood has lightened somewhat due to increased alcohol consumption and the realisation that 1p5wich lost to a last minute goal.Rikky is grasping at every available straw.[;)][/quote]
Laughing at Ipswich, now there''s something we can all enjoy for now [:)]

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[quote user="ricardo"][quote user="Notts Canary"]Spot on ricardo, a good report as always...
Any thoughts though on where we go from here, is there any light at the end of our tunnel?
[/quote]

Looks very dark in NR2  at the moment but its going to be very different line up Wednesday night. The only positives I can see are that it''s obvious Jacko isn''t good enough for this league and probably the same goes for Fox and Barnett. Andy Surman was very short of match fitness and I still have grave doubts about Ryan Bennett.Having nothing else than the league to concentrate upon may also be a blessing in disguise.

[/quote]

Agreed on R.Bennett. Although at times you do see glimpses of promise he more often than not does not deliver. For someone who has been a captain in the past he should be taking command of that back four - he''s not inexperienced.

At times I would rather have Ward, at least his organisational and positional sense was better.

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I have to disagree with the R.Bennett comments. Although he was possibly at fault for the goal, Barnett playing next to him was a real eye-opener!

Bennett has class, he''s a good solid defender and considering his age could blossom into a solid player for us. Give him time and I''m confident he will come good - same with Ayala if he could stay fit.

There''s no doubt he''s got the ability, we just need to help him cut out the mistakes and hone him into a Malky!

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[quote user="ricardo"][quote user="Notts Canary"]Spot on ricardo, a good report as always...


Any thoughts though on where we go from here, is there any light at the end of our tunnel?

[/quote]


Looks very dark in NR2  at the moment but its going to be very different line up Wednesday night. The only positives I can see are that it''s obvious Jacko isn''t good enough for this league and probably the same goes for Fox and Barnett. Andy Surman was very short of match fitness and I still have grave doubts about Ryan Bennett.

Having nothing else than the league to concentrate upon may also be a blessing in disguise.


[/quote]

 

The players who have become second choice had their big chance today. People have been clamouring for Fox and Elliott Bennett to replace Johnson and Pilkington but they certainly did nothing to help their case. Would anyone seriously play Howson or Fox in front of Tettey or Johnson. In what world is Elliott Bennett better on the right than Snodgrass. And could any one really see Ryan Bennett or Barnett competently replacing Bassong or Turner.

 

However many of these players were first choice last season so are they really as poor as they looked today or did their lack of competitive football leave them without any match fitness/sharpness? Was it wise to start with so many players who weren''t match sharp? And could it be possible that there are a group of players in our dressing room who were signed by the previous manager but having been cointinually ignored by the present manager they didn''t fancy putting in a performance for him?

 

So many questions Rickyyyyyyy..

 

 

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That last bit worries me to be honest Nutty.

I could maybe understand R.Bennett feeling that way, maybe Howson - but the others have no excuse, Lambert left them as well as us, if anything they should be playing out of their socks to prove that Lambert was right to show faith in them.

I think E.Bennett offers us something and is a good squad player, but like you say, the players in front of all these chaps at the moment are a step up with only a couple of exceptions.

The main one being Surman who has been out injured for so long. He is very good ball retention wise and I think when he plays, especially with Hoolahan on the pitch, he has that intelligence with link play and accurate passing, good movement. He was rusty today.

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Ricardo, as usual many thanks for posting a report and excellent as usual. Whilst I do agree in general with your comments, I have to say, that putting aside the league Luton currently play, that for me was not the worst performance I have seen from City in my years supporting them, and thats a similar time to yourself. I am sure though, that being there rather than watching several thousand miles away made it seem so much worse, but the result itself is right up there.....although doesnt come close to the 1-7.

Also, I feel some credit has to go to Luton, who I felt belied the level they currently play at. They were very well organised, calm under pressure (what little we applied) and had good fitness levels. I talked up the goal big time back, had just said to my Wife....."this is just the type of game where we concede" (or something like that) and it happened....and we deserved it, as did Luton.

Overall it was a really unacceptable performance, nothing so wrong with the team selection when considering the next match and the need to give some fringe players 90 minutes (2 or 3 were way off the pace due to lack of action)................and boy how some of them let CH, the Club and us all down....oh, and not forgettingb themselves. There were a couple of players in particular who really had a great opportunity to put themselves back in the frame and yet failed miserably, both in terms of quality of performance and the desire. they should have some of their wages withheld and be "made available".

For me, this game gave some evidence of why major changes were required after PL left and why more are required, as its no coincidence that other than Garrido I think none of the other players in the starting eleven were CH''s signings, all of whom HAVE generally performed this season.

Finally, once again on this board the response to this defeat, sure it was terrible, has been way over the top..........the FA Cup unfortunately throws up crazy results most seasons,,,and it was our turn.....some people need to get over it quickly, remember where we came from and what the first choice eleven is capable of and get behind CH and the team for the next game.....it will be tough enough without any of that anti Manager stuff that has come out of the woodwork at similar times in recent history.  

          

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