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sheded

The " Fair play " league ... was it our undoing ?

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Just wondered if  it has occurred to others ?   most of us moaned  that our defence  stood off instead of tackling  the opposition far too regularly !       could this be because they had orders  not to tackle hard ???     if so it backfired big time !!!

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You might have something there with that sheded,

If we had kicked a few goal threatening attackers at the expensive of yellow cards, conceded a few less goals as a result, then we might have got three or four more points which would have just saved us.

Alternatively of course, if the team had all turned up for the very last game of the season then . . . . .

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[quote]Just wondered if it has occurred to others ? most of us moaned that our defence stood off instead of tackling the opposition far too regularly ! could this be because they had orders not ...[/quote]

sheded, interesting thought.

Could this have been deliberate? to try and get into europe like rivals ippo did? Hmm, interesting one. I think it was probably just a coincidence, we play fair and thats that.

If not then something has gone badly wrong down at carrow road....

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I really can''t see Worthy sacrificing a place in the Premier for the possibility of a UEFA Cup slot.

Our undoing was a defence that was marshalled by a man completely out of his depth.

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[quote]Just wondered if it has occurred to others ? most of us moaned that our defence stood off instead of tackling the opposition far too regularly ! could this be because they had orders not ...[/quote]

I wouldn''t be at all surprised if you were right on this Sheded.

NW is well know for discipline.

Oh for the days of Vinnie Jones and Duncan Forbes!. Now those guys knew how to tackle, unlike the modern day sissies!.

It is a contact sport after all!.        

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Judging on our approach to any kind of cup games since Worthy took over; I can''t really see how we''d be bothered about being in the Eufa cup anyway...

As it''s been said, our defence just wasn''t good enough!

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I can''t belive that''s true. Prem survival was the greatest target - the UEFA cup would have been a distraction, especially as we are in the Champ! Looking at our cup record I doubt we would have lasted long!?

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Wizard, the problem isn''t that players no longer know how to tackle, it''s that there''s too many airy fairy nancy''s that can''t take a bit of physical contact when they get tackled fairly.

I don''t blame players for not wanting to go in hard if they''re going to get booked every time Ronaldo, Jonson et al decide they need to up their mark to a 4.8 from the judges.

Add this to the argument on the defence/midfield "backing off" at so many times next season, anyone who''s played a game should know that it''s better to stand your ground and keep yourself between the man and the goal, than go to ground and risk a Penalty/FK, or even worse the humiliation of being done by a moment of skill, just as you go into the challenge (top players know exactly when a challenge is coming).

to answer the original question, there is no chance the team was told to play for a fair play spot, Nige just likes a team that doesn''t play dirty.

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i cant believe this thread is being taken seriously.

So we played like pussies so that we''d have the chance of getting into the Eufa cup eh???

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Sorry but the fairplay league was not just about bookings - it was the way that you played the game as a whole that counted.

That is why the league was won by Arse who not only had a Season with the "battle of the Buffet" live on TV but also disgraced the cup final with five bookings(?) and the second ever sending off were the fair play champions.

Our high position was because the way we played every aspect of the game was disciplined and fair. Hux was the most fouled player in the Premiership but never play acted to get his opponent a booking and if he didn''t win a penalty he would have a little word with the ref later on but got up and got on with the game. If we had been more brutal some of the decisions that we got where loud appeals were made by the opposition (e.g. three penalties for CP) would probably have gone the other way - if someone is giving you a hard time and you''ve the opportunity to get your own back you take it - surprisingly referees are actually human and probably gave us the benefit of the doubt more often because we only appealed if there was a genuine issue not because there had been a tackle.

I am proud of the fact that one of the big things we will have achieved from the last Season is the fact that we now have a large following of "neutral" who will watch a TV game that Norwich play because of the way that we play it. i believe we now have a massive passive following throughout the Country and the comment we used to receive of "they used to be good didn''t they..." is now replaced by "I saw them last year, its a pity they went down because they played good football"

I am sure that next Season Sky will acknowledge this and we will feature heavily in the live games....now with our record in those I do worry!

OTBC

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[quote]i cant believe this thread is being taken seriously. So we played like pussies so that we''d have the chance of getting into the Eufa cup eh???[/quote]

Well ... in your own words , you admit  they DID play like pussies !     and , in fact  played AS IF they had instructions  not to   tackle opponents  hard  !!     the theory that Worthy  might  actually have given  such orders   is probably stretching it a bit ,  whats your take on  why our defence  kept falling back to our box  when  under attack , instead of  giving  the oppo`s  some serious  close up " attention "  as soon as they got the ball ?                 

 

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I can''t imagine in any way that we wimped out of tackles just to try and get in the fair play league.  Staying in the Premiership meant so much more.  Also, as Spurs found it, there is no guarantee of getting into europe even if you top the table

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Yes, i said we played like pussies, but not so that we could get in the Eufa cup. We played like pussies because we have no real ball-winners in the team (saf excluded). When was the last time you have seen a Norwich player really mince someone, yes, even injure them???

We need a couple of bruisers in the team!

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[quote]Yes, i said we played like pussies, but not so that we could get in the Eufa cup. We played like pussies because we have no real ball-winners in the team (saf excluded). When was the last time you hav...[/quote]

Thats going too much the other way !   but I get what you mean ...   it must have been very early in the season  that  the other clubs cottoned on to the fact that our defence was a joke !       once the fear factor  vanished   we were pigs to the slaughter     certainly we need  a couple of " Savages "  in our team  , hope Worthy  gets us  one or two battlers  ... we`ll need them next season  !!

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Wasn''t Francis seen as a "combative" midfielder in the first part of the season - I''m sure that his new found "modelling" career (as shown on Soccar AM) didn''t cause him to spend the second half of the season positioning himself to avoid any sort or physical contact wherever possible!!!!

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[quote]Wasn''t Francis seen as a "combative" midfielder in the first part of the season - I''m sure that his new found "modelling" career (as shown on Soccar AM) didn''t cause him to spend the second half of th...[/quote]

Droll Dicky    and probably has some truth in there somewhere !!  

I take  a very simple view  on who  should be retained  in our team  in the forthcoming season , the players  who strolled through the Fulham match  , the players who never even bothered to battle it out  when they knew  what  we were fighting for  ...... get lost !!

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