So who's staying up/getting up...

[Juggy 0]

FFS Ryan Bennett.... Over 40''s Sunday league ball control. 

[Yellow Wal 314]

I think we created their chances!

[paul moy 235]

[quote user="Yellow Wall"]I think we created their chances![/quote]We certainly created their goal..

[Phillip J Fry 0]

[quote user="Yellow Wall"]I think we created their chances![/quote]

Yeah, I think their best chances have come as a result of our defensive lapses.

[Redders Right Foot 22]

Redmond may be a starter at the beginning of the season, if I were pilks, I''d be worried!

[ReadingCanary 0]

Safe to say Ruddy and Bunn are safe though. Carlo "made a hash of it" nash

[Phillip J Fry 0]

Is Carlo Nash wearing tights? 

[Yellow Wal 314]

We have very few players who will get double figures appearances in the Premiership on show.

Redmond has looked sharp and still has plenty of time for improvement.

[paul moy 235]

So, it''s Brighton away on Tuesday..... I''m tempted to go to that one... a nice day trip

[ReadingCanary 0]

Hoolahan and Snodgrass come off and we all went a bit meh.

[A Gay Schoolboy 0]

I''m normally a big fan of Wes but Butterfield has offered a lot more since he''s come on

[ReadingCanary 0]

Ryan Bennett has not had his best game ever

[Snoddys Jockstrap 0]

WHERE QUAGLIARELLA AT

[Phillip J Fry 0]

Surprising lack of width from Norwich this game. Don''t get me wrong, the intelligent interplay caused by the narrowness of the wingers is nice to watch, but I think we''re being a little to narrow

[splutcho 173]

I have to keep reminding myself not to get too into pre season because it''s essentially training, but we have been laughably bad. Hope we remember how to control a football in a few weeks time :)

[Yellow Wal 314]

......... and some people wondered why we needed extra cover at centre back!

[ReadingCanary 0]

[quote user="splutcho"]I have to keep reminding myself not to get too into pre season because it''s essentially training, but we have been laughably bad. Hope we remember how to control a football in a few weeks time :)[/quote]We haven''t been laughably bad at all

[Redders Right Foot 22]

Becchio hasn''t looked too bad over the tour, looks like he will have a part to play for the season.

[splutcho 173]

Yeah we have. Didn''t control the ball all game, loads of passes going straight to the Timbers. Like I said, it doesn''t matter, but we were appalling.

[Snoddys Jockstrap 0]

to be fair, I didn''t see a player make a run at any point in the game. not the biggest of concerns but I guess it''s a wake up call to all those people believing that our lack of attacking threat will be solved by RVW.

There''s a reason Holty didn''t score a shedload last season and it''s to do with ethos, not quality.

[paul moy 235]

We definitely need a proven striker at Prem level..  Suarez perhaps ? [:D]

[Juggy 0]

Well after all my bigging up of David Fox I have to say that the best player on the pitch was....... David Fox.

Closely followed by Nathan Redmond.

None of the others filled themselves with glory. Howson showed glimpses of West Brom Howson, but also glimpses of the other Howson.

Butterfield looked sharp when he came on. Josh Murphy isn''t anywhere near ready. 

[ReadingCanary 0]

[quote user="splutcho"]Yeah we have. Didn''t control the ball all game, loads of passes going straight to the Timbers. Like I said, it doesn''t matter, but we were appalling.[/quote]First half we looked decent.Redmond looked brilliant on the ball and had multiple shots.RVW created lots of space and knows the 1 up front position well.Hoolahan and Redmond linked up well + Fox was very good2nd half it all went to pot, but mainly because we had Bennett and Nash blunder.Snodgrass as per usual created much for us.Our "B Team" is considerably less organized than the "A Team"

[Juggy 0]

[quote user="Yellow Wall"]We have very few players who will get double figures appearances in the Premiership on show.

Redmond has looked sharp and still has plenty of time for improvement.[/quote]

How did you work that one out? Hoolahan, Howson, Van Wolfswinkel, Redmond, Snodgrass, Martin, Whittaker (if he stays fit), R. Bennett (if we don''t sign another CB). That''s seven core first teamers out of the XI which played most of the game. 

[ReadingCanary 0]

I''m comparing this mainly to the Earthquakes game where we were shocking.We were much improved tonight.As per usual though we make one idiotic mistake and pay for it

[kick it off 1,952]

Thought ref gave a lot of decisions their way.

Playing on Astro-turf did not suit us at all, some of the bounces were mental and the players clearly struggled to adapt to it.

It was a bodge-job of a team. Stick Bass, Turner, Fer, Garrido/Olsson on the pitch and I think we''ll be far, far stronger. Worst game from RBenno since he had that shaky period last summer.

All in all, I wish I''d gone to bed. Redmond looks a hell of a player though.

[ReadingCanary 0]

Redmond will be the bargain of the century.

[Juggy 0]

[quote user="ReadingCanary"]I''m comparing this mainly to the Earthquakes game where we were shocking.We were much improved tonight.As per usual though we make one idiotic mistake and pay for it[/quote]

Ryan Bennett made two idiotic mistakes and paid for one of them. He was the worst player tonight, by a country mile. 

[ReadingCanary 0]

[quote user="The New Boy"][quote user="ReadingCanary"]I''m comparing this mainly to the Earthquakes game where we were shocking.We were much improved tonight.As per usual though we make one idiotic mistake and pay for it[/quote]

Ryan Bennett made two idiotic mistakes and paid for one of them. He was the worst player tonight, by a country mile. 

[/quote]We were making these mistakes when we first got back to the Prem.Honestly thought we would have stopped by now!

[Phillip J Fry 0]

Oh well. The passing was top notch and some of the movement from Snodgrass, Wes, Redmond etc. was really good. Some good chances were created but nothing was converted. Remond impressed with his speed, willingness to run at opponents and long range shots. Norwich were far too narrow in their approach play IMO. Narrowness is good as it allows players to be closer to one another  and allows them to play quick passes with each other, but too much narrowness can lead to congestion and a lack of space in the centre of the pitch. Portland found this easier to deal with as they packed the central areas and denied space. More balance is definitely needed in the approach play, with more emphasis on using the width of the pitch effectively.

Despite this, Norwich were the better team and had more possession, more corners and more shots than the opposition, whos'' chances were often a result of defensive lapses by Norwich. Norwich clearly weren''t at their sharpest and were competing with a team at peak fitness, in weather conditions that clearly favoured the opposition. 

All in all, there were many positives to take from this match, the performances of Redmond and Fox in particular, and we shouldn''t get to down at losing to Portland as it is still so early in our pre-season. Concerns will be raised about a lack of goals, but this will not become more of a concern for me until we get closer to the new season (hopefully with a new striker or two!).