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Greg Downs Hairpiece

Tonights match

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We''re such a better side when we play the 5 in midfield, rather than the 4-4-2.

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Thought all of the new boys looked good tonight, Hooper only had a few minutes at the end. Redmond looks very fast and tricky, over did it a bit but very impressive. Olsen looked very comfortable and very nippy. Fer a bit quiet but looked very comfortable on the ball, RVB, looked sharper in the first half. Concerned about Whittaker, Turner and Bunn. Johnson worked hard but distribution still not great. First half in particular we looked good, a lot more pace on offer

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Was at the game tonight.First half we really bossed them but seemed to slack off in the second.Russ Martin looked very comfortable at CB with the captains armband.Redmond is going to be a real handfull, just needs to learn when to pass rather than run. RVW gave him a couple of bollockings asking him to set him off rather than run.Snoddy looked lively, but again suffered from the same refusal to release as Redmond. He seemed to do this a lot last season as well.RVW was starved of chances and took a real smack in the first 5 minutes, but looked lively and sharp. Blink and you missed his goal, i thought it came off Fer !Hooper looks like Grant Holt and plays like a faster version. He threw his weight around nicely and looked bright, even if he was only on for 10 minutes.Olson looked very lively and was not affraid to push on and overlap.Snoddy and Redmond kept switching wings which was nice and im sure will cause problems to opponents, they seemed to do it quite fluidly at will.Bradders seems to put on an extra stone of muscle every time I see him. Played well and causing a real issue in the midfield. Howson also played very well but I think we need to unshackle him as we saw close of the season.Wes looked bright at the end, but I dont think he fits our system or mould any more.Bunn looked solid but lost concentration in the second half, a horrible spill and grass skimming gk didnt help any.Fer seemed a little lack lusture, was sat next to a Dutch guy ironically who said Fer is prone to switching off and is regarded by many as a tad lazy. He seemed to dip in and out of the game.Standouts : From the new guys Redmond is going to cause lots of problems and I think Hooper will be a surprise package and out do RVW.Hope that we drop the "support" or "Wes" role and sit Hooper as a deep striker with RVW playing more central and forwards. We really lacked opportunities which was one of our key problems last year.Team looked very solid however in the formation and closed down and built through the middle to the wings. Tactically in the first half very solid.

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It is pretty clear to me that Hughton will stick with the lone striker. I wonder if Hooper was aware that he will warm the bench. 5.5M for a sub shows how far we have come. I very much doubt he will improve his England chances by having the odd 5 minute cameo.

 

 

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Just back from the game. Really enjoyed a nice relaxed pre season game.

Firstly my view on the new lads:

- Redmond (who was given man of the match): Very quick and a real fizz of a delivery bags and bags and bags of potential. However, for me he needs to learn how to use some of his key assets. For example it didn''t seem to matter what wing he played on he liked to cut inside and into trouble where he often lost it. When Olsson was closer he seemed to do better. Just needs to look up a little sooner and release that ball a little quicker. Still a very good performance from a very good 19 year old. It will be very interesting to see how things develop on the wings for England in the next few years.

- Olsson: Almost as quick as Redmond and another player with a quality delivery of a cross. Was constantly looking to overlap and offer an option out wide and never failed to deliver a dangerous ball into the box. Got caught out a couple of times just being a little too quick to offer the overlap but worked hard to get back into position. I can see him playing more advanced as well as a winger, he has all of the attributes.

- RvW: His goals was an amazing piece of skill followed by a fantastically blistering finish - I shall now take my tongue out of my cheek. He works very hard and reads the game very well, some really classy one twos and exchanges with midfield players. One or two cracking longer cross pitch balls to pick out players too. The goal probably came as a bit of a shock to him but I''m pretty sure the keeper would have got it if not for his touch. No benefits of replays but I was pretty much behind the goal. All round very much a more technical player and one that looks as though he will be more clinical than we have had before.

- Fer: The more I see of this chap the more I like him. He''s a true warrior of a footballer, he has that running style that makes him look like he is hardly stretching out those legs at all, like it''s almost effortless. He is so strong, held off three players at one point, but has also got quick feet. He started off playing in the hole which worked well although I felt it meant his influence wasn''t as great. When he dropped deeper in the 2nd half we started to see more of his range of passing, popping a really nice ball over their defence, some nice diagonal pin point cross field balls and his general ability to canter up to players and just snatch the ball off them. A real standout player for me.

- Hooper: Seems a tad harsh to reflect on him considering the short amount of time he got. But he did well. Dare I say it, when he came on he did something the old GH used to do and took the game to the opposition, bursting forward and trying to kick some life into it. I liked what I saw from that, and he is definitely a very busy lad, puts in a shift and moves the ball around nicely.

The first half was stronger for us, and whilst some will say Real Sociedad dominated the 2nd half, I would suggest that they put us under a sustained period of pressure for around 20-25 mins before subsiding. During that time we had a couple of breaks that threatened. The tail end of the game was very bitty as you would expect of a preseason friendly and substitutions had been used.

Overall I am feeling rather good about how things are shaping up. We have got quite a bit more pace into the team now with RVW, Fer, Olsson, Redmond and Hooper all looking like willing and relatively quick runners.

I am not so sure about the defence. I know there have been discussions on this already and that this was only a preseason game - but Olsson and Martin were by far the best defenders of the night. Garrido didn''t get a lot of game time and was as usual good with the ball at his feet.

Russ Martin was my man of the match. We would have lost by quite a few without his intervention - several good defensive blocks and last ditch tackles. Turner looked a little out of focus as you would expect from someone coming back from injury. Whittaker - well what can I say. Some keep saying that he is better than Martin due to his pace, from what I saw of him tonight Whittaker appeared to really struggle with pace. Whilst Martin constantly beat players to through balls and very rarely looked beaten for pace. He outperformed Turner on the night, he really shone.

If Martin is to be considered a centre back then we desperately need right back options as I am not sure Whittaker is back to his best on tonight''s showing.

Snodgrass was his usual good self, tricking and skipping his way past players drawing fouls, riling up players etc. Howson was handy, that lad has really got a good engine on him - I can''t help but think of Scott Parker when I see him play, that constant offering for the ball and always trying to get passing going. Johnson looked good too, certainly let a few players know he was there.

Two big questions came to mind - why no Ruddy. The second question being - when we have scored from a corner swung into the area, why did we then decide to play every following set piece short which nearly always led to us loosing the ball?

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Need to add, respect to Real Sociadad who upped thier game in the second half. They really knew how to shift a ball in the final third. Some lovely little touches and moves. Second half we were out played tbh.

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hooper seems to be a better option than RVW, he should absolutely not be warming the bench. that finish against Braga was absolutely ludicrous.

Hughton needs to learn how to play two up top, simple as. Fer should help this since he''s the whole package.

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Enjoyed the game and very impressed by all the new boys. Turner needs a few more games looked a tad as he did when he first arrived last season, but we know he is good when up to match fitness. Future looks bright

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Highlights from last night if anyone is interested; http://www.101greatgoals.com/gvideos/norwich-1-real-sociedad-1/

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Amazing how we see games and players'' performances differently.

MOM l thought was Fer. Strong, Industrious, good engine and a great touch!

Redmond, livewire! Raw, quick and skillful! Give the lad time, he could be lethal!

Olsson, excellent!

Worries are: Defensively we made a lot of mistakes. Whittaker Martin and Turner all at fault. However hopefully that''s just rustiness.

Midfield gave the ball away alot in the wrong areas, especially Howson. Despite his two flashes of excellence at the end of last season I am still not sold on him. Sorry!

All in all a reasonable performance. I will be at the game on Saturday as well so I am looking forward to seeing what lineup starts and what improvements there are.

Onwards and upwards!

Snake

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[quote user="snake-eyes"]Amazing how we see games and players'' performances differently. MOM l thought was Fer. Strong, Industrious, good engine and a great touch!

Midfield gave the ball away alot in the wrong areas, especially Howson. Despite his two flashes of excellence at the end of last season I am still not sold on him. Sorry!  [/quote]

Apart from the obvious differences in appearances I wonder how you''d have viewed their performances if Howson had been wearing Fer''s shirt and Fer had been wearing Howson''s.

 

Or how you''d have viewed Howson''s performance last night if he was an eye-catching transfer from abroad.

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[quote user="snake-eyes"] Whittaker Martin and Turner all at fault.[/quote]
They can''t have been that bad if we only conceded one, I heard that Whittaker actually blocked a certain goal? 

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[quote user="The New Boy"][quote user="snake-eyes"] Whittaker Martin and Turner all at fault.[/quote]


They can''t have been that bad if we only conceded one, I heard that Whittaker actually blocked a certain goal? 

[/quote]

Whittaker played very well.

 

Turner clearly looked a bit rusty but that''s to be expected.

 

Martin did alright but at the end of the day he isn''t going to be first choice at centreback when both Turner and Bassong are fit.

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[quote user="The New Boy"][quote user="snake-eyes"] Whittaker Martin and Turner all at fault.[/quote]
They can''t have been that bad if we only conceded one, I heard that Whittaker actually blocked a certain goal? 
[/quote]I didnt think Whittaker was that bad made a couple of nice runs in the first half, was down the front heard him yell "Jonny" ( as Howson had the ball) and move a good 20 yards to recieve a pin point over the top pass from Howson.Pretty sure it was him or Martin that blocked the goal, I agree with a previous poster re: Martin, he was solid and looked like a born CB.

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Posted this in Ricardo''s match thread but seems most people are posting their thoughts on the game here so I will copy & paste to this one also :>
I also went to the game last night and I agree with most of this but not all, here is my take.
RVW - Looks like he has something about him. He reads the game very well and his anticipation is excellent, he read the back pass which gave him the one on one chance which unfortunately he could not put away and a couple of time read some knock downs from defenders. Also his hold up play was very good and passes out wide. A couple of criticisms though, he is to lightweight which I think most prem defenders will try to take advantage of early in games with crunching tackles, needs to bulk up IMO. He also he did not seem at all happy to come off in the 2nd half, he just seemed a bit down beat, I would liked to have seen him turn to the crowd to acknowledge our support. He also had a bit of a go at Redmond a couple of times when he tried to do to much and lost the ball, something like "when I make a run give me a through ball" or something like that IMO was said. Good game overall.
Fer - Looks a great buy but I don''t think the No10 role he played at the start of the game is his position. TBH I do not think he had a great game, he was not linking the play like a No10 should and was going a bit lost at times. He did however make a good run and Redmond almost put him in with a ball over the top but it just went through to the keeper. I thought when he switched the the CM(or DM) role he came more into the game. he was now starting to break up the game and making intelligent passes out wide or simple pass and moves with Howson to open up space for himself to pick a pass. I think he needs a bit more fitness and match sharpness to get upto the pace of the game but you could see he is great player and one to look forward to.
Redmond - Also looks a good player and a great prospect but you can tell he his a young player because at times he was trying to much and looked a bit like a headless chicken when trying to take on every player on the pitch. But you can see why Hughton wanted him. He can beat a player and put a nice ball into the box but he needs to learn fast not to to over do it and make the right pass, one run he would do something good and then another to much and give it away. Things will come with experience and age but when Pilkington is fit I think he will get the starting spot but overall Redmond for 2mil + addons... F''ing bargain for an english player.
Olsson - Had a blinder of a game and would have been my MOTM. He has great upper body strength and the pace to go with it. Olsson was very solid defensively and equally adept going forward, he would offer himself on the overlap which he done a few times and when receiving the ball he had the pace to get to the byline and put a ball into the box. When Olsson went off we deferentially lost some pace and the overlap option.
Garrido - Came on half way or so into the second half for Olsson. He seemed to struggle to get upto speed with the game and got beat by the Sociedad winger on more that one occasion. He had an OK game but I would say on the performance Olsson had he has a real fight for the LB spot and may not start the Everton game if Olsson has another blinder in the next friendly. We have though two good players for the LB position which will mean who ever starts there has to play well week in week out which can only be a good thing.
Hooper - OK we only got to see him for a few mins but he has a similar playing style to Ricky I would say, makes good runs and plays on the shoulder. He got into a good position for a Redmond cross late on but was just short of making a connection. IMO he is also a "little" overweight, if Delia was worried about pie sales after loosing Holt she may have found her man to stop the fall in sales!... I only kid! :) but Hooper could do with shedding a few pounds TBH, I don''t know if he had much pre season with Celtic so this could be a factor. 
I wont go into the rest of the players since we know most of them and what they can do but I will say we still look a bit suspect at the back without Bassong there which I think most of us know and I would say a new CB singing is one of our highest priorities at the moment. Also a No10 IMO since we need someone that can link up the play and feed our strikers as well as being a goal threat. That is if we are going to continue with the 4231 formation which it looks like we will since Hughton never even thought to give 442 a go. This will enable Fer to play in CM/DM place which IMO looked his most effective role. I know a lot of people will say Hoolahan is our No10 and should be first choice but I am afraid for me he just does not offer that goal threat and the ability to run past the strike and get into the box when needed, plus in a lot of games last season he got singled out and when he was out of the game in that formation we have zero chance to do anything. I know even with a new signing it might be the same but to play that formation effectively that is what we need. I guess Howson can also play more attacking but does Hughton really like pushing him forward? to me it seems he is training him to be more defensive.
I just hope that Hughton plays 442 a lot more at home but unfortunately for you guys that go every week it does not look like he will. Now if this is because he does not think he has the strikers for it I don''t know, obviously RVW and Hooper are very similar and I am not sure they would work well together but he did not even try Becchio upfront with one of them. Maybe he just does not rate Becchio and his days are numbered or if he sees him as a complete backup I don''t know but it would be nice to see the movement of Ricky and Hooper with a strike partner to see if they get more chances. 

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GJP your comment is insulting!

My opinion is based on what l see and nothing else! l couldn''t give two hoots as to where player comes from or how much they cost! For the record l have been more impressed with Hooper than RvW so far.

You are entitled to your opinion and l love a good debate, but attacking mine with unfounded judgements is out of order!

Snake

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New Boy

l felt we were rather fortunate to only concede 1. That said I put the errors down to rustiness not effort or ability.

As l also said, the performance wasn''t bad and l am looking forward to Saturday!

Snake

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Whittaker really looks short of pace, I thought both Howson and Fer looked better when they switched positions, ending up with Fer deeper. I thought Russ Martin was excellent

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[quote user="snake-eyes"]GJP your comment is insulting! My opinion is based on what l see and nothing else! l couldn''t give two hoots as to where player comes from or how much they cost! For the record l have been more impressed with Hooper than RvW so far. You are entitled to your opinion and l love a good debate, but attacking mine with unfounded judgements is out of order! Snake[/quote]

I wasn''t so much suggesting your view was about on transfer fees and such but sometimes I think people make their minds up on a player before they kick a ball.

 

How many people have already said they expect Fer to be our best player this season? (Quite a lot).

 

It happens with some new signings (and younger players) people are eager to see them do well and a little goes a long way.

 

Fer gave the ball away a few times last night but you didn''t seem to hold that against him. Yet you''ve made a point of mentioning Howson giving it away.

 

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With all due respect GJP Fer took a while to get going last night as they all did and yes Fer did lose the ball a couple of times (Although in non threatening areas and soon won it back). I just felt Howson lost the ball consistently and put us under unnecessary preassure.

However l do think that Howson was out of position and playing deep is definitely not his strength!

You seem to suggest that I am desperate for Fer to Succeed and Howson to fail?

In fact l am desperate for them BOTH to succeed!

( Howson did play a gorgeous pass through in the first half and really hope to see more of that!)

Maybe I am expecting too much from the lad, but he came with such high praise and I have only seen fleeting moments so far, so I am probably just a little disappointed.

Please dont pass judgement on me for what others have said! I am an experienced individual who can form his own opinions from balanced arguments!

Snake

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[quote user="snake-eyes"] You seem to suggest that I am desperate for Fer to Succeed and Howson to fail?  [/quote]

I''m not suggesting that.

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Apologies GJP, but your comments came across that way and that my opinions were purely based on expectation and reputation.

 

I can assure you they are not.  I admit I have preferences for certain players, but those are formed over time and actually watching them, not by listening to Canary Call, or comments/opinions made on this forum.

 

Snake

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