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ricardo

Ricardo's report v Palace

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I strolled up to CR this afternoon in a rather jocular manner and resplendent in my lucky scarf (thanks Roger). It was a good omen if ever I saw one so three points were obviously in the bag.It was definitely a 433 today with Wes in midfield and Bassong restored to the back line. Conditions seemed ideal for a good game and City were quickly on the front foot earning a corner in the first minute. It came to nothing but it generally set the pattern for most of the first half with Palace sitting deep and City dominating territory and possession. Redmond was looking very lively and seemed to have the beating of whoever was detailed to mark him. The early dominance almost brought a just reward when a free kick from the right was nodded goal-wards by Elmander only to crash against the underside of the bar before being scrambled to safety.We had seen little from the Palace attack and it was soon apparent that Pullis had stamped his mark on the team as a succession of long balls aimed at Jerome seemed to be their main ploy. I thought he looked a lively customer but thankfully for the most part Bassong had the measure of him. City were mainly restricted to passing in front of the Palace rearguard but when they did get round the back it looked like a goal would come. On the half hour it did. Russell Martin measured a lovely ball up the right to Redmond who was away quickly and the ball went on to Wes via Elmander and the little wizard brought back memories of yesteryear with a cool pass inside to Hooper who calmly netted past a bemused Speroni.To their credit, Palace upped a gear and very nearly got back level when in a three or four minute spell they forced Ruddy into a diving save to his right and then a superb block onto the bar by Olssen before the danger was relieved with a free kick.At halftime I was thinking, good enough without pulling up any trees but it really needed a second goal to settle the nerves. Palace came out strong from the get go and seemed to have pushed up a bit on the City midfield. They huffed and puffed a bit but didn''t really look like blowing our house down. The game consequently got very ragged with City giving the ball away too easily for my liking. From a long way out it looked like we were playing saefty first football and there was very little in the way of goalmouth action at either end. Wes had a very good first hour but was beginning to get caught in possession and I was calling for Johno after about 65 minutes.  The change eventually happened on 78 minutes as it was obvious that the midfield trio were not getting forward when City broke. On one occassion Elmander picked up the ball clear in the inside right position but held up his hands as though to say "where are you" when no support arrived.Despite all this Palace had little to offer other than the long ball and long throws and apart from a couple of cut out catches John Ruddy could have spent most of the afternoon in a deck chair without any serious worries. Becchio came on for the last 10 minutes to great applause, though apart from having a nice name and a neat backheel he had done little to deserve it. However, he played his part and with 4 minutes added time played mostly in the Palace left back position there were few alarms before Chris Foy signalled the last rights.So not a great game but as I''ve often said before, winning and playing poorly is a far better habit to get into than losing while playing well. MOM for me was Gary Hooper who was lively all afternoon with special mentions to Olssen and Redmond who combined very well at times. The league table looks much better tonight, thanks to omens and my lucky scarf[:D]

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Yep MOM spot on, just glad we got the result. Wasn''t the prettiest game ever, but the result is huge. Thanks for the good read and do not forget that scarf again!!!

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Who actually are you Ricardo?

A sports journalist or just a know all fan that has his 5 mins of fame in here?

Palace are pants. We won. Hughtons safe.

What else is there to report

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Thought Hooper did well but for me there were 3 better performers in yellow shirts.

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[quote user="alartz"]Who actually are you Ricardo?

A sports journalist or just a know all fan that has his 5 mins of fame in here?

Palace are pants. We won. Hughtons safe.

What else is there to report[/quote]I''m a know all fan mate, what are you?[;)]

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Pretty much summed it up for me, Ricardo.

The substation of Becchio though made it clear where the fans stand (as opposed to just, this forum, for example).

He seemed to link up okay but of course looked like someone who hadn''t played much competitive football recently. Done no better / worse than Elmander so i''d like to see him get given a bit more time going forwards.

Odd, in my opinion, for Hughton to bring him on today - just after he''s gone to the media.

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I reckon I agree with Alartz, who the bloody hell does this Ricardo reckon he is coming on here and posting his opinions about a game what he went to? Jesus H. Christ, if I wanted to read about them fans and their opinions then I''d go to a message board and not the pink un.

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alartz wrote the following post at 30/11/2013 6:56 PM:

"Who actually are you Ricardo?

A sports journalist or just a know all fan that has his 5 mins of fame in here?

Palace are pants. We won. Hughtons safe.

What else is there to report"

Well we don''t need to ask who you are, Binner.

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[quote user="ricardo"][quote user="alartz"]Who actually are you Ricardo?

A sports journalist or just a know all fan that has his 5 mins of fame in here?

Palace are pants. We won. Hughtons safe.

What else is there to report[/quote]I''m a know all fan mate, what are you?[;)][/quote]

Well Ricardo without posting a swear word he is a word that begins with P has three other letters in between then ends with a K

Anyway very good report and agree with you completely

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Great report

 

All I keep reading bout Redmond on match reports is that he takes people on and then blasts over or wide. I certainly hope he begins to pass the ball like Wes did today or at least gets his shots on bloody target! lol

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[quote user="king canary"]Definitely not a 4-3-3, it was a midfield 4 with Wes and Redmond switching flanks. My man of the match was Howson.[/quote]

Hughton claims he''s played 433 5 times this season but they all look the same to me.Yes, MOM will always be a personal opinion. I don''t know who got the bubbly today, anyone?

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Alartz, can I just ask who you actually are? The official message board police, or just another jumped up mouthy troll who adds nothing of interest to any conversation?

Great report as always Ricardo.

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[quote user="Jh1990"][quote user="ricardo"][quote user="alartz"]Who actually are you Ricardo?

A sports journalist or just a know all fan that has his 5 mins of fame in here?

Palace are pants. We won. Hughtons safe.

What else is there to report[/quote]I''m a know all fan mate, what are you?[;)][/quote]

Well Ricardo without posting a swear word he is a word that begins with P has three other letters in between then ends with a K

Anyway very good report and agree with you completely[/quote]

JH what''s a PuntK ? ; )

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As always a good summary Ricardo. Personally I thought the first half was really good and yes it was great to see Wes back in the team. The little flicks and passes more than make up for the frustrating parts, it just feels like something might happen when he''s on the field.Alartz, Jog on you toilet..(in my best Danny Dyer accent)

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Chrisr, if you''re going to do it in your Danny Dyer accent, at least say ''mug'' or ''muppet''.

Reading your report Ricardo, seems we viewed the game pretty much the same, which is odd considering our differing views in the other thread ;)

Good read as ever.

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[quote user="Gingerpele"]Chrisr, if you''re going to do it in your Danny Dyer accent, at least say ''mug'' or ''muppet''.

Reading your report Ricardo, seems we viewed the game pretty much the same, which is odd considering our differing views in the other thread ;)

Good read as ever.[/quote]A win is a win Ginger, and they never come easy in this league. To get one when you don''t play well is a very good sign. Playing well and getting beat only gets you relegated.I may be wrong but I suss you as a young man with not many seasons under his belt. If so then I''m sorry to have to tell you that the Lambert years were very much above the level of excitement and progress you can reasonably expect from NCFC. We are in the Prem, enjoy it because it usually doesn''t last for very long.

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[quote user="Brightside"][quote user="Jh1990"][quote user="ricardo"][quote user="alartz"]Who actually are you Ricardo?

A sports journalist or just a know all fan that has his 5 mins of fame in here?

Palace are pants. We won. Hughtons safe.

What else is there to report[/quote]I''m a know all fan mate, what are you?[;)][/quote]

Well Ricardo without posting a swear word he is a word that begins with P has three other letters in between then ends with a K

Anyway very good report and agree with you completely[/quote]

JH what''s a PuntK ? ; )[/quote]

Haha well I''ll let you decide the meaning ; ) but it describes Altartz well

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Thanks Ricardo - a good read and interesting as always. Ignore the idiot who clearly rather foolish: I for one, and I am sure there are plenty of others, always make a point of seeking out your report and find it far more informed and interesting than most of the press!

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Never quite know which thread to add to but I''ll go for the Ricardo Report as , it is as consistent as any.

 

I thought we did well in the first half, and actually the brief highlights on MOTD suggested so too. It does say to me however that considering we have 4-5 "first choice" players out, we actually looked a bit more attack minded,  and I do worry that CH doesn’t know who his best team actually is. It’s a rum old job if it takes injuries to make to attack more! Wes looked lively, as did Redmond. And I am a huge Bassong fan so I thought the SB, RB partnership probably represents out best pairing. Redmond must have been close to MOM if nothing else for his willingness to offer himself to receive the ball throughout the game. I''ll forgive him the seven iron he used for shooting.

 

Hooper will score if we get him the ball. I liked the interchange between Wes and Redmond. It all looked slightly less predictable than it has done of late, as demonstrated by Wes’s position for the first goal.

 

I was a bit perplexed by the Bechio stuff. Can''t help but think CH has bought that on himself. The player is out in the cold, there are no new injuries in his position , he has a moan , and back he comes. Personally I didn’t see the world class 10 minutes from him that others seemed to , but he did OK. I’m becoming less of an Elmander fan but he did nearly score the goal of the season.

 

All in all , trying not to have any pre match agenda, I quite enjoyed the first half, and hated the second. We do sit deeper, we do give the ball away far too much from Ruddy’s kicks (there was a period of 25 mins in the second half where everytime JR kicked it long, it just came back) and I was personally disappointed to see Leroy and Howson nailed to the halfway line in the second half. CH went ballistic when Howson got forward and we lost the ball at one point.

 

3 points will do for me.

 

 

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[quote user="alartz"]Who actually are you Ricardo?

A sports journalist or just a know all fan that has his 5 mins of fame in here?

Palace are pants. We won. Hughtons safe.

What else is there to report[/quote]That was a bit harsh.... did no body read your posts ?You feeling un-loved on this board ?

Agree, Ricardo. Hooper MoM, although I would have added a mention for Howson who is having a fantastic season. Just let the lad go forwards more and he will be on a plane with Ruddy and a few other half decent Manure / Arse / Chelski / Scouse players.

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Thank you for the mostly positive comments. I continued doing these reports mainly because the late lamented Ardee asked me to carry on when he could no longer attend. Possibly because we were from a similar generation and held similar views on most things NCFC he had a certain amount of confidence that I would give him the unvarnished truth. Now whether others agree with that I couldn''t possibly comment but then watching football is a subjective pass-time and we all have our own prejudices and I can''t pretend that I am any different in that respect.In any event I have continued in that spirit, mainly for those who for whatever reason are unable to share the Carrow Road experience. If it serves that purpose then all well and good. If it doesn''t then I have no wish to overstay my welcome.

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