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Donkey dangler

Olsson should play left midfield not Lafferty

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Olsson should play left midfield with Garrido at left back. Crazy playing Lafferty on the left hand side of midfield.

Furthermore we don''t need three in central midfield.

We should get Ryan Bennett alongside Turner asap.

Finally its time to show that anyone can be dropped and Rudd should play instead of Ruddy.

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Personally I think we have only played well with a 5 man,  3 in central midfield,  formation.    Thats not to say it always work but the performances with a 442 in diamond or flat or bizzare 4222 version has seen us with our worst performances - especially exposing our defence.    A central three (of the current fit players) of Tettey Howson and O''Neil combines intelligence, graft,  great tackling a good game management and would be my preference and I think give us the platform to being more solid at the back as well as creating better openings going forward - while we have had plenty of "shots" we have not created many good openings - just having lots of shots through boringly slow sideways build up play is NOT the norwich way.

 

Likewise Olsson as a left midfielder fails on two counts.   Firstly Lafferty has spent nearly all of his career in that position; he is not a left winger but nor is he a striker (most he has ever scored in a season is 11, in Serie B and Scottish SPL),  very few of his appearance are up front,   his role is left based attacker - which is what we have mainly asked of him,  especially in a 4231 formation.    Secondly we need our midfielders to be able to pass,  cross and create - which is not something he can do.  While Olssons pace is great he is the worst crosser at the club (only 10% finding a norwich shirt,  50% worse than Laffery) and his passing is as poor as BJs with only just over 75% finding a city player.  With the stats highlighting what I see week in week out - Olsson is not a midfielder not has the ability to be an effective one. 

 

As far as the defence is concerned - thats been done to death elsewhere - but changing the personnel is not key;   gaining a leader and some basic coaching and structure will - whoever the 4 are.     I would be happy with Ruddy Cuellar Turner Hooiveld Garrido is they had some discipline. 

 

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Hi Zipper,

Interesting read and for what it is worth I shall add one or two thoughts of my own.

NA will be here a while yet, IMO the crux of the problem doesn''t lie with the manager it lies with the attitude of one or two of our players, insomuch that they play for themselves and not the team. Now of course it can be argued that the Manager should sort this problem, and so he should, maybe this will be part of MP''s remit.

Re the defence, I think you will find RM and RB would be NA preferred pairing and I for one would be happy with that, assuming Whitts got some decent help from the winger, whoever that may be.

I also think you will see BJ back in the team, yes his passing at times can go astray but at other times he plays some beauties, but there is a reason that the last 3 managers have selected him, just as there is a reason why they (plus Strachan) have or do play RM at CB.

It may just be that the professionals, those who get paid to undertstand the game, see things that most supporters don''t.

On current form I would be happy to see Garrido given a game at LB and I would keep JR on the team sheet for now. As I have said before I would play both Murpy and Redmond, as long as both are prepared to stick like glue to the touchline and accept a ball played in front of them, (rather than to their feet so they can show off their ball control) therefore speeding up our attacking and pulling the full backs out wide creating space for us to exploit, if they are not prepared to do this then I would drop them and get EB back. I would rather have a player who plays wholeheartedly for the team than one who plays for himself.

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When Olsson got the ball against Reading he either stopped or played it sideways to another player. His crossing and attacking play, once the crowd had got on his back was hardly worthy of a move in to an attacking position.

He is definitely in NCFC''s top 3 underperforming over-rated players.

I''d give Garrido a go.

I also agree that we need Bennett back. Last season was a strange one for him, one game he''d get MOTM and the next game he''d be dropped - it happened at least twice under Hughton - strange.

Regarding Lafferty - I''d play him up top, leading the line-like Grant Holt with Hooper behind him. Jerome isn''t putting enough of a shift in to deserve a starting place and doesn''t seem to have the same impact on a game when he starts. He got a fair haul of his goals from the bench.

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Interesting discussion - thanks Ray.

 

I too think Adams will get longer,  although a continued run of defeats can quickly change this;   I think I agree with Ricardos analysis that the crowd has left him.  I suspect that recovering from that can only be acheived with an unbeaten run starting with a couple victories.  

 

Interesting thoughts on RM/RB being first choice;   as I have said several times I am more concerned about having a working effective partnership at the back;  if that is it then I am happy.   I do think they need coaching on defending as a unit - which for me is the managers role.

 

However I do agree there is a visible lack of, and deteriorating, team ethic which is the manager,  captains and all players responsibility to address.  Both our promotions to the prem came on teh back of a very strong team ethic driven by strong leaders (not just the captain).  

 

Perhaps this is where BJ shines for the management teams,  for all my technical concerns about his positioning, discipline,  defensive effectiveness and inconsistent passing I do recognise that he is fully committed & a 100% team player.  However,  for me, the quality of his performances have dipped from the excellent start;  perhaps he,  like Grabban,  performs far more effectively in a 4231. 

 

For left mid I do think a signing is needed - it seems EB will not feature and while I enjoy Josh as an impact sub I dont think he is yet ready to push lafferty as hard for a start as he needs.

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NA would prefer a central defence of Martin and Bennett?

Goodbye promotion.

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Russel Martin and Ryan Bennett!! Hilarious!! Talk about clutching at straws...

A Right Back who doesn''t do a lot of defending and a Central Defender who hasn''t played much and looked out of his depth at times in the Premiership when he was picked. Hopefully he will look a better bet in this league.

That is before we consider both are right sided players.

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