One of those nights!! But 2 games unbeaten!!

[can u sit down please 0]

I thought once we went 1 down we played well,but it was just one of those nights where we could of played another 2 hrs and still not had the luck!!

Safri''s introduction was brilliant -he really makes a difference,Marney looks a different gravy and i thought Hughes and Jarret look steady!

Lets be positive ...Its 2 games unbeaten!!

[Canarychick 0]

Sorry but I see it has 2 games lost.

Tonight''s performance was SLIGHTLY better than Saturday but only very slightly.

Bring on the Palace Saturday and lets be firing on ALL cylinders!!  

[BedsCanary 0]

Yeh.

You win some, you draw some.

[Ian 1,129]

Tonight''s performance was SLIGHTLY better than Saturday but only very slightly.I take it you weren''t at the match then?

[Canarychick 0]

[quote]Tonight''s performance was SLIGHTLY better than Saturday but only very slightly. I take it you weren''t at the match then?[/quote]

Yes I was at the match

I felt Crewe were a good side and all over the Canaries for most of the match, sorry.

When Safri came on, things did improve and I just hope he starts on Saturday.

I feel 2 points out of 6 is not good enough, what can I say?

[FatMan Fat 0]

It is very worrying that we cannot beat two teams at home who only just avoided the drop out of this league last year.

Don''t tell me it is the beginning of the season and we need to settle down...what does that say about Sheffield United, Luton, et al? Have they got it wrong?? Have they hell..they have max points and we have a paltry 2 and facts don''t lie

Sure we looked better when Safri came on, sure Shacks looked better than Doc, sure we missed loads of chances, etc, etc, etc...but despite all that we were/are not good enough to beat what we would have considered to have been "easy meat"

Two points out of six is nowhere near promotion form...and it could look really dreadfull after Saturday

[Ian 1,129]

Yeah, that''s fair enough -- it''s certainly not the best of starts. But we''ve got new players and the team will take a while to gel fully. I thought the performance was far better in the second half, and was a big improvment. We were all over Crewe for most of that half, and Safri looks class!

Let''s see what happens on Saturday...

[Dame to Blame 95]

[quote]Yes I was at the match I felt Crewe were a good side and all over the Canaries for most of the match, sorry. When Safri came on, things did improve and I just hope he starts on Saturday. I feel 2...[/quote]

Rubbish canarychick we dominated that game for large periods and with a little bit of luck could have won that 4-1

[We need a Manager 0]

Two points from two home games against teams that only just survived relegation at the death last year is not good enough and its certainly not promotion form . With our dodgy away form winning the easy home games was a must.

[gazzathegreat 0]

[quote]Yes I was at the match I felt Crewe were a good side and all over the Canaries for most of the match, sorry. When Safri came on, things did improve and I just hope he starts on Saturday. I feel 2...[/quote]

completely agree with you canary chick

we were taught a footballing lesson by crewe, not for the first time either

their goal was simply sublime and their passing football a joy to watch, it makes you wonder what dario could do with our team!

thanks crewe, for providing us with such rich entertainment - a shame not more of your fans were there to cheer you on!

[DumbleDelia is Magic 0]

Last night''s performance was slightly better than Saturday''s, but certainly not promotion winning form.  At the end of the day, we''ve dropped 4 points and the season isn''t a week old!  We need to get things right against Palace

[ZLF 274]

[quote]Tonight''s performance was SLIGHTLY better than Saturday but only very slightly. I take it you weren''t at the match then?[/quote]

I too was at the game last night and the ONLY two positive to come out of it were that we remain unbeaten and Safri was comfortably man of the match despite only being on the pitch for 32 mins - boy how we have missed him.

Youssef must start against palace...

Other than those two features the first half was significantly worse than sat but things did get better after half time after worthy clearly had words...

OTBC

[Plastic Scouser 0]

It''s no good harping on about how we were unlucky, how on another night we''d have beaten them 4-1...simple fact is that we didn''t score any more goals and we drew with a team that we should be looking to beat comprehensively if we''re looking to bounce straight back into the Premiership.   Some of you are falling into classic Worthy territory i.e. we played fantastically and we were really unlucky - BUT WE DIDN''T WIN DID WE????!!!!! (isn''t that the aim of this game?).

 

We must beat Palace on Saturday - it''s not a poor start, and yes it''s early days but we''ve hardly set the division alight have we?

[Evil Monkey 52]

[quote]Two points from two home games against teams that only just survived relegation at the death last year is not good enough and its certainly not promotion form . With our dodgy away form winning the ea...[/quote]

I have an inkling our away form won''t be so bad - with us being fancied favourites, many teams are going to come to FCR this season and try to stop us playing football, as Coventry did, and get ten men behind the ball, as Crewe did. We still ran Crewe ragged (all this talk of being outplayed by them is total bobbins - are you sure you weren''t watching the Everton game, or something, and just got confused????).

But away from home, the teams are going to be playing their own game, and it will open out a lot more for us, allowing us to put the ball about ourselves and really show them how to take teams apart.

With Palace being the other favourites, Saturday will be interesting, as they won''t be coming here to shut up shop, so we''ll have a lot more room to play our own game and dictate things a little more.

[sheded 0]

I`ve said this before , and I`m saying it again   the forwards HAVE  to  practise at shooting  INTO the goal  !!  its what they`re paid  to do for crists sake !!   leons wild lob over the  bar was little short of pathetic  ...  Nigel , get a grip on this area ,  forget the work ethic for the strikers , train up those " strikers "   every bloody day , until  putting a ball INTO the net  becomes, near on , automatic    if the chances we had last night had been taken with any degree of skill  , we would have been at least three up  against Crewe ....

[Evil Monkey 52]

Flem didn''t have a bad game by all accounts, but did find himself in some strange positions in the second half (remember you''re a centre back, mate, not a right winger!), leaving the rest of the defence a little exposed.

Shackell was solid pretty much throughout, we counted 16 defensive headers won without fuss, and only 1 missed... from where I was sitting, he seemed lucky to stay on the pitch second half, though!

Drury was vastly improved from Saturday and back to something approaching normal, but the disappointment was MLJ... got completely sucked into a useless challenge, which Flem did well to try to rescue him from, only for the ball to fall to not one, but two unmarked Crewe players leading to their goal, where MLJ should have been covering. I''d like to see Colin given a go on Saturday.

Hughes had a shocker and spent most of the night on the floor or running into blind alleys and playing poor balls.  Safri, in contrast, was brilliant when he came on and won nearly everything and completely broke up their play and put some sweet balls to the wingers.

The rest of the team played well, Marney and Jarrett didn''t seem to get too much of the ball, but did well when they had it, but Hucks just ran them ragged, it was beautiful to watch him destroy their defence again and again - I think he only lost the ball once, even when being put under close scrutiny by two players.

Leon and Ashton need to regain some sharpness in front of goal, but its only two games in and it seems they''re just a little slow out of the blocks - talent like theirs doesn''t just disappear.  Leon''s goal was good, however, great strength and tenacity, and a nice clean finish. 

Greeno was, again, immense - yet another fantastic save, has rediscovered the wonders of bowling the ball out to catch teams on the break, and even seems to be in better command of his box with Shackell marshalling the defence, leaving Greeno to concentrate on his own job rather than telling Doc/Flem where they should be.

But two games unbeaten, two points, goal difference of 0, 44 games to go...

Plenty of time! Fear ye not, oh doubters...

[Dicky 0]

[quote]I`ve said this before , and I`m saying it again the forwards HAVE to practise at shooting INTO the goal !! its what they`re paid to do for crists sake !! leons wild lob over the bar was lit...[/quote]

I agree totally - in both games, the main problem lay with the Strikers.  How many times did we see Ashton and McKenzie shoot wide from close range.  How many good attacking situations were wasted.  How many times did Hucks do all of the good work and then blast it over the players.

Oh, sorry forgot, it''s got to be Flemmo''s fault!!!!

 

[ZLF 274]

[quote]I agree totally - in both games, the main problem lay with the Strikers. How many times did we see Ashton and McKenzie shoot wide from close range. How many good attacking situations were wasted. H...[/quote]

I am just surprised you have not blamed doc Dicky!

I am disappointed that you think the teams biggest (main) problem lies with the strikers - no they did not take their clear chances last night in particular but the issues in midfield and defence run much deeper.

Like you, I have my pet issues with these areas, but it is particularly disappointing that the coaching staff have done nothing of the summer to address the defence issues as the squad of players, incl Flem, are good enough at this level but they are under-performing mainly through a failure to do the basics.

If the midfield and defence do not improve uplast night we will not remain unbeaten for long.

OTBC

[Canarychick 0]

[quote]Rubbish canarychick we dominated that game for large periods and with a little bit of luck could have won that 4-1[/quote]

Dont rubbish me.  It is my opinion which I am more than entitled too.

They could have played all night and they would not have scored another goal. 

[FatMan Fat 0]

Some interesting opinions as ever

The "rosy spectacle" brigade saying that it is only the beginning of the season, we have new players to settle in, we could have scored a hatfull etc.

The "realists" pointing out that the fact is we only have 2 points after playing 2 home games against what would be considered weak opposition.

The fact is that other teams have new players to bed in, and it''s also the start of the season for them, but they have started significantly better than us.

To me that says something about our preparation, coaching and tactics, or lack of, and team selection, and that of course reflects on the manager. But of course no criticism must be levelled at W in many people''s eyes, he is immune!!

Immune my arse, we have 2 points from a possible 6 - all at home against "weaker" teams. Let''s get real peeps, it isn''t good enough. Fact!!

[alex_ncfc 662]

[quote]Some interesting opinions as ever The "rosy spectacle" brigade saying that it is only the beginning of the season, we have new players to settle in, we could have scored a hatfull etc. The "realis...[/quote]

Spot on!! Out of the 3 home games to start the season, surely we should have been looking to get maximum points out of the previous two, and worrying about Palace on Saturday! But no, 2 points from teams that are mid-table fodder at best. And how many times have I seen it from Worthy, especially after these first 2 games - it irritates me so much when he says "...but that''s football" - he might as well say;

"We''ve drawn against two average sides, but that''s football"

"We''ve had chance after chance but just can''t put them away, but that''s football"

"I like to pick my favourites, fall out with quality players, and our defence is sh*t, but that''s football"

Come on Worthy, rather than saying ''that''s football'', which an easy way out as i see things, how about accepting that 2 points from 6 in 2 home games against average opposition (and they are average, just look at how both managers of Coventry and Crewe have celebrated their result for proof of that) is just NOT GOOD ENOUGH?

There''s no positive spin to put on this. 2 games unbeaten? I should bloody hope so too against teams like Cov and Crewe but we didn''t win did we!!! Urgh rant over

[We need a Manager 0]

Come on at least the energy levels are good , who cares about the quality or lack of it .

[Barry Brockes 147]

The thing that''s struck me in the first two games is the same niggling doubt I had all last season in the premiership. Are our coaching staff up to the job? With the players we have in our squad we should be able to play better football than most other, if not all other, teams in this division but at times last night Crewe were a joy to watch and ran us ragged chasing shadows. They played football the way it should be played. Against Coventry we semed to lack ideas and time after time just hoofed the ball as hard and as far as we could. I look back on many of the goals we conceded last season and quite frankly a lot of them were schoolboy errors. I only have basic coaching skills but would hve been disappointed if my team of fifteen year-olds had conceded some of those goals last year. I''m sure the coaches, whoever they are, are jolly nice blokes with a high work ethic and commitent but are they up to the job? I wasn''t sure last year and I haven''t seen anything yet this season to convince me otherwise.    

[0ridgemanddMMyyyy0Falseen-USTrue 0]

I also feel that Crewe gave us a lesson in passing and moving short balls to feet or into space quick movement whereas we want to thump the ball up to Ashton or Mackenzie what would Gradi do with the facilties we have here. As for Fleming he was beaten in the air countless times by a small forward and blaming Shackell for his own mistakes sorry not up to it even in this league.

[Dame to Blame 95]

[quote]Dont rubbish me. It is my opinion which I am more than entitled too. They could have played all night and they would not have scored another goal.[/quote]

And i''m entitled to mine, if you think that crewe were better than us then you need to visit spec-savers ,we should have won by a country mile all strikers can have an off day, if we had stuck away some of those chances most of you would have been singing from a different hymn sheet.

[gazzathegreat 0]

[quote]The thing that''s struck me in the first two games is the same niggling doubt I had all last season in the premiership. Are our coaching staff up to the job? With the players we have in our squad we sh...[/quote]

"Are our coaching staff up to the job?"

barry, in a word, no they aren''t

but we have a much better coach called dave williams who is coaching the kids - come on ncfc, can''t you see the wood for the trees?

as worthy knew, or should have done, crewe always play football, passing football, which allegedly we also play, so i can only see the game as a testiment to that fact - we were outplayed by a side who must have cost a fraction of ours -  i am sure if dario had our players at his disposal crewe would have won by a rather large margin

new players? no, we need a decent coach - and fast

 

[Evil Monkey 52]

I''m sorry, maybe I was watching a different match - its entirely possible that I took a wrong turn to the ground and ended up at QPR - but I don''t really seem to remember Crewe being "all over us"?!?

I seem to remember a relatively even first half as City moved through the gears, then us running them ragged in the second half, but Crewe all over us like a rash????

But then, I suppose I''m one of the "rose-tinted spectacle" brigade and undoubtedly have a different view to the "panic - we''re going to get relegated/none of our players are good enough/Worthy and co. won''t get us promoted ever (erm...)" crew...

Besides, I''d rather be the former anyway, since I class myself as a supporter of Norwich as well as a fan...

Plus we''ve got a catchier name....  

[Plastic Scouser 0]

Some interesting points here...which leads me on the question - Why does Dario Gradi stick with Crewe?   He''s obviously a good manager who can develop potentially outstanding players so why hasn''t he been tempted to move into the big time with a bigger club?   Admittedly he''s showed that quality that is so barren in the game these days - loyalty - but he must have been tempted with big money offers to move elsewhere...

[First Wizard 0]

[quote]Some interesting points here...which leads me on the question - Why does Dario Gradi stick with Crewe? He''s obviously a good manager who can develop potentially outstanding players so why hasn''t he ...[/quote]

I would love Dario at Carrow Road PS, I really would. He plays the City way, ie. passing football, it won''t happen of course!.

[Yella Fella 0]

I think everyone should just calm down and stop fretting over a slight stutter. Yes we have perhaps dropped 4 points and yes we havent made the best of starts, but i dont really think its time to get the emergency plans and counter attacks out just yet.

Let''s wait and see what happens against Palace on Sat and then judge how far we''ve come!