Strange decisions

[Dean Coneys boots 1,400]

Last week we had the inexplicable choice of Whitaker in centre midfield. This week we see a striker who has scored 5/7 dropped to the bench...why? Crackers! It really is feeling like Peter Grant #2 to me- but hope I am wrong.

[STAN 29]

To accommodate Hoolahan.

Neil obviously felt Grabban was the better option as a lone striker.

[Cantiaci Canary 557]

If I was a Birmingham defender I would have been thrilled to have been facing Grabban rather than Jerome and Hooper!

[Maccys Back 0]

Ridiculous decision AGAIN alex neil''s having a laugh at our expense. I''m left wondering if he''s got a clue wtf he''s doing!

[havemyhowsonit 0]

That''s 4 games too many. And counting..

You can''t anyone that on here though

[Guest]

Well we''ve just gained a point away from home and not conceeded so that suggests he has some idea.

[Herman 9,765]

He shored up the team after last weeks shambles. No problem with the team he put out. Brum are a good, tough team, so although a point isn''t fantastic it still keeps us within range of the play-offs.

[Dean Coneys boots 1,400]

To accommodate Hoolahan??! Why? If it means playing a third choice striker out of form on his own when, given that Tetty was back, you could have put the two in form strikers in. Baffling. And, sorry, crap decision which will deflate confidence from a striker who had scored 5/7

[whoareyou? 0]

Good point against an in form side. We need to stop conceding silly goals and we did that today.A few clean sheets will give the team more confidence and we can build from there.

[A Load of Squit 5,162]

[quote] user="Cantiaci Canary"]If I was a Birmingham defender I would have been thrilled to have been facing Grabban rather than Jerome and Hooper![/quote]

I think any defender in any team would be delighted to be facing one player instead of two.

[STAN 29]

So you all agree we haven''t been good enough for last 10 or so games yet you all want to see the same formation/lineup as the past 10 or so games?

Was Holt ever present under Lambert? When did Jackson hit form?

I dread to think how you''d all feel if we lost today. Some of the stuff being said is completely ridiculous. I mean has any manager ever been wrote of so soon after arriving?

Remember Alex Neil isn''t to blame for the season so far.. I doubt the bloke even knows his way around Colney properly!

[lowlyfendweller 0]

Getting Bassong onside is a great decision on my book

[rock bus 851]

Post match interview said jerome struggling with injury and quite rightly hooper struggles as loan striker.

So big shock, a qualified actual manager knows more than people on this board!!

[canarycop 206]

Absolutely agree with above. If Jerome ain''t fit the only lone striker we have is Grabban. I was ,at first, disappointed to see Whittaker playing. But in hindsight,as much as I don''t rate him, it was a managerial masterstroke to play him after last week. Many a,manager would have dropped him but after asking him to play an unfamiliar role in which he failed it was good to see the manager having confidence to play him again. Must surely send the right message out to players that if you work for the manager you will be rewarded.

[GJP 79]

[quote user="canarycop"] Many a,manager would have dropped him but after asking him to play an unfamiliar role in which he failed it was good to see the manager having confidence to play him again.  [/quote]

You''re right that it was a good call by AN to play Whittaker.

 

But many managers would have done the same.

 

Plenty of fans wouldn''t have.

[Lessingham Canary 99]

If he hadn''t played Whittaker it would have really set him back confidence wise, i thought we never looked like losing today, great to see Tettey and Bassong in the side, Grabban as lone striker was right choice if Cm Jam is struggling..... IMO

[Gordon Bennett 783]

Decent point and clean sheet today against one of the form teams in the division. Beat Blackpool next week and AN will have taken 10 points from 15. The fact that we are 8th and have underachieved this season has nothing to do with the new manager, and I don''t understand why people are writing him off after four games, its almost as if they want him to fail.

Still think we have every chance of going up, people really would be far better off getting behind the team and saving their moaning and groaning for the end of the season.

[Billabong 0]

Save our ''moaning and groaning for the end of the season''

So you accept there will be reason for moaning and groaning - But ...We should just wait until the season is over before we question anything?

[kantata soul 0]

The strangest decision was to appoint an all Scottish management and coaching team. It was rather an odd gamble to make given that the playoffs were within touching distance.

[Daz Sparks 1,154]

Alex Neil will take time to "bed in". Anybody that cannot see that is simply over-reacting. The board will see it that way too.

Why not take a step back and let the guy settle in, he has obvious management abilities, and is young enough to adapt to the step up in level, I am hopeful that faith in him will be rewarded.

[kantata soul 0]

By the time Alex Neil has bedded in we''ll probably be some way off the top six. Sorry for sounding alarmist, but he''s barely much older than many of the players and has no real track record in management. He''s only done well by getting into what must rank as the poorest Scots Prem League in living memory.

[chicken 0]

Sometimes it is worth listening to Radio Norfolk and listening to the

interview with the manager. Unless we are to start fresh conspiracy

theories that is.Alex said that Jerome had been suffering with a tight hamstring all week and hadn''t trained for a large part of the week as a result.To be fair to Jerome - you should be able to manage without one player for a game or two if they are suffering little niggles that you don''t want to risk. Hooper would be more of the question but then Grabban has deserved a start again.

[Jim Smith 2,317]

I think Neil pretty much got it right today although he probably should have brought Hooper and Jerome in earlier and pushed for the win a bit more.

Last week was an utter shambles and he needed to sort us out and he did. We kept the ball well, did not good it and never looked like losing that game. Birmingham had one threat, the punt down the middle, because generally they couldn''t get any decent possession. To be honest they were surprisingly poor given their recent run of results. I think if we were still serious auto promotion contenders then you have to find a way to win a game like that but in terms of our playoff hopes its not done us any harm as we''ve gained on two rivals.

We now have Blackpool next week, a game we should win. Bassong can get another 90 minutes under his belt and hopefully we will be knocking on the door of the top 6 by 5pm.

I''ve said it before but Tettey is our most important player. What a difference he makes.

[Jim Smith 2,317]

Did not hoof it even!

[Tetteys Jig 830]

Considering Jerome was unfit, I can see what he was doing. I guess he preferred wes to hooper. I would have bought hooper in earlier tho. I was just pleased to see the defence work out well for the time in a while. Bassong is vital for us. Marginalising him has really messed up 2014 for us.

I heard them talking about kompany on the radio yesterday, he often does too much to cover his defence partners shortcomings and bassong has often been like that for us.

We are back within striking distance of the playoffs as well. We have to forget about top 2 for now.

[Gordon Bennett 783]

Billabong, questioning things as part of a balanced opinion is one thing as should be welcomed on a discussion forum but not those who go a bananas in the wake of a match that doesn''t result in three points. To me this season is black and white, ie if we go up its been a success and if we don''t its been a failure. Even if we go up people will still moan about appointing Adams, poor signings, McNally''s shortcomings etc and that is their right but it really doesn''t help during the season when everybody needs to pull in the same direction.

Unfortunately the first season in the Premiership with its flowing football, goals galore and 12th place finish means that anything that has fallen below that since (ie each season and pretty much every Saturday afternoon) is met with dissatisfaction by many Norwich supporters and it has made both this forum and often Carrow Road itself much less enjoyable places to be..