Match Day Thread Canaries V Florists

Totally agree HMC and I thought when Brady was suspended for 3 games we played better. Dijks looks like a real battler and I just hope he doesn't do anything stupid to get sent off and I'd sooner have the LB fro the under 23s in the squad than Whittaker if AN needs to sub Dijks again.

 

Shouldn't that read "utility-man Whittaker"?

 

I was reminded of the Goss strike also. What an array of great goals, cannot remember any match containing 5 such great strikes.

 

Yes GE, it really was a joy to watch and IF we replicate anything even close to that on Tuesday, it should be a great game. I think I'm in my 10th (and last) year as an ST holder and I don't remember seeing such a glut of great goals and not one of them scored by our striker - who I feel had a good game and he was pulled back when almost clean through on goal.

 

The other 3 on that list must have been special to keep Wes out of contention.

 

As usual, some poignant observations from Mr Gowers
Including this (awful) stat -

Article below.
http://norwichcity.myfootballwriter...reasingly-buoyant-and-optimistic-carrow-road/

 

Let's hope we can start to reverse that on Tuesday.

 

The season is turning now.

We are hitting form at exactly the right time and we are finally playing attacking football with the players we have at our disposal.

Pritchard, Wes, Olive, CJ, Howson, Naismith, the Murphy's.........

We should be taking this division apart and I hope AN has learnt a lesson here.

All roads lead to Wembley! Come on city!!!

 

I hope so too, but don't hold your breath. In fact not learning from his mistakes and worrying too much about how our opponents play, rather than playing a free flowing attacking game and letting our opponents do the worrying is the 2 biggest issues I have with AN.

 

Pretty good summary from PD and I don’t ever remember –

A. No player scoring less(fewer) than 7!!
B. ANY player ever getting a 9!!!

• John Ruddy 7.0
Largely another watching brief at Carrow Road. Left exposed by his defence just the once for Ross McCormack’s chipped finish.
• Ivo Pinto 7.0
In the wars before his eventual exit. We know about his attacking instincts but his appetite for the battle is increasingly impressive.
• Russell Martin 7.0
Composed shift again. Bar one moment of alarm when Danny Fox glanced a near post header against the outside of the opposite upright.
• Timm Klose 7.0
Four inch gash suffered in training was not enough to keep out the big man. Tight rein on Britt Assombalonga but unable to check McCormack’s late run in time.
• Mitchell Dijks 7.0
Phyiscally imposing presence. Zach Clough bounced off the Dutchman on more than one occasion. Has slotted seamlessly into Norwich’s back four.
• Jonny Howson 8.5
Surely the finest of many excellent Norwich goals in his career. A dropping ball out of the sky sent spiralling into the top corner. A goal they will talk about for years to come.
• Youssouf Mulumbu 7.0
Clearly playing catch-up after long spells on the sidelines. Kept the home fires burning whilst Alex Tettey served his suspension. Assist of sorts for Alex Pritchard’s first goal.
• Josh Murphy 8.0
Justified his manager’s faith with a start ahead of his brother. Cool slot befitting the flowing team move that preceded it. Direct, aggressive. Hauled down by Eric Lichaj to earn the Forest captain a second yellow. Benchmark set.
• Alex Pritchard 9.0
Two goals on any other day would have been savoured even more as perfectadditions to another influential outing. What a week after two assists at Wigan. We know he has the quality but a bit like Pinto his work here without the ball should not go unnoticed.
• Wes Hoolahan 8.5
Brilliantly instinctive long range goal that encapsulated the genius of the Republic of Ireland international. Popped up on the right again moments earlier to roll in Josh Murphy for his goal. That rest at Wigan worked a treat.
• Nelson Oliveira 7.0
Will feel he missed out on the goal glut against one of his former loan clubs but, as he said on Friday, he wants to be judged as well by his all-round game outside the penalty box. On that measure there could be no complaints.
• Steven Whittaker 6.5
• Ryan Bennett 6.5
Interesting comment re Wes

 

But as we've said on here numerous times, he doesn't need to overwork Wessi when he's got Pritchard, Naismith and Maddison who can all play in that similar role to some degree.

 

Wes Is our aging genious, but his pretenders are pushing hard. the question of who will replace him probably hinges on how many months/years Wes can continue, I will be very honest and say that I thought Wes should have been released last year.

 

You weren't alone in thinking that but he seems to have had a new lease of life, maybe he's getting some rest time between appearances!

 

There seems to be much more team spirit at CR these days and this comment by AP confirms it - 'City remain outside the Championship top six following their nightmare autumn, but Saturday’s win made it 13 points out of a possible 15 since defeat at Rotherham last month – and the atmosphere in the City camp is changing too.'
“Yeah, you can sense it,” added Pritchard. “The players are on at each other, there’s more laughing, more joking.
“I know the time we had was really bad, but we put ourselves in that situation – and we’ve got to get ourselves out of that situation.
“Take away the fans and stuff, it was our own fault. We can only blame ourselves. And now we’ve got to get ourselves out of it.
“Tuesday against Newcastle, we’ve just got to go and win it. It’s as simple as that.”
Yes, bring on the Magpies and I'd be delighted if we could gain revenge for throwing away 3 points in the reverse fixture.

 

Pritchard's comments are spot on, IMO. City had 12 games at the start of the season where they reached the top of the table without really playing their best football. Yes there were the blips at Birmingham and Newcastle, but there was the expectation that we could improve on that. Then came 10 games where we lost 8 and won 2. Yes, 4 red cards played a part in that for sure. The performances weren't dire, including 6 goals for and 0 against in the two wins, but apart from Brighton, we fell by one goal all but once at Reading, after Brady's red card. Pritchard's "I know the time we had was really bad, but we put ourselves in that situation – and we’ve got to get ourselves out of that situation." There is a sense now that the players have taken that on and are responding accordingly. A win against Newcastle would be immense and would project the statement that Pritch is making. but it will be our biggest test since the heart-breaking loss up there. A test of character for the whole team.

 

Carra Rud big screen gets it wrong!

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There does seem to be much more togetherness and let's hope we can get at least a point on Tuesday and get back to winnings ways at Burton.

 

A point?

We're gonna win. We have the squad.

 

That's the attitude KEMP! Onwards and upwards!