Match Day Thread FA Cup 3rd Round Replay - Southampton v Norwich City

McGovern has always been a good shot stopper, but he is not as good dealing with crosses and corners and that was true last night. Not necessarily for the goals conceded last night, but he doesn't command the penalty area the way Ruddy is better at doing as he is bigger and taller than McGovern.

As for Jerome, he was up against two excellent PL CBs last night (easily their best players) and yet he was alert enough to anticipate the keeper's mistake and draw the penalty and he brilliantly drew van Dijk out of the penalty area to give Naismith the space for the brilliant equalising header. Naismith was my MotM as well. He worked his socks off and is really good at organising other players as well. Read Norwich agreed:

"I am going to go for Steven Naismith as my man of the match. The Scotsman has been on the receiving end of a lot of unneeded stick this season, despite some very hard-working performances.
Naismith covered every blade of grass today and was industrious as ever. Not to mention he added a goal to his game with a fantastic header as well. Top performance."

 

From what I saw, McGovern didn't have much chance wth either goal and our defence looked OK (even Whittaker played quite well!!!). For all the moaning re Naismith, he seems to be playing much better lately.
PS - hoping to see Maddison on Thursday!!

 

I agree that our defence played well and excepted the goals in my comment, but I still think McGovern needs to come for corners and crosses more. To his credit, however, he made some excellent saves and that is his strong area. It's a pity that Klose was off the pitch when they scored their 2nd goal, as he would have been marking Yoshida.

 

Yes Rick, I agree with that and I remember JR could have cut out eh cross that led to Huddersfield's first goal.
Yes, that was AN's stance on the Klose issue.
A decent summary from Gary Gowers - http://norwichcity.myfootballwriter...-for-once-are-in-the-hat-for-the-fouth-round/ and it seems both Whitts and Naismith played well!!!!

 

I think Naismith was one of our best players yesterday.

 

Might work out nicely for us though as Southampton have to play midweek cup games against Liverpool either side of our game

 

Jerome was up against Van Dijk & Yoshida both of whom had good games. Jerome plays best when he is able to bully CB's, Van Dijk doesn't seem the type of player whose going to be bullied. Shame we didn't sign him. If we had had him & Klose in the PL, we wouldn't be in this league now.Naismith was one of our best players, Pritchard was ineffective and should have got subbed a lot sooner. I think our main attacking issue is not down to our strikers, it's our midfield, which is generally so slow in getting the ball forward that the other teams defence always seem to have an age to get back, have a chat and get organised. This doesn't play to Jerome or indeed Murphy's strengths. Tettey in particular really needs some extra coaching in getting the ball forward quickly.

 

That's really not fair, Jerome has always put in a shift throughout his career. If he can't be bother than that can only be down to how the clubs being managed or some personal circumstances we're not aware of because he's been around for years and has always been known for his never say die attitude. I really don't understand why we brought Lafferty on, don't get me wrong I think he deserves a chance, but I don't see him as the right type of player to natch up against Van Dijk or Yosida.

 

Ain't that the truth.
Yes, it's been mentioned elsewhere that CJ was up against 2 very experienced CBs.

 

Pretty much agree totally with this.

 

PD's player ratings from yesterday -
• Michael McGovern . 7.5
Denied Dusan Tadic with two acrobatic stops in either half. Left exposed for both of Southampton’s close range finishes

• Steven Whittaker 7.5
Prominent in both Norwich equalisers. Took the responsibility to slot the penalty and then whipped in the late cross for Steven Naismith. Also had the not inconsiderable task of trying to thwart a marauding Ryan Bertrand.

• Russell Martin 6.5
Sponsors’ man-of-the-match. Unable to check Maya Yoshida’s run for Southampton’s second goal. Largely kept Shane Long in check, bar one first half header.

• Timm Klose 6.5
Departed with an Achilles injury. And an icy blast from his manager for hobbling out of the action with the game still in progress during a sequence that eventually led to Yoshida’s bullet header.

• Martin Olsson
Another of Alex Neil’s key men who had to be deployed, with a lack of cover at left-back. Not the same aggressive attacking threat on the overlap as against Derby.

• Alex Tettey 6.5
Failed to keep tabs on Virgil van Dijk at the far post for Southampton’s opener. Hooked a wild shot wide in the second half. Another yellow card for clipping Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg. Now edging towards a fresh suspension in a part of the squad City can ill afford any more absentees. 6.5

• Jonny Howson 7.0
Did not look out of place amongst Southampton’s technically proficient midfielders. Has to curb his natural attacking instincts a touch in that deeper-lying position.

• Josh Murphy 6.5
Early signs he could be an effective threat but largely on the periphery against a top class operator in Bertrand, before replaced by his twin.

• Alex Pritchard 6.5
Couple of promising link ups with Steven Naismith in the first half. Faded as Saints got on top and dominated possession.

• Steven Naismith 7.5
Towering stoppage time header was a thing of beauty to earn Norwich a replay. Although Saints’ defence must question the shocking lack of marking. Tireless without the ball and, whisper it quietly for now, more signs he might be a growing influence in this Norwich set-up.

• Cameron Jerome 6.5
Clever enough to tempt teenage keeper Harry Lewis into conceding a penalty. But then opted to leave the field clear for Steven Whittaker to take the spot kick. Needs a goal badly to restore what looks like a lack of confidence.

City substitutes

• Ryan Bennett 6.5
No messing, no nonsense. Happy to get it in the stands rather than take any risks. May be set for an extended tour of duty now as we await the prognosis on Timm Klose’s injury.

• Jacob Murphy 6.5

 

Or dropping from the team altogether, when either Thompson and/or Dorrans are back up and running

 

Gary Gowers take on yesterday's events - despite not attending the match along with 14,000 others
http://norwichcity.myfootballwriter...-for-once-are-in-the-hat-for-the-fouth-round/

I for one find this sickening and I hope our greed-ridden board do too
(though they're clearly immune to criticism)

please log in to view this image

 

Binner fans ripping the p1ss out of our attendance yesterday (clearly being too thick to realise it was largely a protest at the ££ grabban) and then I find this
Ivan NCFC Adcock ‏@AdcockIvy
@JamesFinbow @Saund65 @cromercanary NCFC have had 94 000
more fans than them this season so far.

Take the Mick at your peril, doomsters

 

Says it all from today's EDP website - "An online poll by this newspaper found 92pc of the nearly 1,000 respondents believed the price was too high."
http://www.edp24.co.uk/sport/norwic...ice_of_fa_cup_ticket_at_carrow_road_1_4840968

 

and we'll lose her during the African Cup of Nations. Sort it our board!

 

Good luck to anyone travelling to the Saints replay on 18th January at 1945 kick off, it will be a very late time getting back to the Motherland!

 

Excellent article on the meagre crowd n Saturday - http://www.pinkun.com/opinion/misse...ty_to_encourage_the_next_generation_1_4841260

 

Trouble is financially it doesn't make much difference between charging more and having the ground half full than charging less and having it full. McNally didn't take the fans for granted and would have looked beyond merely the financial side of things. Moxey I suspect is very different.

 

Anyone else completely flabbergasted by Neil's public lambasting of Klose because of him leaving the field of play when injured?