How long do we give him?

I'm not a fan of Naismith to be honest, there are a number of players I would be starting ahead of him! Looks like he had a good game yesterday though, and one of the good things about him is that he looks to have a bit of fire about him! Too many players seldom look that wound up, far too placid! We miss that aggression from players like Bradders and Holty sometimes.

 

I agree with TYF on Naismith. When Olsson went off after 2 minutes at QPR, Naismith immediately began to reorganise to good effect. Brady was dropped back to LB which left Naismith covering two positions which he did very well, including scoring with an excellent header. What was less noticed though was his willingness to track back to help out Brady and that was just as impressive as the rest. If we are to fight our way back into the play-off places, players like Naismith need to keep raising their game. We need at least 3 leaders, one in defence (Martin), one in midfield (Howson) and another in attack (Naismith).

 

Personally I would make Howson captain without him we are a much lesser team.

 

This has been discussed before and will be again. One thing I noticed was that when Martin came back into the starting line-up, he re-introduced the pre-match huddle and performances, particularly early on in matches, improved. I think it was Holty who started the pre-match huddles and Martin carried them on. Howson is often given the arm-band when Martin doesn't play, though sometimes it's Wes. I think it'd be harder for Naismith, still being fairly new to the squad, but I'd be happy with any of those as captain.

 

both are good candidates one thing Naismith has over Howson is a lot more fire in his belly and is more vocal, we need a leader, a commander. Also there are pressures that seems to come with the arm band (a curse if you like), Bassong had it a few seasons ago, martin this year, as naismith isnt scoring many so it makes no difference and his position upfront isnt really costing us at the back. The curse would be a greater loss on Howson IMO, If NS doesnt score thats fine if he can bring these other qualities into the team. A good manager will fit players into their best positions, if nothing else NS stands out to be a leader. Just my view on him.

 

My reservation with SN as skipper would be is he a cert to play? On recent improved form, maybe so, but JH is always a certain starter. All of that said, SN whilst on the pitch does not need to be captain to be vocal and have an influence. AN should be encouraging this level of communication and a bit of fire from all the players.

Bah!

 

I'd also be a bit concerned that the captaincy could be a burden on Howson, though he was a successful captain at Leeds.

 

Just seen this fascinating column in 'Along Come Norwich'.
Final paragraph:-
"Alex Neil is here to stay. We’re heading towards the end of the window, after which point anyone that does come in would be stuck with Alex’s squad. So looks like we’re going to have to lump it and get behind the decision; anything else seems futile.
We might as well focus our energies on trying to influence something we can change, the players belief and confidence, rather than something we can’t."
http://www.alongcomenorwich.com/articles/were-sticking-with-alex-its-time-to-get-on-with-it

 

Excellent well balanced article, Cromer. Far better than anything the current Pinkun 'bloggers' put out. This bit gets to the core as well:

"Seeds of doubt, questions of their own abilities, the fans questioning everyone’s abilities and even dreaming up new inabilities. There is still a nervousness. It’s contagious. The players sense it from the crowd, the crowd sense it from each other; every misplaced pass or poor touch results in the anxious silence being penetrated with over-exaggerated groans. This lifts the opposition; it’s like we’re using our own mental fragility against ourselves. But then we score. The crowd feel relief and that feeds belief to the players. In the last two home games, it’s been noticeable the way the players have been visibly lifted as the game went on. Suddenly Wes is expressing himself again, Brady finds that extra gear he’s got, Jacob starts running at defenders and taking things on from distance. Howson is bursting through the midfield, the defenders start playing football rather than hot-potato. But we are still fragile. Concede a soft goal as we did against Wolves and the nail-biting is back, although the players responded admirably. A fortnight or so ago and we’d have gone on to lose that match I’m sure."

Football is a confidence game. Both the players and the fans grow in confidence when we score, fade in confidence when we concede. The first goal is critical and we've been getting those more often of late. Edginess about the manager has been a factor. Should we have changed? Birmingham changed managers 8 games ago and haven't won since.

 

Back to square one then, Rick.
Is it down to the fans to cheer the players through thick and thin regardless, even after a dog-breath performance like at the Amex, or does it need a Huckerby-esque run, or a blinding goal from outside the box from Jacob Murphy or AloeVera to illuminate proceedings and crank the noise / support levels up a notch or two?
There is no definitive answer to that - both scenarios are correct - ideally!
Just that the latter is far easier to achieve than the former, so the onus, I'd say, is on the manager and players to rally the watching troops. And in that regard, Norwich is no different to any other football club

 

They should have cheer buttons built into the seats, every time you press it a synthesised rendition of on the ball city gets played over the tannoy and the customer gets billed through their contact less bank card.
The players take a percentage of the funds as an "incentive" so they put in more effort.

 

That mushroom soup you had for breakfast...'magic', was it?

 

I like soup.

 

Well that's now 3 Wins, 1 Draw and 1 loss from the last 5. Is it a corner turned? Can we take the confidence forward and actually win away? Beat a side in the top 6?
The lad Neil has a long way to go before I get back on the fence let alone eat some humble pie for questioning him. But it's getting a little better. Keep it up Neil and the boys. COYY

Bah!

P.s. I still don't think Neil is the right man but I'd love to be proved wrong.

 

The thing is, like the team, AN needs to be judged on his performance not on results.

As I've said before even if he manages to get us promoted I still don't think he's the man to take the club forward, not that I think he will. get us promoted that is or indeed take the club forward.

 

Totally agree with your post General - especially your 'ps'!!! As I said on another thread, our trip to Wales will show whether or not we are moving forward.

 

I agree. For the last 5 matches we have taken 10 points, scored 9 goals to 3 conceded and kept 3 clean sheets. We've turned around our home form against good sides but now we need to improve our away form beginning with Cardiff.

IMO, AN will be judged on results, canario, as all managers are. It must have been a long trip home for Brum fans after watching the 9th game without a win since they changed managers. I'm not sure what your criteria for 'performance' is and how you see that as a better indicator than results.

 

Hasn't done Palar53 much good since they appointed Big Sam either as you can see from their current form - Crystal Palace L W D L L D L L L L

 

Have a look at the highlights vid I just posted on the game thread. His miss, the last shot before half-time, sums him up for me.

Also earlier in the half he missed what looked a very easy chance he blazed over the bar.

I like his attitude and work rate, but his final ball/finish quality is way off.

 

This is like the early season for me, getting results but performances are not convincing. If we play the same against top teams we won't win without a big dollop of luck. I still feel AN isn't the right man , though I'd love to be proven wrong.