As the appeal failed, Brady won't be available until after the Rotherham game. It's a close decision between Naismith and Pritchard, IMO, as the former contributes a lot more than goal scoring (though he hasn't done badly there with 4 goals in 18 games, many of which were as sub). He has a canny knack of finding space amid tightly packed defenses and his defensive work is much better than Pritchard's. The latter's strength lies in his quick feet and his ability to use both, unlike Wes. It's possible that both could start against Rotherham, as Wes is often on the bench in away games and Brady won't be available.
Brilliant post and comments, Baldrick's Y-Fronts Echoes my sentiments to a tee. And you're right about any fans hoping for a Derby win. The only reason for this at all would have been Machiavellian, i.e. the end justifies the means, so if a defeat had meant the dinosaurs in the boardroom had to stir from their slumbers and make a footballing / business based decision to shuffle the pack, give us a fighting chance of salvaging anything from this grim season, then it would have been 'mission accomplished'. As it is, he definitely (and deservedly, after that display) has earned himself a reprieve, but one swallow doesn't make a fence-sitter
He could - and should have a hat trick yesterday, RER, or a brace at least. One miss spooned high over the crossbar was even worse than Jerome's vs Brentford. £8.5m suggests you take opportunities like that!
This is the problem with our bloated squad and Neil's dropping players for weeks at a time. It is tough to stay in top form or sharp when you are not playing. If Naismith or Jerome had had some previous game time they might have done better. Maybe not, but Naismsith brought more to the party than his misses and whilst he should have scored at least one, if he plays as well again then I'm sure he'll pinch one soon. Bah!
I'll avoid the simplistic labeling of fans and just say that IMO, the situation is much more complicated than who is the manager. Many of those on here hailed Neil's appointment as a McNally masterstroke at the time (something about the 'cut of his jib', GM?). I was less enthusiastic and took quite a lot of flak for expressing my concerns at the time. Neil was an immediate success, however, and acquired deserved credit for getting us promoted. The PL season was difficult in the extreme (as it was expected to be), and Neil must accept considerable responsibility for that. The odds were against us from the start, however, and the injuries to Tettey and Klose sealed our fate, IMO. This season started well and then fell away badly with too many players losing form at the same time. Was that the manager's fault? Partly, IMO, but a larger share for me rested with the players, particularly in their competitiveness and fighting spirit as well as the defensive mistakes and the diminished ability to score. Five losses followed a run of 7 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss. Since the Brentford battering, we've won 3, drawn 1, and lost 3. Not great, but at least improving, and the wins against Villa and Derby at least show that the players can work hard and get results in 6 pointers. The next 7 games will show whether that improvement will continue, but I think that Oliveira's 7 goals in 7 games gives cause for hope. Whatever happens, though, I would never boo or wish for my team to lose and I'm with Gandy on that.
Both Naismith and Jacob were guilty of missing good chances but both were key in our display as their running and positioning pulled the Rams defence all over the place. Naismith should have buried the chance in the first half for sure - it looked an easyish chance but I thought his game play was good and his overall contribution was a valuable one. I thought it was one of his best displays in a Canary shirt thus far and he deserved the ovation he got when he was finally subbed.
Agree with this The whole 'front four' looked different class yesterday, Wes, Aloevera, Naismith and Ja Murphy all showed good mobility, movement and a seeming understanding of what each other was going to do and the result was the Derby defence were like rabbits in the headlights for 75 minutes. Icing on the cake would have been goals for Naismith and Murph - but at 3 - 0, who's complaining
Neil was like a breath of fresh air when he arrived, after adjusting to the fact we had gone for an unheard of cheap option. But really anyone but Adams would have got some benefit of doubt just because we all so wanted him gone. (ANy new manager could benefit from this now too!) He undoubtedly did a great job in getting promotion and the team played for the main very well. In the PL he was betrayed by an ineffective board, but was still exposed as tactically naive and inflexible. Whilst we did start the season well by virtue of points collected, most would agree the football was adequat and we were often scrapping results, even against poor oposition. The damning thing still though is our record against teams currently in the top half. Derby aside we hadden't beaten anyone in the top half! That is not good enough and hidden in the stats above. As you say though with a 3, 1, 3 W, D, L record in the last 7, maybe a corner is being turned, especially having finally beaten a form side in the top half. That and Oliviera's recent form and goals do give cause for some hope, but belief is some wins away. Win the next 6 and we still need to prove that we can live with sides in the top half. Apologies for the HC term, it was mainly in response to what I saw as a condescending tone from the previous comment (Coupled with a very triumphalist poem after one win!). I often don't agree with RBF these days but do value his input and perspective and have no wish to join team Dave or team Cromer! Bah!
We haven´t had very much to be ´triumphalistic´ about lately General, so personally I thought it was very well placed, but there you go. And as for being condescending in the aforementioned comment, I wasn´t particularly pointing the finger at anyone here, and I don´t remember gandy naming any names either, I was just making a general observation on modern day football fans, the world over. I do think they have far less patience and tolerance, than they did when I was a kid. I remember going to watch every other week ( I was never fortunate enough to be an away fan), for season after season after season, and watching the same average dross churned out week after week after week. But it was something we looked forward to every single week, it was an occasion, and winning was by no means the be all and end all, which it certainly is today. We stood behind the same stanchion, rubbed shoulders with the same folk, and cheered and laughed and cried and wept, just as they did, for years and years and years. Maybe we did accept too much in those days, but any decision on if or when to sack the manager, was left entirely in the hands of the board. I´m not saying we were right, and the ´fan participation´ tendency of today is wrong, but that´s just how it was, but I still sometimes have trouble getting my head around just how pushy fans are these days. Oh, and I care whether we win or not, even my generation had a certain amount of competitiveness. But, as all of you know by now, the Premier League does nothing for me, and if we´re forced to stay down here for a year or two more, then so be it - but I care.
Some excellent posts in the wake of our win yesterday and my only comment is that it could so easily have been more emphatic, had Naismith had his 'shooting boots' on. Yes, I'm not getting carried away with our result yesterday and I'm hopeful that AN has seen the light that Basil HAS to start and Hoolahan should be used sparingly (JM could be a fantastic deputy!!). As has been said, our next 6 games could define our season and make sure we at least stay in touch with the play-off places!! If, as many fear, we go on another losing streak, then the board has NO choice but to act!! Edit re post #89 - am I wearing 'green and yellow specs', or have we really got 4 players in the 'team of the week???'
I agree that football fans are less patient these days, but that is in my opinion a reflection on society as a whole. Just as the world has changed with an increasing emphasis on money grabbing with lesser community spirit. Football has become detached from it's audience in it's persuit of money. Would the fans be more patient if wealthy investors and rapid often premature sackings had not become the norm? I think so, it has taken sometime to get to this point with patience weedled away year after year. If Dale Gordon had a bad game could I find that a bit more acceptable as he was not a multimillionaire who for the main seemed to give his all for a club that he seemed committed to it, relative to Robbie Brady who has many bad games seemingly is very not committed to the club? Maybe an unfair example. Russ Martin lots of bad games but committed? For me actually yes and no, whilst i was a starry eyed youngster when Disco was plying his trade, I always want commited displays from the players. This is not seemingly the case of late so hense the dissatistaction. But should money come into it? Brady or Martin cannot guarantee a great display no matter what they are paid but does their being paid a grotesquely inflated sum make that a bitterer pill to swallow? Yes for me. The other big social shift is social media which allows the buds of dissenchantment to grow far more rapidly than the beer after the game in a pub. It doesn't though account for all the woes of fan pressure. In my football supporting life time most of what I have known is fans unhappy with the board at carrow road. The end of the chase era being a very definite case of fan power and pushyness. The key for me would be that Chase was hounded out for a reason, Neil is getting stick for a reason. Neither by modern football norms have been kneejerk. So as a relative youngun, I grew up with fan moaning, abuse and action. So, what has actually changed, is just that people are not so afraid to voice their opinions and given the cost of football today and the choice of other available pass times I don't blame them, if the product you're buying is poor, we complain so why not if the football you're paying to see is pony? And lastly, it hasn't changed, when to sack the manager is still entirely the boards decision, we may huff and puff but if we were involved in sacking the managers, the board hasn't got the memo, cause he's still here inspite of a groundswell of opinion that perhaps he shouldn't be. Bah!
I´m sure you understood what I meant regarding manager sacking, Melchy. The board were put under so much pressure by the fans and the local media, that they were forced to sack Hughton, for example, that surely is clear to anyone, simply because of who they replaced him with, a stop gap replacement who just happened to be handy and on the spot. If it had been a considered and thought out decision, they´d have found someone who was at least qualified. And I´m sure, if results drop again with Neil, if they´re given long enough, the fans will push him out too, although the board are at least, this time, showing more resilience. So in that respect the fans are very much involved in sacking managers.
You like to would imagine that, just as the club scout for new players virtually all year round, that the board would have some sort of idea of the type of replacement the club would need if AN still can't turn it round. It's called contingency planning. It's not like sacking somebody after two back-to-back defeats and then wondering "what do we do now"? And, since October, yesterday apart, they've had plenty of opportunity to see first-hand that things have been going off the rails somewhat!
I do understand what you meant but I still don't subscribe to it fully. The manager was who put them under pressure. If they were listening to fans both Hughton and Neil would have been sacked long before they were. As for more resilience, I'm not so sure, it hasn't got as ugly as Hughtons final days yet! The reason they put Adams in was just that, a stop gap, not someone on a long contract they would surely have had to offer under the unwinnable circumstances, that they then kept him on and or didn't have a replacement lined up when they sacked Hughton, in my book is negligent and shows how useless they are. Though the fact they kept him on suggests that they had scoured europe and thought he was the best candidate if Hughton was to be sacked. By keeping him on in the championship season it basically says the board had considered and thought out that he was up to the job and qualified. The alternative as I say is that they are know nothing muppets not fit to run the club! Bah!
Well, having dropped from first to twelfth, losing eight out of ten games ignominiously, what the hell do you expect, you dozy twat. Red carpet treatment http://www.edp24.co.uk/sport/norwic..._before_swatting_aside_derby_county_1_4834487
Without wanting to single you out, Cromer, this comment is fairly typical of social media dismissal based on a single comment printed in the EDP and taken out of context. This is the whole statement: “Football is a strange game. Two months ago I was manager of the month and then there was a witch hunt around me. Football changes really quickly,” said Neil. “We have played really well here. Brentford was a step in the right direction. We had five or six great chances and we should have won the game. We needed to take it a step further today and win the game and marry it up with a really good performance. Now we need to build on it. We are ninth now, only five points off the play-offs and half a season left to play so plenty for us to play for.” Unfortunately the video is no longer available, but I'm willing to bet that AN made the 'witch hunt' comment with a wry smile, before adding that 'Football changes really quickly", which was the point he was actually making. In this sense, football is becoming like politics where reasoned debate is replaced by unreasoned 'put-downs'. IMO, AN has been very honest about the fans right to complain when things aren't going well. He's no Roeder, who dismissed fans' complaints because they'd never played the game at a professional level. It's so easy to say that Hughton was 'clueless' (which he is currently demonstrating that he is not at our expense). Similarly AN is anything but a 'dozy twat', but it's very easy to just throw that out there without supporting it. ILD and KIO do the same thing because they enjoy the angry responses it engenders. Usually I ignore this kind of thing, but after the reasoned discussion that preceded it, I felt that I couldn't let this one go.
He should never have got manager of the month, his and the teams performances never meant he deserved it. Any way what a load of nonsense about a witch hunt, I can't think of a teams fans who would have given AN as much support as he's had over the last 18 months. Before the game he called on the fans to support the team, the fans got behind the team against Derby much more than their performances deserved, There was no significant protest against AN. Any half decent manager would have recognised this, thanked the fans and called for their continued support going forward, not moan about a witch hunt.
Exactly carrow - we were winning games more by luck than playing well during September. As I said earlier in the MDT, I thought the crowd was the most vocal I've heard it since I don't know when and that was before Basil opened the scoring. I'm sure if AN would have realised that he needed a slight change in the starting 11/formation a couple of months ago, then we wouldn't have sufered so many defeats since October.AND the players realise that if they turn in performances like last night, then the crowd WILL get behind them!!!!
