After a horrible start at Wigan, swiftly followed by some harsh PL lessons against Stoke, Chelsea & West Brom it appears the team are learning what is required at this new level to try and compete, it also appears that Paul Lambert now knows his best first XI, one that does not include Grant Holt (I'll come back to him later) So, on to last nights game................................. Without turning in a superb peformance Norwich looked pretty comfortable until perhaps 75 minutes, that is when I started to get an uneasy feeling about the game. I just felt we were going to throw it all away and get just 1 point. Why was that? Did Sunderland start to play better or did we stop playing as well as we had? I think the Norwich players started to look a little tired and started to sit back a bit as they seem to do all too often and invited Sunderland to 'bring it on'. Sunderland accepted the invitation and it was another defensive lapse that gave a goal away. I want to take nothing away from Kieron Richardson, it was a good low and hard shot but two defenders completely missed the ball and Ruddy was left standing on the goal line helpless. Should he have made an attempt to stop it? Perhaps he was so sure Leon Barnett would clear it just in front of him, and perhaps he should have although it was a fierce shot. I am not blaming any of the players as they are still learning and all of the players on show last night have shown they are capable of putting in a good shift in the PL. Most of the time, up to that point the Norwich defence looked in control as they limited Sunderland to long range efforts although Bendtner did look like he could cause some problems with the right service but after the goal they looked very nervous and flustered once again. This is the area of the pitch where most of my concerns are and hope it will improve as the season progresses. The midfield once again did a good job with Fox & Johnson doing more than their share of the grafting. Despite all their work Sunderland still marginally had more of the ball but thankfully could not make full use of it. Morison had a decent game up front and was rewarded with his first PL goal, a good solid header after Wes Brown decided to leave him un-marked in the box. Bennett was showing some of his talents and I hope he can find the net soon to give him more of a lift. Although we have had scored 8 goals this season, no one player has scored twice. There are a few ways to look at it.... 1. We can score from all over the pitch 2. We do not need to rely on an out & out striker 3. We do not have an out & out striker 4. We need an out & out striker I am not sure how I view this yet as it is still early days but something I have picked out so far is.... It looks like Grant Holt will not be starting many games this season unless injuries/suspensions force him back in to the first XI. For that, based on what I have seen so far this season it is a good thing. I have loved seeing how well Holty has done for Norwich in the last two seasons of course and he might still have a part to play this season but after watching last night (and I might get slaughtered for this) I think we should cash in on him in January if it looks like we could avoid the drop and perhaps spend some good money on a 'better' striker. Grant is slated by some (mostly non Norwich fans) for being a lump and too slow. That does not say much for the Sunderland defence then as he made up ground on nearly every occassion when he started a few yards behind Titus Bramble but unfortunately he still didn't come out the other end with the ball to get a clear sight at goal, he was quicker than Bramble but not quick enough. That brings me nicely on to the Sky TV Man of the match which was awarded to Titus Bramble. It was a decision I agreed with overall despite his error of judgement for our first goal, he was the one who kept the scoreline down an kept Sunderland in contention up to the final whistle. Had he not played as well as he did Norwich might well have had a 3rd goal so will give him credit for his performance. ...............other plus points of the evening. 1. No penalty conceded 2. Sunderland players played 100% honest and fair - well done Black Cats. An overall assessment is it is work in progress for all concerned at the club but Paul Lambert and the players look like they are slowly but surely adapting, let's hope they can sort out the defensive errors that are happening in each and every game. Of course this weekend Norwich travel to Old Trafford to face the all conquering (excpet Stoke last week) Manchester United. I for one expect nothing from the game other than a beating by perhaps 3 goals or more. Anything less than that in my view would be seen as a decent performance. Onwards and hopefully upwards Come on you yellows
Likewise....... except I thought Johnson was MOTM. Apart from the 'air kick' worked tirelessly box to box and as for the weekend provided Rooney and Hernandez are out and if we can keep quiet the likes of Nani, Young, Fletcher, Anderson, Owen, Berbatov, Giggs, Valencia, Welbeck...... oh S**t!!!!!!! OTBC IMWT ILWHTB
My heart was in my mouth, my head in my hands He has been a good acquisition for us, of that there is no doubt
Pretty fair Thai, but unless Holt wants to leave he should be rewarded for his hard work and commitment over the last 2 seasons. We have 7 players on a goal each and that still makes him joint top scorer. Lambo needs to address this backs to the wall for the last 10 minutes again too, we were looking comfortable for most of the game but i thought we may blow it and end up with a draw as well . Taking into account that we were playing 9 Englishmen mainly from LG1 a Welshman and a Paddy, Bruces mega money signings looked second best . I believe we will survive in this league quite easily and Martin at CB is inspired, Tierney is good enough for England and Ruddy looks good at this level only conceding a single goal in all but 1 of our games..... I am a very content City fan this morning......
agreed re Holt's performance one alternative slant is that he might be the type of player that needs a good run in the team, increase the confidence of the fella. i think he will still be needed at times to cover injuries etc (Vaughn is injured again, poor lad, maybe he's the new sicknote?) i also am not sure about one up front - morro seemed isolated a lot last night, maybe because Wes was playing too deep? Morro won a lot of knock-ons but there was nobody there to support.
