Listen here people, I'm seriously concerned about my health! I'm not sure my heart can take many more of these dramatic, last gasp finales at Stade Carra... ...ah, sod it! I love it. Keep 'em coming!!! First up, the penalty decision; well, it was certainly contentious, though I feel Match Of The Day's Alan Shearer (The Norwich hater) may have viewed it slightly more dubious than it actually was and as for Paul Merson, who I caught on tv after the game, who suggested it was the worst penalty decision EVER... I mean come off it, the guy wasn't fouled but claimed a foul, the whistle was never blown, and if you throw your arms into an unnatural position and the ball strikes your hand, personally, although harsh, I can see exactly why the referee gave it. Was it the correct decision? No, not in my opinion, probably not - if it had happened against us I'd have been upset, but then it is exactly the sort of thing that HAS happened against us all season... I seem to remember Shearer saying nothing about those. I can see why it was given, he gave the ref a chance to give it. It wasn't a dive outside the box like Walters or Di Santo. NOW THEY are dreadful decisions - Saturdays was just harsh. Anyway, rant over!! Can I just say how impressed with Blackburn Rovers I was on Saturday. They came to Norfolk under immense pressure but boy did they take the game to us and can count themselves unfortunate not to take all three points. They took control of the match with Nzonzi looking a real class act in the middle and apart from twenty minutes in the first half and twenty at the end, I never felt we were able to play our own game. It may have been because we just had an off-day but I feel it was far more to do with the visitors quick to close down in our half, a part of the game which we ourselves normally excel at. Not on Saturday though. We were a bit sluggish all over the field. That is, until Captain Marvel came on and gave everyone, and I do mean everyone, a very big lift. Was it me or was the atmosphere very diluted? I got the feeling the Rovers 'faithful' were being a little less than faithful in their 'support' of their team, that is, until they went 3-1 up and thought they might win! We ourselves were quiet and we seem to need a bit of banter with good away fans to get us going too! I think they all wanted their team to lose to heap more misery on their manager but as it happens, the draw was probably the worst result they could have had in the circumstances as its a lifeline and a loss of points! To throw away a comfortable (and it was) two-goal lead at the death, no matter how unfortunate hurts like hell. Had they just turned up and lost 2-0 I suspect, worryingly, many of their fans would have been moderately happy and seen it has a further nail in their managers coffin. Steve Kean certainly had the players in his camp at the weekend - I think their fans need to get behind their team a bit more and give them some backing. For me the problem lies with your owners, not your manager. Now to us; I didn't think many would have scored more than 6 out of ten, maybe the full backs and Hoolahan, and of course Holt who changed the game, but fair play to the lads who dug in and deserved the breaks they got for their graft in the second half and never letting their heads go down. What a marvellous group of players we have at this club. They might not be on £65k a week and be worth £20m+ but my word do they fight for our club. You can't ask any more than that from any player. Morison's goal was sublime, as was Hoillet's to be fair, and he did well again up front on his own. But Holt changed the game. His enthusiasm and scare-mongering of the Rovers defence pushed them back on their heels and was the catalyst for us gaining ground and putting them under real pressure. Attacking the Barclay End these days, everyone feels we can score at the death - when we really get our voices going we almost suck the ball in the net. Its not a coincidence how many late goals we are grabbing under Lambert! But what to do with Holt. That is the burning question. How do we accommodate him in our team? Is he better utilised as an impact sub? Morison has done very well and deserves his place so do we change our system or do we carry on until results dip (if they do) and then Holty gets his chance? One thing is for sure, the man makes a difference to us - he is our charismatic talisman and I think when he plays we are a stronger team. Its not a bad problem to have I suppose! Ruddy had a stinker, no question. A real shame because he has been outstanding for us for so long. As I've always said, he's always impressed me with how well he bounces back from his mistakes so we'll see how he gets on at Villa next week. The guy is a talent but every keeper makes mistakes. Anyone who saw Kenny for QPR play a brilliant match at White Hart Lane yesterday will not have missed that even he made a gaff which almost resulted in a goal - he got away with it, Ruddy didn't. Just the way it goes. Hopefully nobody will get on his back like last season! Overall, I predicted a score draw before the game so not surprised and you have to be delighted with a draw having been 1-3 down with 7 minutes remaining! Plenty of room for improvement all over the park but amazingly, after 10 games, we are closer points wise and positionally in the table to 3rd place than 18th. Good times! On a side note, we MUST sign Naughton if financially viable. The lad is a star full back and in my opinion could go on to play for England one day. I don't know his contract situation or availability but please Lambert, do all you can to sign him. First class player.
Some excellent points, clearly and logically put across - even if it ended as a bit of a mish-mash The free kick fizzed across the box and headed in unchallenged by Samba is surely the most disappointing goal we've conceeded so far this season, but as we'll learn a lot from it and it didn't prove too costly on Saturday so no long term damage done. There's a poll (via Yahoo) on twitter for best goal of the week. Hoilett, Morison, Walcott, Bale's 2nd and Petrov for Villa. When I just voted (for Morison, you silly billies) SM and JH had 3 (three) % each - Theo Walcott had 63% Makes me wonder if yahoo is exclusive to North London??!!
cromer, that third goal, what happened to barnett? i couldn't tell from the barclay and it wasn't easy to see on MotD but it looked like samba dragged him over before scoring? or did he slip? he certainly ended up on his backside! cracking ball from the free kick into the box though - it wasn't as easy to defend as some are making out but there was a worrying lack of attempts to clear it! we do seem to struggle to defend set pieces. talking of set pieces, how poor were fox's on saturday? he seems a tad shorn of confidence at the moment. maybe time for crofts to replace him for a couple of games?
By what I've heard naughton's contract is up in the summer and harry is ready to get rid in january! Fulham and sunderland are interested supposebly but I don't know how if he's allowed to be sold while on loan to us?
really? interesting. i assumed he'd be on a longer contract as why else loan him out? ok, well we have a good chance of getting him then! in my opinion, he is a £5m player but we'd not pay that anyway, so if his contract is up how about a sneaky £1m, assuming he won't sign a new contract at spurs?
Holt definatley changed the game that's one thing none of us can argue with. When he won that dubious free kick leading to that dubious penalty he knew EXACTLY what he was doing if you catch my drift. I dare say Bennett might be making way for Holt next game (Or maybe Hoolahan, all that would be harsh on both of them).
That's only what I've heard, but tbh with walker ahead of him would he sign a extension?? Doubt it. Remember we fought off sunderland, wba and bolton for Johnson, and naughton turned down villa and qpr to come here and he must be happy here so If rumours of his contract is true then I can't see any reason why he wouldn't sign other than money!
i think he'll have to stay... he'd miss our nando's too much and they don't have a nando's anywhere else!!
Only thing I wouldn't agree with, Superman, is your saying Ruddy had a "stinker". If JR did have a stinker, then so did most the team. Quote (me on 12yards): "It's easy to say JR should have kept out the Yaks shot but it was struck very powerfully and couldn't have been better placed; a few inches to the right and it would have struck the post. Positioning yourself is a matter of playing the percentages; JR was beaten by the improbable accuracy and power of the strike. Even a class keeper like Bolton's Jussi Jaaskelainen can be caught out at his near post -- he was yesterday. As for Samba's header, it was just a great ball in and the big man was unstoppable. I thought it was a very well conceived and executed goal and not much JR could do about it. IMO the two real goalkeeping mistakes yesterday were not made by JR but by Wolves' experienced keeper Hennessy in the second half of their game with Man City. Jaaskelainen and Hennessy are first choice keepers for their respective countries; nobody questions their ability when they make the odd mistake!" "I just feel JR doesn't deserve the amount of criticism he's been getting for yesterday's performance. One thing he did get wrong though was not wearing a cap in the first half. When Pedersen put that free kick under the bar I think JR was more or less blinded and actually did well to gather it at all. You could see him blinking and shaking his head to get his vision back before he restarted play. Fan of JR though I am, I do think calls for him to be in the England squad are way premature. He needs a lot more top-level experience before being ready for that -- even if PL disagrees with me!!"
robbie, his whole demeanour throughout the match could be described as 'shaky' at best. no matter what you say, a keeper should not be getting beaten at his near post. yes the yak hit it sweet and true but ruddy just didn't get down to it at all - he was on his heels. he fumbled two or three times and didn't quite seem himself. he didn't really have that much to do so perhaps stinker was a bit harsh but he's been so impressive for about 12 months now that his standards are high and so they should be if he is close to an england call up, which he bloody well should be on form! as you've mentioned and indeed i did, other keepers have made mistakes this weekend and will every weekend. its how they recover from them thats important and thats why i have full faith in big john to come back with a stormer (if necessary) at villa park next weekend
I get this feeling that JR is a confidence player and its very important for him to be feeling good about himself... that's why when he was getting stick last year Lambo went on record praising him and the official Norwich site also repeatedly bigged him up in match reports. How long before we see more communications coming out about what a great goalkeeper he is? For the record I think he is fine and we would struggle to get a better keeper. Every keeper has a bad day occasionally JR will be back strong at Villa Park.
Just guessing, but it looked to me as if preparation for the match had focussed on just how big a threat Blackburn posed in the penalty area from set pieces. Merely having Chris Samba there in the box is a threat, and for a big man he's pretty agile. I thought the whole defence were nervy from the start, even Tierney. On a couple of occasions when JR came for the ball, he was blocked off by his own defenders. There's been better communication in other games, which to me suggests nerves all round. Fact is, Blackburn were far tougher opponents than a lot of people expected. I think that showed with the crowd. Did people come expecting an easy 3 points?
Great post supers. If that penalty had been against us we would all be very unhappy. But we had a lot of luck yesterday - Johnson's goal included. Fox and Ruddy had their worst games of the season so far but have been brilliant most of the season anyway. Hoolahan wasn't that good either, in my opinion. Holt was the only stand out player for me. The referee wasn't very good for either team yesterday as well, which didn't help the game. Could Dave or Thai consider making Supers' post an article?
Thai is the one with the power to promote to article status! I think it's a good shout Over to you Thai
