firstly as always these are my views,secondly i thought we were much improved from the swansea game but still miles to go in most departments.i may upset some with this but Clint Hill needs to be replaced,if grant holt can give him hell all day imagine what the likes of Tevez,Van Persie etc would do with him,sorry clint you will always be held in high esteem but your time is up.Anton worries me too at times as his positioning at set pieces seems largely non-existant,whether he will improve with a more reliable partner only remains to be seen.the two full backs did well enough for most of the game but got caught going forward on occasions.the midfield sometimes looks solid and other times looks dis-jointed which needs more work on the training pitch and as good as park is he is not a leader.holliett did reasonably well but drifted out at times as did mackie.diakete doesn't look fully sharp or is that too harsh?.cisse had an off day with timing his runs but we all know how devestating he can be,zamora held things up well and reacted sharply for the penalty rebound but the jury for me is still out on him.all in all a decent reply to last weeks custard in a wind tunnel display but as said before vast improvement needed and given time i have faith that will happen,only the small matter of chelsea,city and spurs to deal with next EEEK.
Sorry to ask you this mate but could you please start using paragraphs. You make some very good points but I'm struggling to read your posts properly. Honestly I'm not having a pop, Just asking. Thanks fella.
Forgot to say, good post btw. Just spoken to some mates on the way home and it's agreement pretty much with what you say
Good post, Ade. One thing I might add is that old chestnut of possession. Despite the improvement in quality within the playing staff there does seem to remain an inability to retain possession. I'm not sure whether it's a symptom of the tactics that Spunky lays down, a lack of confidence, or simply that the players he acquires just don't have it. But the Rs have suffered from it the whole of last season and thus far show little sign of improvement in that area. I think opposing managers know it and in this league have players that can capitalise on it. An inability to retain the ball means that the Rs must be prepared to be subjected greater periods of pressure. Against Swansea the Rs started brightly enough and I think the Swans were expecting a similar experience to prior visits. But, having taken the lead against the run of play, and then sticking to their knitting in terms of possession football (albeit with more incisive bite than under Rodgers), suddenly realised that the home side were bereft of ideas and unable to do anything of much value when they had the ball. We saw what happened. From what I saw today, Norwich are no Swansea. But, despite this, they were able to put the Rs under some pressure because the visitors couldn't keep the ball enough. The Rs tactics - certainly in the final third of the game - seemed to be long balls from deep midfield for Cisse to run into offside positions for. Spunky has earned the right to manage this club because he kept the Rs up last season. Fernandes has lavished a fair amount of cash on players (and, yes, re-balanced costs by letting many go) and has backed Hughes' ambition (a word that is now infamous). This is not another ridiculous post calling for anybody's head. But the Spunkster has to do something about this and soon, or I fear we're in for another tense, nervous and potentially disappointing season. Confidence and familiarity can, and no doubt will, go some of the way to improving the team's fortunes this time around, but unless the Rs learn how to keep the ball, pass and move, create space and show a lot more guile, we're going to see more of the same, I'm afraid. P.S. All that said, I'm not unhappy with a point today.
Aftergame stats on my feed showed we had 51% possesion. How much do we need to score from open play do you guys think? Seriously the issues are tracking back, chance creation and a vague idea of the team from week to week. (but I only watched 30 on a stream so probably missed Cisses 6 miles of running today - couldn't bare to watch any more) Did see Grant Holt being a cheating ****er though. Still things can only get better !!
There are lies, damn lies and statistics. 'Tracking back' is also winning the ball, and 'chance creation' is doing something useful with it ('guile').
Three things I already knew that were reaffirmed today: 1. We can't defend a ball to the back post 2. Grant Holt is a cheat 3. Bradley Johnson is a thug
Holty knows how to boss a defender and made hill look a mug hill committed 3 bootable challenges on him Johnson plays hard not a thug that describes Barton Green was a joke should have been sent off for handling outside of area Thought Park was great a very good signing for you Cisse was a jinks how much does that muppet get a week
OK, please explain to me & the assembled masses how it is legal to grab hold of a defender, wrestle him to the ground and expect a free kick every time, and usually get it? And I'm sorry, Johnson is a thug!
Totally agree with the green comments, still he came through the Norwich ranks so want ya expect !! WUM
Mark Clattenberg,what a **** ref. How many times did bassong climb all over Zamora and not a word said.The blokes a muppet.Dont understand how he is still reffing Prem League games.
bang on , holt was cheating all day .....felt bit sorry for clint he didnt have best game but holt is the sneeky cheat of the year award
I thought hill did ok but holt the cheating **** mugged him off repeatedly and clatternburg fell for it every time How holt gets away with it I'll never know The difference in gamesmanship between him and mackie was evident , mackie a hardworking pro , holt basically cheats
