I just wanted to air a few things coming to mind so if you indulge me i'll get on with it!. That damn transfer deadline day provoked much debate about our obvious shortfalls and the type of formation we should go with, leading to debate about who would be best employed to fit it. Some championed us to employ two holding midfielders. 'All the best teams have two holding midfielders sitting in front of the back four.' 'We must have the same system if we are going to compete at this level.' Well today pitted our 4-4-2 against Tottenhams 4-2-3-1 and the lone striker routine for the Spuds failed miserably. I am so glad we didn't play one up top at home against QPR like the Spuds started with today. I am even more glad that we started with two up top for today's away match. We must play to our strengths. Holt operates infinitely better with Jackson alongside him and fair play to Houghton for not sticking to his guns using a lone forward. Most of us knew it wasn't our best set up, with the personnel we have at our disposal, and that Fulham debacle has definitely sparked a response. Nobody likes losing but if the team have worked their socks off it is somehow less painful. Houghton has got the maximum from the players with back to back top notch performances. Unfortunately we haven't got our rewards in the form of 6 points but if we play like we did based on the last two performances there must surely be three worse teams than us over the course of the season. Where are those Jackson knockers again? Some of us continually point out that he provides more than just goals. He never gives the defender a moment's peace, he works the channels, links up well with Holt, is developing a far better first touch than when he joined us and if he can chip in with a few more goals is the real deal and may prove that we didn't need that stellar striker most of us were clammering for. If we keep playing like we are at the moment somebody is going to get a good tanking. It is soo close to a very polished performance all round. We look a hundred times more solid at the back and the midfield is gelling nicely. I said last week Johnson is playing for his place with the arrival of Tettey and I stick by that. He was mightily impressive today. In fact all over the park there is genuine competition for places. Hughton has added affordable quality. My only concern would be when we play the top four/five teams that we don't become overly negative. In general there are encouraging signs.
Some fair and valid points raised - but can we all pleeeeze learn to spell our manager's name correctly!
annoys the hell out of me, and i am not one of the spelling police by any means - i can't even use caps! i too think there's some very valid points made by chris. i'm one who believes two holding players is a good system. spurs didn't need to play it against us - its a system designed to be strong and powerful defensively and counter attacking. why play it against norwich at home? bizarre.
Our midfield four completely over ran their three and even kept Gulfi Siggurdson (cue spelling )quiet for long periods - no mean feat Nothing more satisfying than hearing the opposition fans boo their team off at the end for believing they should have won without breaking sweat Underestimate Norwich at your peril!
Johnson was an absolute beast yesterday in my opinion his improved dramatically as player, recapturing the same form of around this time last season. Still needs to keep his passes neater but his work rate has been excellent. One massive positive I got from the past two games is our defence has layers, when we're beaten I don't need to worry about the floodgates opening because we have good positioning, we hold the line and keep the ball out, also we have great movement the fullbacks cover the centre backs and vice versa.
^ This ^ is spot on Plus we've still got Whittaker to come back and add more depth and options, as he can play anywhere across the back.
great point northants about the defence having layers. who'd have thought that barnett would still have a positive future with the club?! i certainly didn't, but the guy looks a refreshed man and alongside bassong (who has impressed me despite my concerns about concentration still being a slight issue) who constantly helps lead him and encourage him. there's a nice balance to them. garrido is excellent. so assured of his game and already linking well with pilks who had his best game for some time. lots to take heart from because if hughton can get our defence combining well then the rest will follow
this was just about the best allround performance by city since we got back to the premiership. johnson and snoddy were awesome with every other player not far behind. it's great to see the opposition attack us and not have our hearts in our mouths in dread of the outcome. a clean sheet next match will demonstrate just how far we have come defensively in the last few months.
And what a danger Russ Martin is in the opposition box. He has now hit the woodwork twice and headed the ball back into the box for Snoddy's goal.
Almost forgot about Whittaker it's excellent to have utility type player a rarity these days. Barnett has looked good in the past two game, his distribution has improved and he looks a lot more confident. It looks like they're forming a decent centre back partnership. Garrido has been impressive he has all the attributes of a class left back, with the added bonus of having great vision and cracking left foot. Seeing Russell Martin play as right back was a massive worry for me, he has totally proved me wrong not sure if he has worked on his pace but he seems to be dealing well with nippy wingers in this league.
well lets not forget, hughton was a classy full back himself. i'm sure he'll have improved martin's positioning
He seems to be getting forward more and I agree that he has either been working on his speed or his positioning has improved. I wonder if we'll see as much tinkering with the starting 11 that we got last season???? Personally, I don't think we will.
Well on yesterdays performance, barring injuries, it would be incredibly harsh to make any changes for the next game!
It seems a lot more settled I can imagine we'll see Butterfield and Elliot Bennett once they get back. Hughton come across as a very calm manager I imagine his very easy to get along with, but I get them impression he'll be very severe when someone makes a mistake, I have barely heard anything from Turner, Bennett and Tierney since Fulham. That's probably why Supers Calderwood was a defender too. I was slightly concerned that we would be a little too defensive I think we could be a bit more patient when we have possession, but we're still very dynamic and hard to beat, we keep coming back at them that's the number one quality I've loved this club for over the past couple of seasons.
Good points Chrisacle08. The 4-4-2 worked again, it's a simple system where everyone knows where to be and what their job is. Lets keep using it to get a few more points on the board before we try out the other options. Johnson seems to have realised what his role is in the team, the "midfield destroyer" he was easily MoM, if he can just improve his passing then the sky's the limit. Overall we looked a good solid unit with attacking intent, and that made the trip worthwhile for me, a 1-1 at Spurs is a very good result. Spurs fans should hang their heads in shame, 3 games into the new season and booing your team? Disgraceful, did you think little old Norwich were just going to give you the game? Super proud of our away support again, ain't we f*****g well awsome??
My motto is 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'. It obviously was broke after Fulham, but now it's 'purring like a well-oiled machine' and boy was it purring at times yesterday. Let's hope that CH isn't one for regularly chopping and changing the team as was the choice of his predecessor. I was watching the game and it was awesome to hear the Canaries fans. The only time I heard the home fans (who outnumbered us approx 10 to 1) was briefly after they scored!!!
I couldn't believe how quiet they were, the only noise apart from briefly cheering after they scored was to boo their team off at both half and full time! Was a wonderful noise in the away end though, and we did go rather crazy when snoddy got the goal!
