Apologies in advance - this is a bit of a mish-mash of thoughts. Firstly, just a quick word for the lad Turner, cos he had a storming game on Saturday evening. He's been criticised since day one at Fulham - some of it has been justified as his performances were well below par, awful on occasions, but the Arsenal match highlighted that we've signed a very good centre half and its time people believe a bit more in our players. Some fans need to be more patient with players and manager alike â its a real bugbear of mine. One mistake and the doom mongers come out. "He's the worst player to ever play for the club" or "He's tactically inept". Nonsense. Give these people a chance to make an impression rather than jump down their throats if they make a slow start. They are very good players - proven over a period of time. Form comes and goes - that's just the way it is. Players can't perform to the best of their ability all the time - they aren't robots, and it's not because they are crap or because they don't care. By supporting them when they are having a difficult time, they should regain confidence and form more quickly. A few boos were heard when Turner's name was read out. Embarrassing. Frankly, whoever booed can go and support another club as far as I'm concerned. They know NOTHING about football. I saw very promising signs at the weekend that Hughton has got his house in order. It's taken a little while longer than we'd all hoped but the 4-2-3-1 worked a treat. We played some lovely football going forward and who says Holt can't play up top on his own?! It won't always be the right way to play but the sound of people moaning that we "only have one up front" was doing my head in ten minutes into the game. I wonder what they were thinking at full time... The main reason Hughton was able to play this way, the way many of us had felt he wanted to play all season, was due to the fact he could pick Bennett and Pilkington, something he hasn't really been able to do so far this season. Both were excellent. Tettey (how good is he by the way!) and Johnson gave bite and energy whilst Hoolahan proved his class. The balance of the team was absolutely perfect. Defensively we were solid as a rock but we also had good attacking threat both down the middle and either flank. Holt was absolutely immense, they couldn't cope with him. The majority of our fans deserve this win - we've been very patient and supportive of the manager and the players, and it was great to hear that kind of 'buzzing' atmosphere back at Carrow road - we haven't really had that since last season. But please, to the moaners - have some flippin' patience! These people aren't miracle workers - they are football people. Have some faith in them and you might be rewarded. Hopefully this now means that every single fan is pulling in the right direction, backing the manager and the players, all of them. Everyone wants the same thing - for Norwich City to be successful, so why fight against them...? That helps nobody but our opponents. OTBC IHWT
Good observations Supers. The fact that Pilks and Benno played gave us width and better options, Hoolers in the team added creativity and panache and Tettey - what a find he is - very, very impressive, bossed the midfield which, in turn, allowed Johnson to do what he is good at - when Johnson was the anchor he was less creative - now with Tettey providing the midfield muscle Johnson can be the fulcrum between defence and attack. With everyone fit, Hughton has a good squad to pick from and Saturday's line-up was the one we've all been waiting for and it didn't disappoint. Let's hope the win galvanises confidence and we can drive forward - Saturday's win was a long time a coming but it was worth waiting for. OTBC - always and forever
Hands up I was depressed when I saw Turner start but yes he played a blinder, lets hope he can continue that way Playing Benno and Pilks not only gives an attacking option but the way they both tracked back and defended was top notch, I watched Benno and Kafu so many times just covering the box not diving in and just pushing them back, yes they had a lot of possession but no threat down to our defenders positioning mainly pity the MOTD muppets did not pick up on that. Thought Holty was brilliant and sparked off his little mate Wes who also was great ( just keep him away from the ball at free kicks please) Tettey just looks like a Crooky type player sad that Foxy did not start but this guy is quality and as for Bassong just great in charge and comfortable. Lets go stuff lambsquirt
tettey, crook? sorry jarrold, don't see that at all. fox and crook sure. tettey is far more combative and reminds me more of etuhu - well, the player etuhu COULD have been! there's still room in this team for fox but perhaps not a game where we won't have as much possession.
maybe youre right there Supers getting carried away, im still buzzing after that and at my age probably should just calm down! just like the way he was looking about him and just doing good stuff for all thier possession I felt comfortable throughout the match which is not what I had expected, now maybe the moaners will just let CH get on with it
i too felt comfortable all evening. arsenal must have had 65% possession but other than one decent save low down, ruddy had little to do. indeed it was city who really should have won by a bigger margin. we are very inconsistent at the moment but there have been moments in most matches where you can see what hughton is aiming for. individual mistakes have led to most of the goals we've conceded. for him, its all about getting the balance right and on saturday the balance was perfect. there's still work to be done but i think things are looking far rosier after picking up those three points. we've got a good manager, we're a good team, we've got some very good players. of course we will be in the relegation mix, that is to be expected and we will next season if we stay up, but i've been confident since day one that we are not one of the three weakest teams in this division and i still believe that.
I think I'm just about calm and composed enough to contribute - been buzzing ever since Saturday... Best win since Man U at Carrow Rd 2005? Better? Great comments Supers. Not just the result, but the full 90 minutes performance we've been hoping would come sooner or later. I can't wait to see how Tettey progresses - what a shift he put in. Holt up top, supported by Hoolahoops, looked great, especially with Pilks and Bennett breaking forward with such purpose. I doubt we will play this way every game, but it's starting to feel like Hughton knows the players he's got to work with, and the players trust Hughton with the tactics and game plan. Happy days. Can't wait for Villa.
I think CH has now found his starting 11.Superb performance.I must admit too i was worried when i saw Turner but all credit to him he had a blinder as did all the team. My one moan (and its not a big one) would be is I wish that Pilko would attack the spaces and try and get to the byline a bit more often instead of stopping.I thought to myself Saturday that if he had a bit more Huckerby about him he would be brilliant.That said he still had a good game as did all. I was convinced it would come together sooner or later and i did predict a 1-1 to my son who believe it or not fancied us for a win.We now need to kick on get a result at Villa,a match i would happily take a draw from.
I mentioned on Saturday that I feel Bassong is the key to the defence. When he is paired up with Barnett or Turner, he seems to get the best out of both of them with working along side them, take Bassong out of the equation and we have seen the end result too many times already this season. Not suggesting that either Barnett or Turner are bad players but Bassong certainly does have some presence about him that is almost inspirational to both. I had a similar experience many years ago when I played as a makeshift CB (normally a forward!) I had three different CB partners but only with one of them could ever 'click' and create a solid foundation. We could just somehow read what the other was thinking or going to do and bassang has taken me back to those days in my thoughts. If he keeps fit he will be player of the Season for me, no matter how many goals Holty smashes in
I thought Bennett was fantastic (well, they all were), and in a backs-to-the-wall game like this one offers more defensively than Snoddy, which can only be a good thing. When we've got games where we expect more possession, especially at home, I'd like to see Fox in for Johnson, but otherwise I wouldn't change anything.
I was talking to friends in trondheim; home to Rosenberg where Tettey essentially started his career and looked fantastic as a 17 year old. I think he could become hughly influential over the course of the season; great to see him guiding and helping others to close space down and actually bring much more bite to the team, maybe you can tell, I am fan of his, WFLAT
I think Hughton got the tactics/personnel for Saturday 100% spot on, anything else and we wouldn't have won. Also, on the corner Michael Turner nearly scored, I noticed Pilkington hit it with his left foot; two footed or what?!?
Couldn't agree more. But the instability of supporter opinion is demonstrated as much by the positive (over-) reaction to yesterday as the negative (over-) reaction to earlier games. I listened to some of Canary Call on Saturday evening. A guy came on and said he wanted to apologise to Chris Hughton, who he had slated in no uncertain terms after the Newcastle game. On Saturday he had decided CH was the second Messiah. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. It's as though people can't grasp anything that isn't in front of their eyes there and then. Re. Turner for instance, I look at Chris Hughton's other signings: Bassong, Garrido, Butterfield, Tettey. What I see are shrewd signings of good players who have added quality to our squad. Is it likely that CH would bring in a donkey? Answer: "On that evidence, not a chance." So when, in his first couple of appearances, Turner plays poorly, I don't see a donkey. I see a player in whom CH has confidence enough to pay good money for and bring into the club. And although we haven't yet seen Whittaker, I'm equally sure he won't turn out to be dross.
I won't lose my temper this time as at least you used we're instead of was. Doesn't wind me up as much but glad you got it right!
I can't thing of anything right now, but surely a name like Tettey lends itself to a decent chant or two?
