It´s very easy for some people to blame the manager, and very easy for those same people to call for his head after a poor result like yesterday. But I always come back to the players, and I don´t know how long it´s going to take for some people to realise that we don´t have great Premier League players at the Club, we only have average-good Premier League players, and that´s not meant as a criticism, either of the players, or of the Club, just merely stating a fact that so many seem to overlook, whenever the performance is anything less than wonderful. It´s possible that they may develop into great Premier League players in time, but they´re certainly not that yet, or we wouldn´t be getting them for the prices we did. Those players that are great can have an off day and still manage to look average-good, but when our players aren´t on top of their game, they look poor, that´s just the difference between being able to spend £8-£10 mill on a player with manageable wages, or £40-£50 mill on a player with exorbitant wages, again, not a criticism, just pointing out what some people again seem to overlook. Any one of the bottom 10 or 12 teams can beat any one of the other bottom 10 or 12 teams on any given day, home or away, if just a few players don´t play to their best, and that can happen every week. I don´t manage to see them very often, but I did yesterday, and I actually thought that most of them had a decent enough game, apart from Fer and Snodgrass, who disappointed me somewhat, and Bassong, who I thought looked a bit too edgy at times. I was actually pleasantly surprised by Redmond, who I thought put in some very decent crosses for once, none of which were capitalised on, and he also elected not to shoot quite as often as he sometimes does. If, particularly Fer and Snodgrass had been on top of their games, who knows, we might even have won it, the margins are really that small, at this level. The fact is that all our players need to be on top of their games, to give us a real chance, and if they are, then we can beat any of the bottom 10 or 12 teams any time, anywhere, but if they´re not, then yesterday can also happen anytime, anywhere. Finally, I have never understood the need to want to lay the ´blame´ at anyones door, either manager, or players, they´re not machines any of them, as much as we might like them to be. Would also be typical NCFC to follow yesterday up with a win over Man U, so never say never. OTBC
I'm with you 100% on this RBF, I have to say, after reading one or two posts yesterday, I'm starting to wonder if I want to be here any more! I don't mind differences of opinion but I can't abide some of the vicious, vitriolic witch hunting that happens on here each time we lose!
Yesterday was so disappointing we had everything to play for yet the team did not respond even when we got a lucky goal we were so edgy and poor I don't expect much in the PL especially this year when the top 8 are so strong I don't demand that we should just turn up and beat any of the bottom 12 but I do ask we give all Fer looked as though his mind was on anything but football Bassong proved again that despite being a brilliant player he is prone to being casual and is no leader on the pitch I have no idea how to fix those things and get the team playing as a solid unit that's CHs job and it's DMs job to inspire him or replace him I will be there Saturday full of hope and convinced we will get something but have To admit I'm more worried about beating That long standing 1p5quit record if we play Like that again
Afternoon fellas, it also seems to me that the expectancy levels of many people on here have been screwed up to such a ridiculous height, that almost whatever the team do, it´s still not good enough. I don´t think anyone at the Club has particularly stated that we were going to end up on a particular number this year, certainly Hughton hasn´t made public any targets as far as I know, so quite where all the expectancy has come from, goodness knows. Yes, on paper we´ve brought in what look to be better players, but then so has everyone else, so I can´t see that we´ve got any more of an advantage than we had last year. I wonder if they would have had such high expectations if Lambert had still been here, after all he could do no wrong, while Hughton apparently can do no right, although I notice that Villa have now had 4 defeats on the trot, and that the natives were decidedly unhappy at the end of yesterday´s game.
Yesterday was my first match this year And I drove there full of good cheer I arrived as a happy clapper But the game was a face-slapper And I should have spent that money on beer
The thing that really annoyed me yesterday is that Fulham in the first 30 minutes were dreadful and really we should have scored 4 in that time. As soon as they picked up their game Norwich just fell apart. We have no killer instinct and no one seems to gamble in the final third which showed when Redmond put in that beautiful cross and 3 of our players just watched it go by!
Can´t argue with any of that Colk, thought Redmond put in good, teasing crosses all afternoon, and a Fer playing as we have seen he can, would have taken the game by the scruff of the neck, but then as I said above, if all the players are not on the top of their game, these sort of games will pass us by, and unfortunately it did.
I thought your post was spot on RBF and I'll soon recover. My trips from the other side of the Ãresund are also rather infrequent so it's very disappointing to pick a game that just seemed flat in every way, including the atmosphere. I've enjoyed countless defeats over the years but this wasn't one of them!
rbf. Amazing how well you can do playing dire football! In 14th place (of 92 league clubs, never mind the Conference etc.) and just 3 points off 10th. Just think of all the fans of clubs up and down the land who would give their right arm to be where we are. What a miserable lot some of us are.
it is complete and utter **** to have stayed in the PL and to be 14th, and to see a developing squad. Most of the critics seem to think Norwich will stay up, but of course they all know jack **** and we are doomed to relegation. FFS sake McNally you're an idiot and have not been instrumental in the development of the club and we continue our inevitable demise to the Championship.
You make some good points about the overall quality of players, RBF, and perhaps sometimes our expectations are too high. But the average nature of the players at about thirteen of the clubs makes the ability to inspire all that more important, so that our players do play to the top of their ability as often as possible, and I really don't see any inspiration at all. I'm no Pulis fan, and no way I would have wanted him anywhere near our club, but what he's done at Palace so far shows how far a bit of rabble-rousing can get you. He's turned a team who were almost certain to get relegated into one which may just survive.
In the same way as players can´t do it alone, and need a manager, inspiration from a manager won´t don´t it alone either, they need the players. If it was that simple, and inspiration from a manager was all that was needed, then why aren´t A. Villa towards the top of the table, because there´s no disputing Lambert´s man-management skills, nor his ability to inspire and motivate, the simple answer perhaps is, that the players he´s got at his disposal just aren´t that good, and any amount of inspiring, won´t actually make them very much better. And an interesting thought, if that isn´t the reason for their disappointing season, then perhaps Lambert himself isn´t as good as many thought he was, and he just got lucky here with us. I think some people need to accept, that for several years yet, and possibly longer, the players we are likely to be able to attract, and keep at the Club, are not going to suddenly be able to shoot us up the table, irrespective of who the manager is. Again that´s not meant as any sort of criticism, I wouldn´t want our Club to be any other way, but the gap between the money-bag Clubs and the rest of us, is widening all the time, and imo will continue to do so.
Yes, again I agree with virtually all of that and I accept that this is a problem which is bigger than Norwich City, it's something that is affecting the whole PL system. Staying up has become so crucial that it justifies anything, and the football that the bottom half is playing reflects this. No one is taking risks any more and the general standard of football is grim. I hate to admit this, but it's almost become a relief when we aren't one of the matches on Vietnamese TV because at least I don't have to endure another 90 minutes of attritional rubbish. That makes me feel guilty, but it's the truth. I don't enjoy watching us any more and I suspect that this is true of many fans of other lower Prem teams.
Intrestingly we're only 6 points behind Southampton, who according to the pundits seem to be a playing beautiful football and if we'd won just one of the games we'd lost we would be a top 10 team. Hooper is starting to hit some form. We just need a couple of players (Ruddy, Fer & RvW) to move from good to great and the seasons will look very different. I'm not saying all is rosie in the garden, but things aren't as bad as some make out. Although if we end the season 6 points behind Southampton I think we will be relagated.
