Unlike many it would seem, i thought Oulare looked promising. Not ready yet, simply because he's so raw, but he tried hard, sometimes too hard, and is obviously a big kid with a lot of strength. He will be fine, he just needs honing a bit. Berghaus on the other hand, well. He should have come off much earlier, and to be harsh but fair, i wouldn't be disappointed if we moved him on! Generally it was a poor game, with a flat atmosphere. Weird, as has been said, for a 3rd round FA Cup game, but since this is our first cup run in years, hopefully that will improve for the next round. Even Deeney was off his game, despite his goal, though Guerdiora took his chance well, although it's easy to see why Flores wants to improve him a bit before he's let loose to start league games. Prodl did well but my MOM was Ben Watson (again!). He never stops and puts in such an effective tackle, and when someone (often Anya) makes a mistake, he's often there to clear up the mess! Player of the season is going to be a hard choice this year!
Looking at the brief highlights... and after listening on hornet player..... they had a fistful of scoring chances and were wasteful... in reality they got through our defence and into goal scoring positions.... we barely did that... so... lucky to win??
A performance to forget , at least we got the result . We definitely need some quality signings in this month and /or in the summer ...we have little premier strength in depth within this squad and have been very fortunate with injuries . Anyone get a soaking in the Sir Elton John stand ? .. I know there was a driving wind , but looking side on from the Rookery the roof does not appear to cover first 4 -6 rows ..
Fully agree H - but I think Guerdiora was trying to hard, looked liked he was really trying to create an impression. If he took a little more time on the ball his distribution would have been more effective. Also I am not convinced on Durado and I had hoped when he moved over to the RHS he would have been more effective, but not really. I also think Cathcart had another strong game. But a crap game with crap atmosphere and I got soaked through walking back to the car. Still we are in the hat and it will be really nice to avoid City, Chelsea of The Spuds in the next round - I fancy Colchester away.
I wouldn't say lucky so much as perhaps fortunate. They missed several gilt edged chances and I don't think that they were as bad as their fans made out. We've all seen enough football to know how it goes. We will have a full strength team against them next time, all being well, and it will lead to a much more cohesive performance than today. I think we'll win well.
I should add that I wasn't their yesterday due to illness (man flu or some such) even though I bought a ticket. I've got a Southampton ticket for Wednesday night (one of the few away days I've not done) and that isn't looking too promising either.
I think yesterday showed that the club know what they are doing . We need cover up front, 1st 11 player wide and poss cover for the keeper then that could keep us in the top 10
No, not in my opinion. We did enough to win. Yes they had a lot of possession and at times managed to get through our midfield and defence with alarming ease. But they didn't score. And any way, this was primarily in the first half. in the second half the threat diminished and i don't believe anyone there really thought after about 55 minutes that we would lose. There was definitely a different atmosphere at the game and we did not play with anywhere near the same intensity of the Prem games, which was to be expected. But make no bones about it, we did exactly what we needed to do. no more, no less. This didn't make for a particularly enthralling spectacle, but I still think it was to be expected.
We were fortunate to win , they had some very good chances to score in the latter stages , I was right behind the goal second half . Worst Watford performance in a year or more ..Midfield largely non existent . Thankfully we have players to strengthen the side which started yesterday . Think the club made a few panic buys at the end of the summer .. Prodl , Brittos , Capoue , Nyrom and Ake have been excellent .
Worst performance in a year or more? I wasn't at the Preston game, but this aside I agree. Fortunate to win? Sorry, can't agree. N'castle were woeful in front of goal, so no luck involved there. Gomez also played well, so no luck there either. Plus, we had more shots on target. I think we did what we needed to. We were both poor, but we scored.
Or they just guess I think. Dave probably has a point - bigger side losing at home late on - give them the benefit. BTW This lad posted a video of his trip to the Vic.
The handball rule has become so open to refs own vision that it looks silly. The lad today was supposed to tackle the attacker with his hands at his side? Try running and turning at speed with your hands in your pockets.
I haven't seen many Norwich games this season so can't comment on the decision making in them But for us, with the obvious exception of the Spurs game, I think we've done ok with refs when playing bigger teams. Not perfect but ok.
Looked like a deliberate handball to me - or did his arm just happen to be stretched out as far as it could go in the direction of the ball and he accidentally flicked his wrist to move the ball away. Players know they cannot wave their arms around in the area - I think he was seeking to gain an advantage
