Match Day Thread Norwich City v Sheffield United, Sat April 1st,ko 1500 hrs

The later replay showed the player to the left of goal was clearly offside when the goal went in.

 

The replay I watched the commentary team showed an angle where he looked level .

 

Fun fact

Tzolis is level on goals with Idah despite being out on loan for half the season

 

I thought that on the replay after the goal, but a later replay showed he was clearly offside, not that it matters much now.

 

The replay I watched he was definitely on side

 

Got to give Idah time, he is still only 21/22, like a lot of forwards we have had over the last 5 years they have had their game time reduced to almost nothing with Pukki commanding a starting spot whenever fit and playing 90mins almost everytime. This has seen players like Idah’s development stunted and others line Sargent played out of position. Pukki is brilliant at what he does but we don’t/can’t play that way at the moment so time to drop him and play the younger guys up front for me, at least then we can have a better idea of what they can do for next season rather than shoving them out on the wings

 

Perhaps he already decided he's off

 

Yes, that's what the replay on the stream I was watching showed; Hanley was the deepest Norwich player and McAtee wasn't goal side of him when the ball was played into the space. I also thought there might have been a slight deflection off Gibson, but in the end I don't think that was relevant. Having passed the ball inside to Lowe, Sharp, the Sheffield player further to the left, wasn't interfering with play at that point. That's my take on it anyway.

Sheffield were simply better where it mattered: more effective in the press, more accurate with their passing, including their defensive headers, and with the sort of remorseless intensity that Wagner hankers after but our players don't manage to produce.

 

I thought you'd enjoy that performance

 

Not what the results show. We faced them in three of Farke's four seasons and our record against them was W1, D2, L3. Our single win was at Bramall Lane in 2017, the game when Wilder accused us of bad sportsmanship.

 

I knew that our results against them have not been good for several seasons. My point was that the Wilder team was much better than this current Sheffield side in my opinion, and our 18/19 side was way better than the side we have now.

 

This may surprise you, but I agree totally with this. I hate their style of football, but this is what everyone in the Championship seems to play these days - ugly and functional and cynical, a sort of wannabee bottom-half-of-the PL style without the usual touch of class (e.g. Sarr) that is enough to keep PL league teams up for another season. Many people say that the Championship has gone down in quality, but I think this is only true in the sense that almost no one tries to play attractive football any more but everyone is fairly well organised, so it's more even. But I think the top has got worse and any of the top six in the 18/19 season would be up there with Burnley.

As an aside, I also think players like McBurnie who mouth off aggressively at referees should get yellow carded, twice if necessary. That would soon shut them up.

Maybe I'm starting to hate football.

 

Luton & Millwall are better than us which is quite romantic

 

Well, no team better exemplifies effective pressing, accurate passing and remorseless intensity than Man City; possessing those qualities doesn't mean you can't play beautiful football.
I agree about McBurnie by the way. The irritating thing is that it could easily be stamped out by rigorous application of current rules.

 

I think that’s been shown by the fact he hasn’t accepted the contract offered to him at the start of the season

 

Harry Kane came pretty good in the end

 

Players should always be carded for mouthing of at refs as in both codes of rugby. As far as I know there is a rule that only the skipper can talk to the officials.

 

I think he wants to know what league we'll be in, and what the manager's plans are, before committing. I'm sure he'll see what other offers he can generate too. Can't say I'd blame him either, particularly under Smith there wasn't a lot to suggest we'd play to his strengths.

With the number of out-of-contract players this summer presenting a chance for a retool, there's a chance he can be persuaded to stay if the recruitment plans suit him. If they don't, then probably better for both parties if he leaves.

 

On this seasons performance, what team higher placed than us would want him. His star is waning. Personally I'm happy for him to go, Sergeant was making good progress at the start of the season when he was paying in his best position. We sacrificed Sergeant's development because of what Pukki had done in the past. His record this season doesn't justify him starting the amount of times he does. I can see Idah being an expensive mistake as well, although if he did hit a bit of form, we could at least sell him for an inflated price because of his contract.

 

Romantic? Chronic is a more suitable word DD.