Probably cos I didn't write it... http://norwichcity.myfootballwriter...-have-to-fight-for-our-premier-league-lives/?
Decent enough article but nothing new written and is just repeating what any fan with a shred of intelligence knows. It's as clear as day for anyone to see that a minor tweak is needed somewhere to get a few more goals going in without compromising our new found defensive solidarity - what that tweak is who knows but it's for CH to work on not random forum warriors or the media.
Super, I´m very glad to hear that you´re http://www.not606.com/showthread.php/194746-Happy too In all honesty, nothing to be unhappy about.
I see one of the comments is by CanaryChibba It's been a while since I heard that name mentioned in despatches. Good article, but 95% of City fans already know the majority of the points he makes.
sensible reading for sure. there will always be a lot of fans with short memories who will not look back to where we have been 3 years ago, and also want us to build quicker than we are doing. some good points on formation too. i do think we should try 442 against one of the lower teams at home though, but i'm not the manager. canarychibba, that is a blast from the BBC606 past!
I don't think that it was any more sensible than any post that has been put on here in the last few weeks. It is his opinion. And if he is content with that view that is fine. I'm afraid I'm in the camp that doesn't want Prem football at any price. It has to be football with a bit of panache and try and win the game from the start for me. And I don't think I'm alone.
well i think you'll be disappointed for a few months yet then, at least until the summer. as far as the club is concerned they have to stay up by whatever means possible. if you don't like it, vote with your feet.
This post got me thinking.................What I want for Norwich City and what I want for me though are two very different things. Like Redruth I would much prefer to see a team that can pass like Barcelona and score as often as Man Utd but we can't afford players of that caliber to do it week in/week out. Do I want Norwich in the PL? Yes I do, like any other fan of any club I want to see my team do as well as possible. Do I want ugly football to achieve that? No I do not but ultimately resigned to watching whatever is served up to see relative success that for us is survival. If I was paying good money every other week to see away games though, at this moment in time, I would probably be questioning my own sanity and wisdom. At least home games, in the majority, are a bit better and could be said to represent value for money (mostly)
A creative midfielder who can tackle I think would be a good place to start. Lucas Biglia or Liam Bridcutt anyone? I'm quite excited by the arrival of Kamara (more so than Becchio tbh), he has pace, height, power and a good technique.
Why does everything have to be so black and white? If someone is criticial of some of our play at times (and I'm sorry, but for me that game on saturday was absolutely DREADFUL to watch, regardless of how happy I was with an away point) then apparently they are demanding us to play like Barcelona every week - but I've never seen anybody demanding such a thing, not even Carrabuh - even though people are more than happy to put words in his mouth to make him sound a clueless fool, which he clearly is not, another massive bugbear of mine. I completely appreciate that every point we pick up this season is to be hard won, I know that this year the most important thing for Hootun to have done is to stabilise us at the back and establish us as a hard working unit, tough to break down and throwing everything on the line to keep us as tight as possible at the back, and I both recognise and applaud the work he has done with us defensively. We are a far more difficult side to break down than we ever were under Lambert (well, when bassong plays anyway) which we needed to be, and this is definitely a positive so far this season. I also understand the need for us to play the one up top formation to keep our midfield as strong as it can be to protect our defence, and I have no issue with Holty playing the lone role up front at all, especially in away games where it is pretty much a no-brainer, regardless of how **** the oppostition are. What I'm having trouble with at the moment is the fact that to me we just are not creating enough chances in their box when we do get the ball and we seem content to try to score all our goals from set plays, trying to win free-kicks whenever possible and use our physicality rather than skill to break down the opposition. I know Holty got through a heck of a lot of work on Saturday, he made some good tackles and even cleared one off the line (though it was going wide anyway), but considering he was our only front man for the game I find it alarming that nobody seems the slightest bit concerned that he didn't touch the ball once in their penalty box, let alone have a chance on goal. When our DMCs are told to play as deep and disciplined as they do, and when our wingers are also asked to do a hell of a lot of defensive duties as well (again, 90% of Elliott Bennet's work on saturday when he came on was in our own half) then when you've got our top striker also helping out the defense then it's no wonder we're not creating chances. My main gripe from saturday was the Becchio didn't come on for Holt sooner, not change the formation so we had both of them on, but to replace him and put a fresh pair of legs on as Holty looked knackered for the last 20 minutes and didn't offer us any kind of outlet up top when we had the ball. I read someone likening our approach a bit to that of Worthington in that we sit back and let the opposition come at us for the last part of the game, and I tend to agree, and I could see Spurs were clearly going to score an equaliser last week after we had clearly decided protecting our clean sheet was the overarching priority over even attempting to get a second goal. I used to realy like Worthy, but this was a massive criticism of him I had, and whilst I'm not saying Hootun sets out to do this in every game, he does it a lot and we are going to concede lots of late goals if we carry on like that. I was a bit critical of our style of play on Saturday on another thread, and was shouted down as some kind of whinging moaner and even told to "not bother to watch us" in future which is the most ludicrously bad attempt at debating I've seen on this forum in a long time. This idea of "voting with your feet if you don't like it" is absolute bollocks as well, we're not all sheep and some of us do have opinions of our own and are free to express them without attracting the level of disdain I have seen on here. Am I happy with us being 14th in the table and effectively eight points clear of relegation? Absolutely! Do I think Hootun is doing a good job so far? Again, abso-bloody-lutely! Was I happy with a point and a clean sheet away at koo pee arr on saturday? You bet I was! But was I happy to sit through such a dreadful, turgid, boring, negative, stop-start, niggly, frustrating and downright ugly game on Saturday from a team who can play so much better and with so much more to offer going forward? No I bloody wasn't, it was like watching pub football at times, and hence I commented on it thus. I'm not saying this is how we play all the time, of course we don't, but we are playing more and more like this on a regular basis and I have to say that if we continue to play like this then we have absolutely no right whatsoever to ever criticise Stoke, West Ham etc like seems to be such a popular thing to do. If we accept that this is the way we HAVE to play so secure our Premiership future then we have to understand it is the same for them, we are no better than they. You can't have it both ways. People will point to the Man City game when we scored three goals, to which I will point to the fact we were two down after three minutes and had little choice but to then "go for it" for the remaining 87 minutes so it's hardly a good example. Had they not scored those early goals I have no doubt we'd have shut up shop until they did. The first half again Spurs was excellent but then the second half turned to **** when we sat back and tried to settle for the 1-0, and like I said it was only a matter of time before they got one. The Swansea game was a cracker admittedly, we played good flowing football and it was great to watch, it was a while ago now though and we've had plenty of ****, negative performances since so I'd hardly use it as a current example. Now this is unlike me to be negative about us, I'm nearly always in the glass-half full camp and even now I'm not going over the top with criticism on the whole, just mainly about what a **** game to watch it was on Saturday. I'm hoping that against Fulham we are going to be set up slightly differently, though I'd still be happy to see the same 4-4-1-1 as long as we show a bit of creative ingenuity for most of the game. However if we do resort to the spoiling tactics, tring to win free-kicks all the time and lumping the ball up into open space like we did so often on Saturday then I'm afraid you're going to have read another negative write-up from me, and I'm certain it won't be the only one. Sorry about that
Having supported the club for 13 decades I'm hardly likely to do that and I don't think the most vociferous have ever said that. But that doesn't mean I have to lie and say I'm enjoying watching my club perform at the moment. The very good debate that took place on here at the weekend illustrated the different passion among us for not only NCFC but football in general.
Well done Thai, you've drawn a distinction that far too may fans of all clubs fail to draw (just think how many seem to be concerned with nothing more than bragging rights and their own egos). However, pursuing the thought further, surely a true fan/supporter of a club will see that what really matters is what is best for the club, and that if his personal predilections are at odds with the club's current best interests, his predilections must take second place. Recognising that, and recognising that supporting the team by paying your money and turning up at games to give vocal encouragement etc. matters, the question of "value for money" answers itself. In the extreme case, you will save most money by your club going out of business! Football is not just a form of entertainment; there's more to being a fan and supporting a club than whether, like a good or bad film, play or TV show, it passes an afternoon or evening in an agreeable or otherwise manner.
Stoke have had a few years of "ugly" football to settle them as a mid-table prem team. In recent times they have been moving away from that style towards one that is more palatable to watchers who appreciate the "beautiful game". I'm happy if our club want to follow that model.
Excellent post, Munky, honest, critical (where criticism is due), yet still written from a glass half full perspective I know how crucial survival is this season, financially, so I'd expect to see a slightly more fluid, passing style of play once the 40 point tally has been achieved. Fingers crossed.
@Tony_Munky I agree that we tend to sit really deep when we are winning or drawing against a good side. Spurs is great example, but Sunderland was another game that was similar. Although we held on we just couldn't string any passes together and constantly had our backs to the wall soaking up the pressure. I maintain the best way to defend a lead is keeping possession and holding on to the ball. I have a few problems with the way Hughton sometimes does things, but have to say that I do think once we build a better team if we stay up, then we will have a few more attacking options as well as talented players, things could change.
Nothing to be sorry about there mate. A good passionate article. And that got me thinking that passion is probably what is missing at the moment. Many of us can remember Leeds from the 60's. They were happy to guarantee a point first and go for it if they had the chance. But they had the passion to go with that determination and created a team that eventually wore down the opposition and won the day. their epic semi final games against Manure were evidence of this. We have this style of taking another 13 draws and staying up. Fair enough. But even Holty who bought into the idea earlier in the season seems to lack the conviction at the moment. I noticed how many times he appeared to criticise his team mates on Saturday if he didn't appreciate the pass he was given. The times we rescued games in stoppage time because we had that passion which lifts the crowd has well are well documented. I just don't see that happening at the moment. I was delighted when CH took over. He is a good manager and from what I understand, a really nice man as well which suits the image NCFC and its supporters wish to portray and achieve. And I want him to stay as manager. And its not for me to tell him his job. Perish the thought that someone like me would ever be in that position. But I can't say the sun is shining outside when its sheeting down with rain. And I can't say I am enjoying watching us at the moment. The passion is still there in spades. Two grandsons, my son and myself sat there in our shirts kicking every ball, singing and applauding every bit of good play. But too often there is too many minutes during the game when the play doesn't lift us. Let's hope next season we do get back to our acknowledged game.
Survival is the one true ambition this season and I think that means we have to accept our share of defensive, hold em back at all costs, football - it may not suit our palate which has been honed on watching attractive, flowing, attacking football but we are where we are need to acknowledge that to dine at the top table next season we're gonna have to suffer more games like Newcastle at home and QPR away. The games were far more exciting in League One weren't they when we attacked at will and usually dominated the opposition but do we really want to return to those days ?????? Thought not. Let's hope the tactics pay off and we surive as intended and survive as we all want us to irrespective on how nice it looks getting there.
