What a shambles, but could be a blessing to shock our 2nd string players into action and a positive, hungry response, and would rather get thrashed 4-0 in the cup than in the league, in which our goal difference is looking healthy compared to others. The atmosphere tonight, distinctly depressing, not much to cheer about, fans had every reason to boo, considering the diabolical display by our side, taking nothing away from a fine, spirited and brilliant display from the MK Dons, who obviously wanted to win MUCH more than Norwich. --- Right starting with the players: 1. RUDD: fortunate to be just 20, highly unfair to criticise him alone considering the magnitude of other individuals mistakes, still relatively inexperienced (should be loaned out to gain league experience) and on this performance, I am SERIOUSLY worried that if Ruddy gets injured, we will ship more goals than rivets shredded on the Titanic. Experienced keeper is an absolute must for PL. 2. DRURY: while I am eternally grateful for the blood and sweat that this club legend has put it over the years, it is just damn disrespectful to yell abuse at him, as was the case tonight. Those responsible ought to be ashamed of themselves. Reliable, experienced back-up, but never again going to be a good ball-crosser without pace. 3. AYALA: horror debut, fortunately when he returns from injury, fans will give him a second chance, you don't get retained by Liverpool unless you are half-decent, one for the future definitely; my criticism for tonight â get a lesson from Bradley Johnson on making tackles, break their bloody legs if you have to but please make more of an effort next time. 4. WHITBREAD: his performance doesn't give me cause for concern, knowing that he is good enough to play much better. 5. MARTIN: frustrating to watch, couldn't get his crosses past the 1st man, had to contend with the halfwit Korey Smith being his useless team-mate down the right, Elliot Bennett on the right midfield would have solved this. 6. SURMAN: the only player I appreciated for their attacking intent, surrounded by quite frankly MORONS, who severely let down the fans, who paid good money to watch utter garbage; even Ipswich would have put in a better display. Class player, who can score goals given the service, which was completely lacking tonight. Mistake lead to goal conceded. 7. HOOLAHAN: too lightweight to change the game around (physically) and clearly frustrated by others poor performances. Don't blame him in the slightest, since to shout at the others would have only made it worse. 8. FOX: erm...shocker, Johnson can look forward to a starting berth after that performance. Honestly, the prospect of Drogba or Lampard facing little David fills me with dread, would be swatted and trampled all over. 9. JACKSON: with the number of strikers at our disposal, once Vaughan is fully fit, should be immediately loaned to a championship side to gain regular first team-starts, Leicester would be perfect destination, paired with a recall clause, should it be required, but a 4-2-3-1 with 2 wingers and a lone striker should be looked at seriously. 10. WILBRAHAM: got to give the man credit, he is a persistent SOB, effort is there, talent at this level is not, or more correctly goal-scoring ability is zilch, always looks to pass to the main target man, never takes a shot at glory. Please please please Paul Lambert, swap this deluded clown (with respect, since he deserves to be playing regularly for a League 1 side) for Cody McDonald: someone who has a proven goal scoring record, even if it is in League 2, yet is young and hungry. 11. KOREY SMITH: reminded me of a dog that runs around without stopping (good effort shown) chasing its own tail. Hopeless, summed up when he had that appalling chance at goal and missed and lay down on the ground for ~10 seconds. Should be shown the door or loaned out, to avoid delaying this young lads future career; proven in League 1 where he should aim for. SUB: LAPPIN & DE LAET Harsh to bring them on, only option was damage-limitation, counter-productive for moral to expose these good players to such a torrent of abuse from the fans come the last 10 minutes. SUB: MORRISON, absolutely pointless if you are going to play him effectively at right wing, hello...this guy is our best chance of a goal and you have just replaced one of our best players instead of the donkey Wilbraham, summed up brilliantly when he won the ball on the edge of the box and there was no one to aim for inside. PAUL LAMBERT: while I have the utmost respect for what he has given to this club, I will not abide such a display in front of 13,000 fans; should all be given a refund for having to watch this, Zaragoza and Parma friendlies were infinitely better contested matches than this. I know he wants to prevent injuries, and doesn't care too much about the league cup, but surely bringing off our best playmaker for a striker is just asking for trouble. Not making substitutions earlier (i.e. 45 mins) unforgiveable, given the embarrassment on show. --- Positives: IPSWICH are still getting thrashed, last I read it was 7-1 and 5-2. Keep it up, you are maintaining Norwich fans moral. WARD (who I rate really well!, can't return fast enough, can't he sleep in an oxygen tent !) & VAUGHAN will be back soon and will both walk into the starting line-up once game-fit, providing some quality extra choices. UNBEATEN in the Premier League, scored in every match so far, QPR and Swansea have been thrashed, we have not....YET! TRANSFERS: McDonald (League 1) & Jackson (Championship) loaned, Wilbraham sold, Korey Smith loaned (League 1), experienced no.2 goalie. SUGGESTED 11: 4-2-3-1 Ruddy Naughton Ward De Laet Tierney Johnson Fox Bennett Hoolahan Pilkington Holt (Switch Fox for Vaughan when he returns, and 4-1-3-2/4-4-2) Bench: Rudd/Experienced No. 2, R. Martin, Barnett, Whitbread/Ayala Surman, Crofts, Morrison Rotatable Squad: Lappin, Drury, C. Martin --- Diagnosis: poor crosses and individual mistakes, counter-productive to team-moral, players like Wilbraham & Smith are not good enough for this club, as was the evidence tonight. PL, you sat in your bloody chair most of the match while your team and fans needed your encouraging presence most, still got tons of karma in the bank however, but this will last long in the memory as a massive underperformance, mainly attributed to the players. Plus Side: still doing well in Premier League which is after all what counts most, it's ONLY the carling cup fortunately most of our starting 11 didn't feature in this shambles, we are financially secure, got a good squad of players which will float strongly in the championship if it ends in the r word. Got nothing to lose this season, so let's enjoy it, as I will be, so let's go and create some upsets and prove Colu_Mike, Lawrenson and the bookies wrong.
I was settin up a similar post at the same time as you on the same subject - giving my twopenneth worth on tonight's game. I'll use this thread to reply to a particular point you raised. I agree with some of your points but to say that Surman and Hoolahan were crap because others were crap is a nonsense. They are the kind of class players who should be setting the example for others to follow and from what I saw both made poor decisions with their passing and dribbling running into closed coridors. Luckily Wes got the goal against Wigan because up to that point I thought he was playing poorly as was Surman. Both have the potential to change games but both can be a liabilty if they are not on top form. On tonight's evidence others will have to lose form for them to stand a chance to win back their places in the starting eleven. The players against Stoke were terrific and took their chance to show what they are capable of. Luckily we have Lambert who will know how to get them back firing on all cylinders.
Welcome to the site GoldenEye, always good to see new faces arrive and particularly when they can write such good articulate pieces. This kind of in depth assessment is what us exiles need!
I wasn't there tonight but I would say that you were incredibly harsh on some players. Yes we lost badly to a league 1 side. But, I have been a season ticket holder for a few years. Your criticism of korey smith is unfair given his age and the performances he has given over the years. He also hasn't been playing first team football in a while. I highly doubt Morison was brought on to play right wing, he is a striker. I think it's more likely he played upfront. Where were you during the last 6/7 matches of last season? Jackson proved he was more than capable of playing in the championship and could make the step up to the premier league. Forget about Cody McDonald! He's leaving/has left and probably wouldn't have done much in the premiership. Wilbraham hasn't had much of an opportunity to prove himself so far, having been injured towards the end of last season. I think he isn't a goal scoring striker, but more of a creater. As I remember him doing it a lot against Doncaster last season. This is the cup, who cares? We have never done well against mk dons so I wasn't expecting to win last night anyway.
Again, I don't know if we're reading too much into 1 game, but I felt actually very worried by yesterday's game. Think you've been unfair on K Smith and Jackson there though.
Let's just hold our horses a little bit. While the performance was shocking, all of those players, except for Rudd and Wilbraham, have proven themselves against better sides than the dons. For whatever reason, they just didn't come together last night. Maybe it was having eleven changes against what I presume is MK's standard line up, maybe it was it being the first competitive outing for some this season, or maybe they just didn't fancy a league cup game. Whatever, it doesn't excuse the performance, but neither does it mean we've suddenly no depth. They had a dreadful night, but we know they're decent players. Throw the bath water out by all means, but let's keep hold of the baby!
